Governorate of Dalmatia

The Governorate of Dalmatia (Governatorato di Dalmazia) was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Italy, established in 1941, following the military conquest of Yugoslavian Dalmatia by General Vittorio Ambrosio, during World War II. It had the provisional purpose of progressively importing Italian national legislation in Dalmatia in place of the previous one, thus fully integrating it into the Kingdom of Italy.

It was a territory divided into three provinces of Italy during the Fascist Italy and Italian Empire epoch. It was created later as an entity in April 1941 at the start of World War II in Yugoslavia, by uniting the existing province of Zara with occupied Yugoslav territory annexed by Italy after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers and the signing of the Rome Treaties.

The governorate was the revival of the eponymous and ephemeral institute established by the Kingdom of Italy in Dalmatia following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I in 1918, given the London Pact (1915), which also promised Italy part of Dalmatia (for the presence of Dalmatian Italians). However, both the peace settlement negotiations of 1919 to 1920 and the Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson, who advocated self-determination, took precedence, with Italy being permitted to annex only Zadar from Dalmatia, with the rest of Dalmatia being part of Yugoslavia. Enraged Italian nationalists considered the decision to be a betrayal of the promises of the London Pact, so this outcome was denounced as a "mutilated victory".

Background


The Republic of Venice, between the 9th century and 1797, extended its dominion to Istria, the islands of Kvarner and Dalmatia, when it was conquered by Napoleon. After the fall of Napoleon (1814) Istria, the islands of Kvarner and Dalmatia were annexed to the Austrian Empire. From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Italian and Slavic communities in Dalmatia had lived peacefully side by side because they did not know the national identification, given that they generically defined themselves as "Dalmatians", of "Romance" or "Slavic" culture.

Later, many Dalmatian Italians looked with sympathy towards the Risorgimento movement that fought for the unification of Italy. The first events that involved the Dalmatian Italians in the unification of Italy were the revolutions of 1848, during which they took part in the constitution of the Republic of San Marco in Venice. The most notable Dalmatian Italians exponents who intervened were Niccolò Tommaseo and Federico Seismit-Doda. However, after 1866, when the Veneto and Friuli regions were ceded by the Austrians to the newly formed Kingdom Italy, Dalmatia remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic. This triggered the gradual rise of Italian irredentism among many Italians in Dalmatia, who demanded the unification of the Austrian Littoral, Fiume and Dalmatia with Italy. The Italians in Dalmatia supported the Italian Risorgimento: as a consequence, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Slav communities of Dalmatia.

During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria outlined a wide-ranging project aimed at the Germanization or Slavization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:

"His Majesty expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and Littoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard. His Majesty calls the central offices to the strong duty to proceed in this way to what has been established."

Dalmatia, especially its maritime cities, once had a substantial local ethnic Italian population (Dalmatian Italians), making up 33% of the total population of Dalmatia in 1803,  but this was reduced to 20% in 1816. According to Austrian censuses, the Dalmatian Italians formed 12.5% of the population in 1865, but this was reduced to 2.8% in 1910. In Dalmatia there was a constant decline in the Italian population, in a context of repression that also took on violent connotations. During this period, Austrians carried out an aggressive anti-Italian policy through a forced Slavization of the region.

The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major coastal cities. In the city of Split in 1890 there were 1,969 Dalmatian Italians (12.5% of the population), in Zadar 7,423 (64.6%), in Šibenik 1,018 (14.5%), in Kotor 623 (18.7%) and in Dubrovnik 331 (4.6%). In other Dalmatian localities, according to Austrian censuses, Dalmatian Italians experienced a sudden decrease: in the twenty years 1890-1910, in Rab they went from 225 to 151, in Vis from 352 to 92, in Pag from 787 to 23, completely disappearing in almost all the inland locations.

In 1909 the Italian language lost its status as the official language of Dalmatia in favor of Croatian only (previously both languages were recognized): thus Italian could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.

Dalmatia was a strategic region during World War I that both Italy and Serbia intended to seize from Austria-Hungary. Italy joined the Triple Entente Allies in 1915 upon agreeing to the London Pact that guaranteed Italy the right to annex a large portion of Dalmatia in exchange for Italy's participation on the Allied side. From 5 to 6 November 1918, Italian forces were reported to have reached Lissa, Lagosta, Sebenico, and other localities on the Dalmatian coast. At the end of hostilities in November 1918, the Italian military had seized control of the entire portion of Dalmatia that had been guaranteed to Italy by the London Pact and by 17 November, it had seized Fiume as well. In 1918, Admiral Enrico Millo declared himself the Italian governor of Dalmatia. The famous Italian nationalist Gabriele d'Annunzio supported the seizure of Dalmatia and proceeded to Zadar in an Italian warship in December 1918.

However, in spite of the guarantees of the London Pact to Italy of a large portion of Dalmatia and Italian military occupation of claimed territories of Dalmatia (for the presence of Dalmatian Italians), both the peace settlement negotiations of 1919 to 1920 and the Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson, who advocated self-determination, took precedence, with Italy being permitted to annex only Zadar from Dalmatia, with the rest of Dalmatia being part of Yugoslavia. Enraged Italian nationalists considered the decision to be a betrayal of the promises of the London Pact, so this outcome was denounced as a "mutilated victory". The rhetoric of "mutilated victory" was adopted by Benito Mussolini, led to the rise of Italian fascism, and became a key point in the propaganda of Fascist Italy. Historians regard "mutilated victory" as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuel Italian imperialism and obscure the successes of liberal Italy in the aftermath of World War I.

History
The Governorate of Dalmatia was made up of parts of coastal Yugoslavia that were occupied and annexed by Italy from April 1941 to September 1943 at the start of World War II in Yugoslavia, together with the prewar Italian Province of Zara on the Dalmatian coast, including the island of Lagosta (Lastovo) and the island of Saseno, now Albania, and totalling about 200 square kilometres, which Italy had possessed since 1919. The town of Zara (Zadar), which had included most of the Italian population of Dalmatia since the beginning of the 20th century and was largely Italian-speaking, was designated as its capital.

The creation of the Governorate of Dalmatia fulfilled the demands of Italian irredentism, but not all of Dalmatia was annexed by Italy, as the Italian-German quasi-protectorate known as the Independent State of Croatia took parts of it. Nevertheless, the Italian army maintained de facto control over the whole of Dalmatia.

The Kingdom of Italy divided the Governorate in three Italian provinces:
 * the province of Zara, which was assigned to Italy after World War I following the Treaty of Rapallo (1920). At the time it had an area of only 110.21 km2 (it was the smallest Italian province) with a population of 22,000 inhabitants distributed across two municipalities. In 1941, with the creation of the Governorate of Dalmatia, its provincial territory was broken up, reaching an area of 3,719 km2 and a population of 211,900 inhabitants distributed in 20 municipalities, which included the municipality of Zara (Zadar) and its enlarged hinterland, plus Sebenico (Šibenik) and the Dalmatian islands in front of Zara which came under Italian sovereignty;
 * the province of Spalato, which included the cities of Spalato (Split) and Traù (Trogir), plus the islands of Solta (Šolta), Lissa (Vis), Curzola (Korčula), Lagosta (Lastovo), Cazza (Sušac) and Pelagosa (Palagruža), the latter three separated from the province of Zara to which they belonged since 1920, and Meleda (Mljet). The province had an area of 976 km2 and a population of 128,400 inhabitants distributed in 13 municipalities;
 * the province of Cattaro, which included the centers of Cattaro (Kotor), Perasto (Perast), Castelnuovo (Herceg Novi) with a small hinterland roughly following the old Venetian and Austrian borders, plus the island of Saseno (Sazan), facing the coast of Albania near Vlorë, the latter separated from the province of Zadar of which it had been part since 1920. The province had an area of 547 km2 and a population of 39,800 inhabitants distributed in 15 municipalities;

Officially, however, no Italian region was ever created with the name "Dalmatia". While the Governorate was not called a region of Italy, the northern Dalmatian islands of Veglia (Krk) and Arbe (Rab) were administratively united to the Italian province of Fiume (now Rijeka) and became areas of Italy.

In September 1941, Italy's fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, ordered the military occupation of the entire Dalmatian coast, including the city of Dubrovnik ("Ragusa"), and islands such as Vis (Lissa) and Pag (Pago) which had been given to the puppet Independent State of Croatia of Ante Pavelić: Mussolini tried to annex those areas to the Governorship of Dalmatia creating the province of Ragusa di Dalmatia, but was temporarily stopped by the strong opposition of Pavelić, who retained nominal control of them. Fascist Italy even occupied Marindol and other villages that had previously belonged to the Banovina of Croatia, Milić-Selo, Paunović-Selo, Žunić-Selo, Vukobrati, Vidnjevići and Vrhovci. In 1942 these villages were annexed to Cernomegli (now Črnomelj, in Slovenia), which was then part of the Italian Province of Lubiana, even though their population was not Slovene but Serbian.

Many public works were done, like new hospitals and sewages. At the end of 1941, an attempt was made to "normalize" civil life: in Split, for example, the creation of sporting activities linked to the Italian championships was promoted. For this purpose, in 1942 the Calcio Spalato team was re-established with the name Associazione Calcio Spalato, according to the directive of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) which recognized AC Spalato as a new club affiliated to the Football Federation. However, due to the war events, AC Spalato did not play any championships.

At the end of 1941 the Slavic population was subjected to a policy of massive and violent Italianization. The political secretaries of the fascist party, of the after-work club, of the agricultural consortia and doctors, teachers, municipal employees, midwives were sent to administer them, immediately hated by those whose jobs they took away. Italian was imposed as a compulsory language for officials and teachers, although Serbo-Croatian was tolerated for communications within the civil administration. In the major centres, various signs written in Croatian were replaced by writings in Italian, Croatian flags, newspapers and posters were prohibited except the bilingual ones published by the Italian civil and military authorities; cultural and sporting societies dissolved, the Roman salute imposed, some Italian surnames restored. We also proceeded, as already in Julian March and South Tyrol, with the Italianization of geographical names, streets and squares. A special office for the Adriatic lands offered loans and benefits to those willing to denationalize, and in the meantime purchased land to redistribute to former Italian combatants. Scholarships were established for Dalmatians who wanted to continue their studies in Italy and 52 Dalmatian Italians and 211 Croatians and Serbs made use of them.

Numerous concentration camps were also established in the territory for repressive purposes, especially starting from 1942, such as those in Arbe (Rab), Fiume (Rijeka) and many others. Already from the end of 1941, against the atrocities committed by the Ustaše regime within the territories of the Independent State of Croatia, both against the Serbs and Jews and against the political opponents (communists and socialists), the communist and socialist partisan resistance led by Tito, multi-ethnic and communist, and various Serbian nationalist and monarchist factions known as Chetniks were born. Numerous war crimes were committed by all parties, including the Italian fascists, resulting in a bloody civil war.

The governorship was held until January 1943 by Giuseppe Bastianini, when he was recalled to Italy to join the cabinet, his place as governor being taken by Francesco Giunta. The Governorate of Dalmatia was cancelled administratively by Badoglio on August 19, 1943: it was substituted by direct rule of the 3 "Prefetti" governing the provinces of Zara, Spalato and Cattaro. After the Kingdom of Italy changed sides to the Allies in 1943, German forces took over the area. The territory was not given to the fascist Italian Social Republic, which was a puppet state of Germany, but was instead completely dissolved and added to the puppet Independent State of Croatia.

However, Zara (and the surrounding territory that was the original Provincia italiana di Zara until 1941) remained Italian (even if under nominal control and protection of the German Army) until 1945. The city was exposed to bombings between November 1943 and October 1944: the Allies documented 30 bombing raids, while contemporary Italian accounts claim 54; fatalities recorded range from nearly 1,000, up to as many as 4,000 of the city's 20,000 inhabitants and 60% of the city's buildings were fully destroyed.

The Yugoslav Partisans liberated Dalmatia in 1944. On October 30, 1944, the last Italian authority in Dalmatia – the Zara prefect Vincenzo Serrentino – left the destroyed city with the remaining Dalmatian Italians. Nearly 89% of the Zara buildings & installations were destroyed and so the city was called the "Dresden of Italy" After 1945, most of the remaining Dalmatian Italians fled the region (350,000 Italians escaped from Istria and Dalmatia in the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus). Currently there are only 300 Dalmatian Italians in the Croatian Dalmatia and 500 Dalmatian Italians in coastal Montenegro. After World War II, Dalmatia became part of the People's Republic of Croatia, part of the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia.

Territory


The Governorate of Dalmatia consisted of three provinces: province of Zara, province of Spalato and province of Cattaro. The administrative capital was Zara.

After the autumn of 1941 the Dalmatian islands of Pag (Pago), Brač (Brazza) and Hvar (Lesina), part of the Independent State of Croatia, were occupied by the Italian army, along with an area of Croatia which was away from the coast of Sinj towards the center of Bosnia, near Sarajevo and Banja Luka. However these were not formally annexed to the Governorate.

Demographics
The Governorate of Dalmatia had an area of 5,242 km², equal to 35% of Dalmatia. The Governorate of Dalmatia contained 390,000 inhabitants, of which 270,000 (69.2%) Croats, 90,000 (23.0%) Serbs and 30,000 (7.6%) Dalmatian Italians.

Governors of Dalmatia

 * Athos Bartolucci (16 April 1941 – 6 June 1941)
 * Giuseppe Bastianini (7 June 1941 – 14 February 1943)
 * Francesco Giunta (14 February 1943 – 19 August 1943)