History time

South Tyrol

Napoleon in South Tyrol: 

In 1805 the Austrian empire was defeated by Napoleon I., so Austria was forced to give up Northern Tyrol to Bavaria. Following this moment in history, the French empire and the newly formed Bavarian Kingdom were close allies. The other part of Tyrol was now ruled by Napoleon I., who formed a Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, which consisted of the territories of the Italian Republic. The Tyrolean rebellion (Tiroler Volksaufstand) of 1809 was a rebellion of peasants led by Andreas Hofer against the occupation of their homeland. The Tirolese patriot defeated the Bavarians at the second Battle of Berg Isel (near Innsbruck), in August. This was a decisive battle in the history of Tyrol, as a result the Bavarian troops had to leave. However, in October, shortly after the emperor of Austria signed the Treaty of Schönbrunn, Francis I. ceded South Tyrol to Napoleon again. During this period of upheavals, the Tyrolean's developed a desire for autonomy. The Napoleonic Kingdom was dissolved by the Congress of Vienna in 1814, and the former Austrian parts were returned.

Italian Unification: Unità d'Italia or Resurgence

The Italian Unification was a political, ideological and social movement, with the aim to unite all the different states on the Italian peninsula including South Tyrol. The unification started with the Congress of Vienna and it was completed in 1871 when Rome became part of the Kingdom of Italy. South Tyrol became a part, when Italy defeated the Austrian empire in WW1. Its purpose was to free the Italian states from foreign rule. This movement had also influence on the future events in South Tyrol. The three Wars of independence were all fought between the Austrian Empire and its opponent the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Italy, supported by their ally the French Empire. The First War of independence lasted from 1848 to 1849, the Second War was fought in 1859 and the Third War in 1866.

First World War: 

When Italy joined the Allies in 1915, it signed the Treaty of London, in which it would gain Austrian Territory, including South Tyrol. The conditions along the Italian Front in WW1 were awfully harsh. The extreme winters in the Alps were hard to endure for the soldiers. The main difficulties were the supply maintenance in the mountains, transporting weapons, food and winter clothing. The casualties in total were 1.2 million people. The First World War had a huge impact on the further events in South Tyrol. When Italy annexed South Tyrol along with other parts of the Austrian empire, such as Trieste and northern Dalmatia, it was governed by General Guglielmo Pecori-Giraldi. One of his first orders was to seal the border between Austria and South Tyrol. What followed was the introduction of censorship, the interruption of the postal service and the flow of goods was disrupted. Furthermore, the South Tirolean people were not allowed to cross the border. The King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele, promised the annexed regions an accurate currency and that they could keep autonomy in all local institutions. With all this in mind, we should be able to relate to their choices in the South Tyrolean Option Agreement in WW2.

The South Tyrolean Option Agreement:

When Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy in 1922, he started the fascist Italianisation of the South Tyrolean's. That meant changing the traditions, the whole culture of a region. Mussolini ordered that the Italian language was now the only approved and official language in South Tyrol. In addition to robbing those people of their mother tongue, he ordered an immediate change of all place and field names to a new Italian name. The German language was banned in schools. It was dangerous for teachers to speak German with their classes. However, this was the beginning of the so-called "catacomb schools". Catacomb schools were secret schools, in which children were taught German. Another key change was that only Italian speaking workers were employed in the new factories in Bolzano. Generally, Mussolini's terms of Italianisation meant depriving South Tyrolean's of their language, culture, history and to replace the population with Italian people. Mussolini encouraged southern Italians to relocate to South Tyrol. He attempted to reduce the German-speaking people to a minority.