Istrian-Dalmatian exodus facts for kids
The term Istrian-Dalmatian exodus refers to the post-World War II departure of ethnic Italians from the Yugoslav territory of Istria, as well as the cities of Zadar and Rijeka. Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar were ethnically mixed, with Croatian, Italian, and Slovene communities. Istria, Rijeka, and parts of Dalmatia including Zadar, had been annexed to Italy after World War I. At the end of World War II the former Italian territories in Istria and Dalmatia became part of Yugoslavia by the Treaty of peace with Italy, the only exception being the Province of Trieste. The former territories which became part of Yugoslavia are part of the present-day Republic of Croatia and Republic of Slovenia.
According to various sources, the exodus is estimated to have amounted to between some 230,000 and 350,000 people (including several thousand anti-communist Croats and Slovenes) leaving the areas in the aftermath of the conflict. The exodus started in 1943 and ended completely only in 1960.
The formal responsibility of the Yugoslav authorities for the exodus is still argued over by historians, but in many cases the pressure put on the ethnic Italians (killings and summary executions during the first years of the exodus, replaced after 1947 by less violent forms of intimidation such as nationalization, expropriation and discriminatory taxation) gave them little option other than emigration.
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The exodus
Economic insecurity, ethnic hatred and the international political context that eventually led to the Iron Curtain resulted in approximately 350,000 people, mostly Italians, choosing to leave the region. The London Memorandum of 1954 gave to the ethnic Italians the choice of either opting to leave (the so-called optants) or staying. These exiles were to be given compensation for their loss of property and other indemnity by the Italian state under the terms of the peace treaties. Following the exodus, the areas were settled with Yugoslav people.
Periods of the exodus
The exodus took place between 1943 and 1960; Italians allege that most of their numbers left in
- 1943
- 1945
- 1947
- 1954
Estimates of the exodus
Several estimates of the exodus by historians:
- Vladimir Žerjavić (Croat), 191,421 Italian exiles from Croatian territory.
- Nevenka Troha (Slovene), 40,000 Italian and 3,000 Slovene exiles from Slovenian territory.
- Raoul Pupo (Italian), about 250,000 Italian exiles
- Flaminio Rocchi (Italian), about 350,000 Italian exiles
Property reparation
On February 18, 1983 Yugoslavia and Italy signed a treaty in Rome where Yugoslavia agreed to pay US$110 million for the compensation of the exiles' property which was confiscated after the war in the Zone B of Free Territory of Trieste. Up to its breakup in 1991, Yugoslavia had paid US$18 million. Until today, the solution of the matter between Croatia and Italy has been delayed. None of the refugees from the Free Territory of Trieste saw a single penny so far.
Other pages
- Foibe massacres
- National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe
- Free Territory of Trieste
- Italian Social Republic
- Ethnic cleansing
- Istria
- Dalmatia
- Dalmatian Italians
- Italian cultural and historic presence in Dalmatia
- Venice and Dalmatia
Images for kids
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A portrait painting the fall of the Republic of Venice (1797): the abdication of the last Doge, Ludovico Manin
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Austrian linguistic map from 1896. In green the areas where Slavs were the majority of the population, in orange the areas where Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians were the majority of the population. The boundaries of Venetian Dalmatia in 1797 are delimited with blue dots.
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Outlined in red, the territory inhabited almost exclusively by Slovenes assigned to the Kingdom of Italy on the basis of the Treaty of Rapallo which was the subject of Italianization
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Bombing of Zadar in World War II by the Allies (1944): from these events began the exodus of the Dalmatian Italians from the city
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Commemorative plaque in San Michele dei Mucchietti, Sassuolo, dedicated to the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus
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The President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano during his speech for the National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe in 2007
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Concert at the Quirinal Palace in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella on the occasion of the National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe in 2015
See also
In Spanish: Éxodo istriano-dálmata para niños
