|Kingdom of Triveneto|
|Regno d'Tre Venezie|
|Component of Greater Austria|
Triveneto within Greater Austria
|Languages||Italian, Croatian, German|
|•||1920–1921||Antonio Grossich (first)|
|•||1934–1935||Carlo Colussi (last)|
|Historical era||Modern history|
|•||Kingdom proclaimed||12 November 1920|
|•||Plebiscite||13 January 1935|
|•||Disestablished||1 March 1935|
The Kingdom of Triveneto (Italian: Regno d'Tre Venezie) denominated the Italian territories governed by the United States of Greater Austria from 1920 to 1935. Initially, the kingdom only consisted of the Austrian Littoral who achieved autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. Under the auspices of the Treaty of Lausanne, Austria-Hungary gained territory from Italy. The autonomist authority gained control of the new Italian speaking areas and made its capital in Trieste. After a plebiscite was held in 1935, it was restored to Italy.
History[edit | edit source]
The entire area was under Austrian rule in 1863; Italy annexed Venezia Euganea in 1866, following the Third Italian War of Independence and a controversial plebiscite; Venezia Giulia and Venezia Tridentina remained part of Austria-Hungary until 1919. During the World War, the region was a main theatre of operations that had serious consequences for the civilian population, specifically the Battle of Caporetto which led to its occupation by the Austro-Hungarian army. The Battle of the Piave River was the last great military offensive of the war. A clear failure, the operation struck a major blow to the army's morale and cohesion and had political repercussions throughout war-weary empire.
Emperor Charles I, on 16 October 1918, issued a proclamation that radically changed the nature of the Austrian state. To prevent the total collapse of the monarchy the Austrian lands were transformed into a federal union composed of four parts—German, Czech, South Slav and Ukrainian. Each of the four parts was to be governed by a federal council, and Trieste was to receive a special status. On the evening of the 28 October, Zoltán Jekelfalussy, the Hungarian governor of Fiume, called Mayor Antonio Vio to his office to give him the news that the Hungarian Government had decided that Fiume was to be abandoned both militarily and politically. The members of the Municipal Council knew they could no longer base its right to authority on his appointment by a power that no longer existed in its previous form. The Municipal Council reappointed Vio as major and expanded its ranks to some 60 co-opted members. In the meanwhile the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was officially instituted on 29 October 1918 in Zagreb. Representatives of the latter body arrived in the city and wrested command of the governor palace from Jekelfalussy who left the city. The city now had two self-proclaimed governments, each basing its claims on the same principle. The local representatives of the Municipal Council as a response formed immediately the Italian National Council, headed by Antonio Grossich.
Under the Treaty of Lausanne, the Venetian plains, were to be governed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a period of fifteen years. Under the terms of the Minority Rights Treaty, the Italians were guaranteed autonomy within the empire. After that time, a plebiscite would be implemented to determine the future status the territory. The new territory comprised the Friulian provinces of Udine and Pordenone as well as the Venetian province of Belluno. The Imperial Constitution, passed by the Imperial Assembly on 1 October 1920, gave the National Council in Fiume jurisdiction over all areas where Italians made up more than 20% of the population. On 12 November 1920, the Italian National Council proclaimed the creation of the Trivenetian kingdom. With influx of Italians who lived under Italian rule prior to the war, many of the representatives elected to the National Council, regardless of the party, demanded the return of Triveneto to Italy.