1918–20 unrest in Split

Location of the Adriatic Sea.

The confrontations were the product of a centuries-long struggle for the control of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea between South Slavs and Italians. During the second half of the 19th century Split saw antagonism between the pro-Italian Autonomist Party and the pro-Yugoslav People's Party.

Hostilities between the two ethnicities increased after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when Italian irredentists called for the annexation of several formerly Austro-Hungarian cities on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, which were home to both South Slavs and Italians, into Italy, and occupied several of them by force.

According to the 1910 census the population of Split numbered 20,275, of which 18,176 (85.18%) were Croats or Serbs (Croats were the majority, but the census made no distinction between the two), while 2,082 (9.73%) were Italians.[1]

In the city of Split there was an autochthonous Italian community, which was reorganized in November 1918 through the foundation of the "National Fasces" (not related to fascism) led by Leonardo Pezzoli, Antonio Tacconi, Edoardo Pervan and Stefano Selem, former members of the Autonomist Party, which had been dissolved by the Austrian authorities in 1915.

This census data had understated the number of Italians in the city area and this mistake seems to be confirmed by a series of subsequent events. Indeed, following the Treaty of Rapallo, the Italians of Dalmatia could opt for the acquisition of Italian citizenship instead of the Yugoslavian one, while maintaining residence: despite a violent campaign of intimidation on the part of Yugoslavia, over 900 families of Italian speaking "Spalatini" had exercised the option to be Italians.[2] Furthermore, a Census of Italians living outside Italy was carried out in 1927: in Spalato and surrounding area 3,337 Italian citizens were counted.[3]

According to Antonio Tacconi, given that about 1,000 Italians left the city following its incorporation into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and estimating that a certain percentage of Italians accepted the Yugoslavian citizenship, it is possible to estimate the Italian population of Split in 1918/1919 in 7.000 people. This number is obtained by analyzing the membership in Italian associations of Spalato in 1918/1919. This amount is more than 3 times the data from the 1910 Austrian Census.

Facts of Trogir (fatti di Traù)
The USS Olympia, used to land sailors and marines during the incident.
Date September 23, 1919 Location Trogir, Dalmatia, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (present day Croatia) Result United States-Yugoslavian-Italian victory Coup attempt thwarted Serbian garrison released Renegades arrested
Belligerents
United States  Italy  Yugoslavia Citizens of Trau	Renegade Italian Army troops
Commanders and leaders
Captain David F. Boyd, Jr. Rear Admiral Philip Andrews Lieutenant Commander R. S. Fields Commander Paolo Maroni	Count Nino De Fanfogna Lieutenant Emanuele Torri-Mariani
Strength
1 garrison 1 destroyer 1 protected cruiser 101 sailors and marines 1 protected cruiser	3-4 trucks ~100 soldiers
Casualties and losses
1 garrison captured, subsequently released	10+ arrested

After the Austrian defeat, in the first half of November 1918 Italian troops unilaterally occupied territories of Austria-Hungary promised to Italy by the secret 1915 Pact of London.[4] Split was not one of those areas and was placed under Allied military occupation; the Italians sent two warships - the torpedo boat Riboty and the protected cruiser Puglia - while the Italian minority publicly demanded the annexation of the city into Italy, supported by some Italian political circles. At the same time, Croats formed the National Guard, a local militia to guarantee public order.

On 9 November 1918, two French destroyers entered the port of Split. The Italians displayed the flag of Italy in the windows of their homes to give the impression citizens supported Italy's bid for annexation. This however incited a riot and the flags were torn down. The commander of a former Austrian ship already docked at the port ordered the removal of the flags. Other incidents and demonstrations against Italy happened in other cities, like Trogir and the Kaštela. Italian Admiral Enrico Millo, appointed temporary military commander for the parts of Dalmatia occupied by Italy, unilaterally dispatched Italian naval vessels to the city. On 12 January, Puglia arrived among large protests.[5]

On 12 September 1919, Gabriele D'Annunzio led around 2,600 rebel troops from the Italian Army - some units of the Sardinia Grenadiers - Italian nationalists and irredentists to seize the Adriatic port city of Fiume, forcing the withdrawal of the inter-Allied (American, British, Italian and French) occupying forces, and later proceeding south to occupy the Dalmatian city of Zara. As a consequence armed nationalist irregulars commanded by Dalmatian Italian Count Fanfogna proceeded further south to Split's neighbouring city of Trogir and organized a similar occupation, quickly nipped by the Allies.[6][7][8] In Split, located just south across the Kaštela Bay from Trogir, the citizens feared their (significantly larger) city would be next in line, and that the joint Allied military administration would once again stand aside while another Dalmatian city came under the control of armed Italian nationalist irregulars.[9]

• History of Dalmatia

• Dalbello M.C.; Razza antonello. Per una storia delle comunità italiane della Dalmazia. Fondazione Culturale Maria ed Eugenio Dario Rustia Traine. Trieste, 2004.
• Lederer, Ivo. La Jugoslavia dalla conferenza di pace al trattato di Rapallo 1919–1920. Il Saggiatore. Milano, 1964.
• Menini, Giulio. Passione adriatica. Ricordi di Dalmazia 1918–1920. Zanichelli. Bologna, 1925.
• Monzali, Luciano. Antonio Tacconi e la comunità italiana di Spalato. Editore Scuola Dalmata dei SS. Giorgio e Trifone. Venezia, 2007.
• Monzali, Luciano. Italiani di Dalmazia. 1914–1924 Le Lettere Firenze, 2007.
• Salza, Silvio. La marina italiana nella grande guerra (Vol. VIII). Vallecchi. Firenze, 1942.
• Tacconi, Ildebrando. La grande esclusa: Spalato cinquanta anni fa (in "Per la Dalmazia con amore e con angoscia"). Editore Del Bianco, Udine, 1994

• Gli incidenti di Spalato 1, in Prassi italiana di diritto internazionale, 1426/3 (in Italian)
• L'incidente di Spalato 2, in Prassi italiana di diritto internazionale, 1416/3 (in Italian)
• L'incidente di Spalato e reazione a Trieste, in Prassi italiana di diritto internazionale, 1356/3 (in Italian)
• "Italian Navy: Torpediniera "Puglia"". Archived from the original on 2011-09-11.