1918 – 1921

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs

On Congress Square in Ljubljana, more than 30,000 people gathered on 29 October 1918 to witness the proclamation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (State of SCS) — the first sovereign political entity in which Slovenes achieved national self-determination. The Croatian Sabor voted on the same day in Zagreb to sever all state and legal ties with Austria-Hungary. The new state assumed administration over Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian territories within Austria-Hungary.

The State of SCS was a confederal entity: its supreme body was the National Council of SCS in Zagreb (established 5–7 October 1918), while executive authority in Slovenia was exercised by the National Government for Slovenia in Ljubljana, established on 31 October 1918. Regional sections of the National Council assumed administration in individual provinces — among them in Gorizia (Gorica) and partly in Trieste (Trst).

The National Council assumes power — Gorizia and Trieste

When Italian troops arrived in November 1918, they did not occupy an administrative vacuum. The State of SCS had already established legitimate democratic organs of authority in these territories, which the Italian army forcibly dissolved.

In Gorizia (Gorica), the Regional Section of the National Council had been operating since 13 September 1918. On 1 November 1918, it assumed full public administration of the Slovenian part of the County of Gorizia and Gradisca (Goriško-gradiščanska dežela), including the city of Gorizia, in the name of the State of SCS. Security was provided by the 2nd Mountain Rifle Regiment — approximately 2,000 men who arrived on 2 November and took an oath on the Rojce heights near Gorizia as national guards, assuming protection of key public institutions, including the railway station.

In Trieste (Trst), the National Council of SCS functioned as the first democratic representative initiative of this multilingual city. It represented the Slovenian and Croatian majority, which Austrian administration had at times enumerated under multilingual conditions.

Armistice of Villa Giusti

Representatives of Austria-Hungary and Italy signed the armistice on 3 November 1918 at 3 p.m. at Villa Giusti near Padua. The text had been agreed on 31 October 1918 in Paris by all Entente members, including Serbia. For the occupation of Slovenian territory, Articles 3 and 4 of the first (military) part and Articles 1 and 5 of the annex to the agreement are key.

Article 3 defines the so-called evacuated zone of Austria-Hungary, to be occupied by Entente forces. Article 4 guarantees them freedom of movement throughout the remaining Austro-Hungarian territory for the maintenance of public order or potential operations against Germany.

The demarcation line in the area of present-day Slovenia ran from Mangart across the watershed of the Julian Alps to the passes of Petrovo Brdo, Kladje and Ledinsko Razpotje above Idrija. From there it skirted the Sava basin and descended to Snežnik, then to the sea; the evacuated zone also included Kastav, Matulji and Volosko. It differed from the later Rapallo border most notably in the central section, where Planina, Logatec, Unec and Rakek also fell within the evacuated zone.

The annex to the agreement governs the practical course of the occupation and withdrawal. Article 1 requires the maintenance of at least a three-kilometre distance between the two armies; Article 5 stipulates a two-stage Austro-Hungarian withdrawal, starting on 4 November at 3 p.m.

In the first phase (deadline: 9 November at 3 p.m.), the Austro-Hungarian army was required to leave the area west of the so-called yellow demarcation line. In the second, final phase (deadline: 19 November at 3 p.m.), it was required to withdraw behind the blue, or main demarcation line of Article 3. In total, the army had fifteen days to withdraw.

Chronicle — from proclamation to expulsion (29 Oct – 23 Nov 1918)

The Governor and the structure of authority

Lieutenant-General Carlo Petitti di Roreto assumed the powers of military governor on 3 November 1918 for the territory the Italians named Venezia Giulia. The governorate was a military body exercising civil authority; it did not immediately abolish the previous legislation of Austria-Hungary — the governor could issue new decrees and ordinances with the force of law.

Administratively, the authority operated under the Segretariato Generale per gli Affari Civili (General Secretariat for Civil Affairs), which was part of the Italian Supreme Command. Petitti governed without local representation, without a parliament and without any autonomy for subordinate authorities.

Early decrees — November 1918

In the first days of the occupation, the governorate issued a series of decrees with direct effects on the local population:

Simultaneously, the governorate introduced:

• press censorship and prohibition of unlicensed printing;
• prohibition of unauthorised movement across the demarcation line;
• prohibition of public assemblies without prior authorisation;
• disarmament of the national guards (guardie nazionali) that had formed upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.

Measures against the local population

Italian was declared the sole official language — even though it was spoken by a minority of the population of the occupied territories. The destruction of Slovenian and Yugoslav symbols became a daily task of the new authorities.

Austrian and Slovenian officials and clerical staff were dismissed and expelled, replaced by officials from Italy. Particular pressure was felt by educated layers: teachers, priests and public officials of Slovenian origin, who began relocating to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in the very first weeks.

In addition to individual deportations, the authorities also conducted collective internments of persons designated as anti-italiani. The looting of property and foodstuffs by military units was recorded by Yugoslav authorities, which collected complaints through the Office for the Occupied Territory.

Slovenian schooling and cultural institutions

The military administration began gradually dismantling Slovenian public life as early as 1918 to 1920. It closed secondary schools with Slovenian or Croatian as the language of instruction — among the first were the classical gymnasium in Pazin and the secondary school in Volosko (1918). Cultural societies and reading rooms were under constant surveillance, and Slovenian printed matter was subject to censorship.

Transition to civil administration — July 1919

By Royal Decree (Regio Decreto) no. 1251 of 24 July 1919, Italy formally replaced the military administration in Venezia Giulia and Venetian Trentino with civil administration. General civil commissioners (commissari generali civili) were appointed — one based in Trieste (Trst), the other in Trent.

The commissioners, pursuant to Article 2 of the decree, assumed all powers previously held by the military governor, and were directly accountable to the prime minister. The civil administration was provisional — pending formal annexation — and financed from the emergency military budget.

By a further Royal Decree no. 1233 of 22 July 1920, the civil administrations were regulated with expanded competences. The entire structure was nominally provisional; in practice, however, it served as the foundation for the permanent integration of the new provinces into Italian state structures.

Burning of the Narodni dom

The Narodni dom (National Hall) in Trieste (Trst) — built in 1904 to designs by architect Maks Fabiani — was the central cultural gathering place of the Slovenian community in Trieste. In addition to a large hall and theatre, it housed a hotel, a bank, a newspaper editorial office and a cinema.

On 13 July 1920, it was burned down in an organised attack by fascist squads under the leadership of Francesco Giunta. The attack was part of broader anti-Slavic unrest that had erupted following an incident in Split on 11 July 1920, in which Italian soldiers were killed. The arson also destroyed archival material preserving the memory of Slovenian social life in the city. Benito Mussolini publicly praised the act.

Violations of the demarcation line and the Vrhnika Incident

Following the signing of the armistice, the Italian army did not consistently observe the demarcation line. While the political leadership in Rome was restraining excessive aggression — aware of the image Italy would project to its allies if seen as a power violating an armistice it had itself signed — the troops in the field did not consistently comply. Violations were documented at several points along the entire demarcation line.

In the north, the 9th Army had units beyond the demarcation line at Vršič, Petrovo Brdo and Rovte until the summer of 1921. The political dilemma was acute: a withdrawal would amount to a de facto admission that Italian troops had been where they had no right to be — which would have strengthened the negotiating position of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The army therefore persisted, while Rome diplomatically concealed the matter.

Plans for a genuine occupation of Carniola existed — Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia-Aosta, commander of the 3rd Army, had proposed them to the Supreme Command. The proposal was rejected by General Diaz. Italy simply could not afford to occupy Ljubljana without risking a diplomatic breakdown with its British and French allies.

Demographic picture at the time of and after the occupation

The difference between the Austrian census of 1910 and the first Italian census of 1921 reveals the scale of displacements and emigration in this period — but not that alone. Part of the difference reflects pressure from Italian authorities and census-takers to record as few residents as possible as Slovenes. According to the 1910 census data, approximately 466,000 Slovenes and Croats lived in the area of present-day Venezia Giulia; after the 1921 census, this number had fallen to around 349,000. In the same period, the number of persons with Italian as their language of daily use (Umgangssprache) rose from approximately 354,000 to 467,000.

Annexation to Italy

The territories Italy acquired through the Treaty of Rapallo were formally annexed to the Kingdom of Italy on 20 March 1921. On this occasion, Italy issued a special postage series inscribed Annessione della Venezia Giulia (5 June 1921). The formal allied presence in the area concluded only on 21 September 1921.

Provincial reorganisation proceeded gradually. By royal decree of 7 November 1922, civil commissioners were abolished and replaced by regular prefects. The provinces of Gorizia (Gorica), Trieste (Trst) and Pola (Pulj) were established in the period 1922–1923; Rijeka (Reka) came under Italy only with the Treaty of Rome in 1924.

Venezia Giulia thereby ceased to be "newly acquired territory" and became an integral part of the Italian state structure. This was followed by the systematic Italianisation of the administration, judiciary and education, culminating in Gentile's school reform of 1923 and the decree prohibiting Slavic languages in the courts, issued in 1925. Further details in the section Italianisation.

Chronological overview

Sources and bibliography