The Fiume Question 1918-1920

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László Gulyás - Loránt Bali: The Fiume Question 1918-1920 parliament, Andrea Ossoinack, held a parliamentary speech, in which he emphasized that Fiume had never been part of Croatia; it was Italian and it should remain a part of Italy. 4 In October 1918 parallelly two national councils came into being in the city. On the one hand it was the Italians who set up the Italian National Council of Fiume, and, on the other, the Croatians brought about the Fiume Committee of the Zagreb National Council. The birth of these two parallel bodies is indicative of the fact that the Italian-Croatian struggle for Fiume started. The Croatian army entered Fiume on October 23. The last week of October in Fiume can best be described by marching soldiers. In several of the city’s streets Croatian soldiers marched under their Croatian flag, while in other streets it was the Italians who marched under their Italian flags. 5 This situation rightfully raises another question. Where were Fiume’s Hungarian leaders and inhabitants during these events? The answer to this question is simple. Zoltán Jékelfalussy, Fiume’s last Hungarian governor, having realised that the Hungarians did not stand a chance to fight back the Italian or the Croatian crowds of demonstrators, left for Budapest on October 28th. After the governor left, the office holders of the Hungarian state, including public servants, employees, soldiers, policemen, office workers, railwaymen, also fled. In the city of Fiume these groups of Hungarian people did not see their lives and their future secure. 6 Fiume’s Italian population, as well as the Croatians aimed at solving the situation for their own good. In order to come to a decision, the Italian National Council of Fiume, presided by Grossich Antonio, in the city’s main square on October 30, 1918 proclaimed the city’s annexation to Italy. 7 The Italian-Croatian rivalry is illustrated well by the fact, that the official Croatian delegation arrived from Zagreb on the very same day to take charge of the city. Comissar Rajčevič, head of the delegation, moved into the governor’s mansion. Antonio Grossich immediately protested in the name of the Italian National Council and declared that they would support the union with their mother country, i.e. Italy, and look upon the Southern Slav occupation as a temporary situation. During the following days the Croatian-Italian conflicts were becoming strained in Fiume. One of the special features of this relationship was the changing of the flags. The Croatians removed the Italian flags from the buildings, while the Italians did the same with the Croatian flags. On public buildings this changing of the flag took place on several occasions. In addition, there were a lot of violent crimes, looting, burglary and theft. 4 FRIED Ilona, Fiume, Enciklopédia Kiadó, Budapest 2004, 22. 5 HORVÁTH József, A magyar Fiume végnapjai 1914-1924, Hadtörténelmi Közlemények, 2003/1. szám 172-175. 6 HAJDÚ Zoltán, Fiume (Rijeka) kérdéséről. IN: PAP Norbert (szerk.), A Balatontól az Adriáig, Lomart Kiadó, Pécs 2006, 104-109. 7 FRIED 2004, 22. 144
ÖT KONTINENS, az Új- és Jelenkori Egyetemes Történeti Tanszék tudományos közleményei, N o 2011/1. ELTE, BUDAPEST, 2012. On 4 th November two destroyers, the Stocco and the Sirtary got into the harbor. The commander of the fleet was Admiral Rainer, who, in front of the Italian City fathers of Fiume, who had come to greet him, announced that he had come in the name of the king of Italy and also that he would do everything in his power to defend Fiume’s Italian population. 8 During the following days several other warships arrived and on 17 th November Italian land forces – troops of general San Marzano - also appeared. In order to avoid conflict with the Italian armed forces, the Croatian troops left the city on the very same day. In addition to the Italian soldiers in November 1918 Allied Forces troops, including the Americans, the British and the French, also arrived in Fiume. They came, because the great powers that made up the Allied Forces, were unwilling to give the city over to Italy. The presence of the Allied troops did not prevent the Italians from considering Fiume as a city of their own. On November 28, 1918 Cagni, an Italian general, while paying a visit to Fiume, was greeted with outstanding ovation by the local Italians. In his speech the general announced: ’This is our land. And it will remain ours.’ 9 This utterance was taken seriously by the Italian inhabitants of Fiume, who started to follow an ’Italian way of life’ in the city by undertaking the following steps: in January 1919 all postal stamps, 10 then the banknotes were stamped over and the schools were taken over. In August 1919 the background of Fiume’s public servants was investigated and only those could continue in their jobs, who were approved and taken over by the Italian National Council. The others were forced to leave the city. 11 The Fiume Question in the Peace Conference The Fiume question led to heated discussions in the course of the Versailles peace talks, starting in January 1919. Within this context the Fiume question was part of a larger problem. This so-called ’Italian’ problem was rooted in the fact that in 1915 it had been absolutely essential for the Allied Forces to engage Italy on their side. On April 16, 1915 a secret treaty was signed in London and the Allied Forces promised Italy the possibility of a territorial expansion of considerable scale, including the area of South Tirol, other areas in the Mediterranean region, such as Trieste and its neighbourhood, the islands of the Kvarner Gulf, the northern part of Dalmatia (including the port of Zara), some islands in southern Dalmatia and part of Albania (Valona). 12 The problem was also rooted in another fact, namely, that the Allied Forces had promised Serbia certain areas of the Adriatic region, namely the Croatian 8 HORVÁTH 2003, 176. 9 HORVÁTH 2003, 178. 10 FRIED Ilona, Emlékek városa Fiume, Ponte Alapítvány, Budapest 2001, 186. 11 HORVÁTH 2003, 181. 12 ROMSICS Ignác, Nemzet, nemzetiség és állam Kelet-Közép- és Délkelet-Európában a 19. és 20. században, Napvilág Kiadó, Budapest 1998, 160. 145
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The Fiume Question 1918-1920

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