Description
The Trentino people's claims to autonomy were a constant in the century from 1848 to 1946, beyond the transitions that placed the provincial territory in different political-institutional realities. In the middle of the 19th century, the southern edge of the Tyrol elected its own representatives in the Frankfurt am Main Parliament, the constituent assembly of the Germanic Confederation, who asked for a form of administrative autonomy. This request was, however, answered in the negative.
The proposals made by the Trentine deputies in the constituent assemblies in Vienna and Kremsier, where the reform and modernisation of the Habsburg state was discussed, were met with a similar result. The Trentino people initially refused to send their representatives to the Tyrolean Diet, denouncing Innsbruck's lack of interest in local problems. The demand for administrative autonomy thus manifested itself in the establishment of 'patri committees' that followed the debates of the constituent assembly and informed the population, as well as in popular subscriptions to plead the cause of autonomy.
In the second half of the 19th century, the national question shook the Habsburg dominions, redrawing the map of the Empire and intertwining with the political issues of extending civil rights to ever greater strata of the population. Even in the Italian Tyrol, where the term 'Trentino' was increasingly used to highlight its Italian character with respect to the rest of the region, sentiments expressing different identities and aspirations began to take root, ranging from a simple affirmation of Italianism to open declarations of secessionist intentions. The demand for autonomy was thus combined with the claim to Italianity as a specificity of the Trentino people within a multinational empire, while irredentism, which aspired to unite Trentino with the young Kingdom of Italy and developed mainly in the latter, was decidedly in the minority at least until the Great War.
The Italian victory in the First World War led to a revision of the borders, with the annexation not only of predominantly Italian-speaking territories but also of other regions with a non-Italian majority. For Trentino, which was part of the new Venezia Tridentina region together with the territory up to the Brenner Pass, a season of profound institutional changes thus began after the tragedy of the war (100,000 refugees and over 11,000 dead). Forms of autonomy for this territory were also discussed in order to enhance the traditions of self-government and protect the rights of the German-speaking communities.
However, liberal Italy experienced particularly turbulent years and eventually succumbed under the onslaught of rising fascism. Having come to power in October 1922, after having frontally attacked the liberal institutions also in Trento and Bolzano, first the Mussolini government and then the regime cancelled every possible autonomist scenario, imposing their own centralist and oppressive vision. Autonomy would only begin to be spoken of again in the aftermath of the Second World War and once freedom and democracy had been regained.
