Page 86 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 86
Trans-Border Region of Istria
building and transport,⁴¹ which also employed the largest share of the
population – many people were also employed in Trieste; traditionally,
salting and fishing, as well as agriculture in the hinterland, were also im-
portant (Žitko, 2017, pp. 53–55). From 1902 until 1935, Trieste and the
North of Istria were linked by a narrow-gauge railway Parenzana (Roselli,
2002; Šuligoj & Medarić, 2015); the railway symbolically connected the
various communities (nations) of the region. In the second half of the
19th century, tourism also began to play an increasingly important social
and economic role. Upper Adriatic costal centres like Grado, Portorož
and Opatija became among the most popular destinations of the mainly
continental Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Kavrečič, 2009; 2015; Šuligoj,
2015c; Šuligoj & Kavrečič, 2018). The beginning of the armed conflict with
the Kingdom of Italy in 1915 halted the prosperity of the region.
wwi and period of the kingdom of italy
The ghost of the war slid along the coast of western Istria before the be-
ginning of the military conflict on the Soča/Isonzo front (Soška fronta,
Sočanska bojišnica). On 12 August 1914, a civil steamboat Baron Gautsch
sank between Pula and Rovinj after entering the minefield of the Austro-
Hungarian Navy, which was intended to defend the military port and the
Imperial Navy against possible hostile attacks from the sea (Spirito, 2002).
From 1915, Pula was bombed 41 times by the Italian military aviation,
during which the Maritime Museum in the Arsenal was also damaged
(Mandić, 2006, pp. 210–212). The men of Istria were called up, while the
rest of the population of Istria, especially in 1917, suffered from hunger,
which, combined with diseases and dangerous living conditions, led to
emigration (Herman Kaurić, 2015b, p. 14) – the first major migration wave
in the 20th century caused by an armed conflict.⁴² When it seemed that
in the late 1918 the period of peace finally came, two Italian commandos
attacked the s ms Viribus Unitis ship, the pride of the Austro-Hungarian
Navy, which had already been taken over by the new State of Serbs of
Croats and Slovenes.⁴³ The ship was sunk at the Port of Pula on the night
between 31 October and 1 November together with the crew and admiral
Janko Vuković-Podkapelski (Marsetič, 2013, pp. 515–517; Perović, 2006,
pp. 175, 177–178; Šetić, 2011b, p. 164). Thus, on a symbolic level, the war in
⁴¹ More can be found in Šuligoj and Medarić (2015) and Kavrečič (2007).
⁴² In this case it was just an evacuation to the other parts of the Empire.
⁴³ This provisional state carried out the authority for six days (Perović, 2006, p. 185).
86
building and transport,⁴¹ which also employed the largest share of the
population – many people were also employed in Trieste; traditionally,
salting and fishing, as well as agriculture in the hinterland, were also im-
portant (Žitko, 2017, pp. 53–55). From 1902 until 1935, Trieste and the
North of Istria were linked by a narrow-gauge railway Parenzana (Roselli,
2002; Šuligoj & Medarić, 2015); the railway symbolically connected the
various communities (nations) of the region. In the second half of the
19th century, tourism also began to play an increasingly important social
and economic role. Upper Adriatic costal centres like Grado, Portorož
and Opatija became among the most popular destinations of the mainly
continental Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Kavrečič, 2009; 2015; Šuligoj,
2015c; Šuligoj & Kavrečič, 2018). The beginning of the armed conflict with
the Kingdom of Italy in 1915 halted the prosperity of the region.
wwi and period of the kingdom of italy
The ghost of the war slid along the coast of western Istria before the be-
ginning of the military conflict on the Soča/Isonzo front (Soška fronta,
Sočanska bojišnica). On 12 August 1914, a civil steamboat Baron Gautsch
sank between Pula and Rovinj after entering the minefield of the Austro-
Hungarian Navy, which was intended to defend the military port and the
Imperial Navy against possible hostile attacks from the sea (Spirito, 2002).
From 1915, Pula was bombed 41 times by the Italian military aviation,
during which the Maritime Museum in the Arsenal was also damaged
(Mandić, 2006, pp. 210–212). The men of Istria were called up, while the
rest of the population of Istria, especially in 1917, suffered from hunger,
which, combined with diseases and dangerous living conditions, led to
emigration (Herman Kaurić, 2015b, p. 14) – the first major migration wave
in the 20th century caused by an armed conflict.⁴² When it seemed that
in the late 1918 the period of peace finally came, two Italian commandos
attacked the s ms Viribus Unitis ship, the pride of the Austro-Hungarian
Navy, which had already been taken over by the new State of Serbs of
Croats and Slovenes.⁴³ The ship was sunk at the Port of Pula on the night
between 31 October and 1 November together with the crew and admiral
Janko Vuković-Podkapelski (Marsetič, 2013, pp. 515–517; Perović, 2006,
pp. 175, 177–178; Šetić, 2011b, p. 164). Thus, on a symbolic level, the war in
⁴¹ More can be found in Šuligoj and Medarić (2015) and Kavrečič (2007).
⁴² In this case it was just an evacuation to the other parts of the Empire.
⁴³ This provisional state carried out the authority for six days (Perović, 2006, p. 185).
86
