Page 136 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

annexation of all the Italian ‘unredeemed lands’ trast to some of the young intellectuals in Tri-
(terre irredente), was part of democratic and re- este, such as the Stuparich brothers, Scipio Slata-
publican forces in Italy and was always an im- per and Angelo Vivante, Timeus-Fauro rode the
portant component of the left. However, one wave of nationalism and populism, insisting that
decade before World War I broke out, the move- any reconciliation with the Germanic and Slav-
ment moved to the political right . The discourse ic worlds was impossible in the context of a dual
on irredentism as a possible class weapon, as a monarchy because it would indicate the weak-
step towards militarism, is revealed in a series ness of the Italian national component. Break-
of nationalist journals on Italian soil in the first ing away from liberal-nationalist circles, which
decade of the 20th century, in the years preced- continued to advocate the defence of Italian in-
ing World War I. Despite its strong presence in terests within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he
the Italian political discourse of the time, it did preferred to equate the national struggle with the
136 not receive any concrete encouragement from quest for power and expansionism. He perceived
its supporters and defenders to achieve its ‘main the national struggle as an inevitable destiny that
mission’ – the annexation of all the ‘unredeemed would be achieved by the complete disappear- ti
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 11 (2023), številka 2 / volume 11 (2023), number 2
lands’ (terre irredente). Nor did its inclusion in ance of one of the races living there, and the Slav-
Italian politics at the beginning of the twentieth ic danger could only be eliminated by the annex-
century significantly change the appearance of ation of the ‘unredeemed lands’ to the Kingdom
irredentism from that of the second half of the of Italy and the complete isolation of the Slavic ta
nineteenth century. More radical changes took population living in the territory of the Austri-
place after the congress in Rome, at the end of an Littoral (Verginella 2016, 709). Some histori-
December 1912, when about 30 representatives ans have placed Pio Riego Gambini, the creator
of the democratic wing left the nationalist move- of the ‘Istrian Youth Fascio’ (Fascio Giovanile
ment because of its completely undemocratic Istriano), founded in Koper on 1 October 1911, di
spirit. After the Libyan war, which precipitated and the editor of the magazine Giovane Istria
the integration of nationalists into the political (1913), alongside Ruggero Timeus-Fauro on Is-
3
struggle, the determined and intransigent wing trian soil. Gambini expressed his thoughts and
of the nationalists welcomed into their midst a views in La Giovane Istria and other publica-
group of irredentists from Trieste (Fauro, Tama- tions, as well as in some public appearances from
ro, Alberti, Xydias) and the Roman group cen- September 1911 to August 1914, including a rath- here
tred around the magazine L’Idea Nazionale. To- er high-profile appearance in 1913 in front of stu-
gether they founded the so-called ‘imperialist dents from the University of Naples, returnees
irredentism’, of which Ruggero Timaeus-Fau- from the Libyan campaign and fellow students
ro became the most characteristic representa- from various colleges. Unfortunately, the texts
2
tive. As the initiator of the ‘new irredentism’ of his speeches dedicated to Giuseppe Mazzini,
movement, he became an advocate of the liber- the founding of the Italian University in Trieste
ation of the ‘unredeemed lands’, but no longer in and the speeches he addressed to the members
the name of a national or democratic ideal, but and trustees of the ‘Istrian Youth Fascio’ in Ko-
in the expectation of Italian domination in the per in May 1914 have not been preserved. In the
Adriatic. According to Ruggero Timeus-Fau- spirit of irredentist ideology, the young Gambini
ro, the Adriatic question would be resolved out- directed the strong fascio in Koper towards boy-
side Austria-Hungary by Italy gaining the for- cotting Austrian government measures, scare-
mer possessions of the Venetian Republic and mongering and keeping a watchful eye on what studiauniversitatis
becoming the sole power in the Adriatic. In con- was happening on Italian soil (Žitko, 2016, 699).
2 For more on Fauro’s nationalist doctrine see in particular 3 For more on the ideological views and activities of P. R.
Verginella (2016, 705–720). Gambini, see Quarantotti Gambini (1940, 158–169; 1954).