Description
Book SynopsisSouth Tyrol, a region in the heart of the Alps about half the size of Connecticut, brings into sharp focus an important part of twentieth-century history. Tyrol, a province that had been part of Austria for over 500 years and was almost totally German-speaking, was split in two after World War I and the southern part awarded to Italy as spoils of war.The first phase to follow after the split of Tyrol was systematic subjection by the Italian Fascists of what had been a regional majority in South Tyrol, but was now a minority within Italy. In a second phase, to gain an Italian majority, the country was settled with Italians from the south, who had a totally different mentality from the Italians residing in South Tyrol. With the emergence of National Socialism in Germany, and eventually with the Hitler-Mussolini Agreement of 1939, a third phase emerged: an experiment in ethnic cleansing called the Option. Eighty-six percent of all South Tyroleans agreed to leave South Tyrol and become cit
Table of ContentsI: 1918–1922: From the Division of Tyrol to the March on Bozen; II: Ettore Tolomei 6; III: 1922–1938: The Fascist Policy towards South Tyrol; IV: 1939: Between Fascism and National Socialism — The Option; V: 1940-1945: Resettlement and “Reunification”; VI: 14 September 1945: No Return to Austria; VII: 1946: The Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement; VIII: 1948-1969: From Pseudo-Autonomy to the “Package”“Break with Trient!”; IX: From the “Package” to the Present
