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The First World War and Multiethnic Relations in Dalmatia

On the eve of the First World War, ethnic relations in Dalmatia were very complex. There was an open conflict between Italians and Croatiansthat resulted in occasional physical harassment. Italian community wassubjected to physical violence in Split while, on the other hand, Croats inZadar were exposed to Italian harassment. Relations between Croats andSerbs were ambivalent. On one hand, they tried to overcome their previousconflict, dating back to the end of the 19 th century, and use ―new course policy to achieve strategic unity of Croatian and Serbian goals, whichfunctioned at provincial level. On the other hand, in the Municipality ofZadar, the local Serbs collaborated with Italians, which could be observed inthe elections for the Imperial Council in 1907 and 1911. The opposing Partyof Rights did not accept collaboration with the Serbs since its membersperceived the Great Serbia ideology as the greatest danger for Croatiannation. During the Balkan Wars 1912-13, ideas of integral Yugoslavism andpro-Serbian politics in Dalmatia reached their peak. The war against Serbiaresulted in persecution of Serbian organizations and politicians, while the waragainst Italy in 1915 led to oppression against Italian organizations andindividuals. In such circumstances, Austrian authorities began to rely on theCroatian political course, which resulted in strengthening of Croatian politicalelite in Zadar. However, since weakening of the Monarchy and the dangerItaly might conquer the Croatian Adriatic coast became more obvious, Croatian and Serbian political parties began close collaboration, including theParty of Rights, which had previously opposed any joint activities. At the endof the War they formed two clearly opposed national blocks. One consistedof Croatian and Serbian political options, in which Croatians accepted theidea of Yugoslavia, and the other block consisted of Dalmatian Italians. Arrival of Serbian and Italian armies in Dalmatia at the end of 1918 led tomultiethnic conflicts, in which Italians harassed Croatians and Serbs in Zadar and ―Yugoslavian Dalmatia harassed Italians. After the Treaty of Rapallo in 1920 when almost the entire Dalmatia fell into the hands of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians (Yugoslavia), the majority of the Italiancommunity moved away. A great number of Serbs and Croats left the townof Zadar, which was ceded to Italy. The idea of Yugoslavia, which publiclyappeared to be so unquestionable during 1918-19, in the end proved to spanacross a thin layer of Croatian population in Dalmatia. Because, the peasantry which constituting the most of the Croatian population in Dalmatia, was notactively involved in the political life of the province. Yugoslavism as theideological matrix was never accepted by the broad population, and this wasonly further proved at the first elections in the Kingdom of SHS(Yugoslavia), when the peasantry in mass voted for the Croatian PeasantParty, extreme opponent of Yugoslav ideology.

The Kingdom of Dalmatia , Habsburg Monarchy, Zadar, First World War

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