Disputed souls National indifference and identity building among Trentine POW in Russia (1914-1920) Gabriele Moretti – s2390892
[email protected] Leiden University – Faculty of Humanities MA Cities, Migration and Global Interdependence Academic Year 2019/2020 First reader: Leo Lucassen Second Reader: Andrew DJ Shield [17911 words] List of contents: I. Introduction 1 II. Historical context: the Empire and its nationalities 7 III. Going to war 23 IV. Captivity 36 V. Patriotic education 45 VI. Conclusions 56 VII. List of analyzed sources 61 VIII. List of illustrations and bibliography 62 I – Introduction From the late Middle Ages, the current Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige was a Habsburg possession, divided between the Prince-Bishopric of Trent – the southern Italian- speaking area, roughly corresponding to the actual province of Trent – and the County/Princely of Tirol, more or less equivalent to the province of Bozen and inhabited by a German speaking majority. It was only after the Third Italian War of Independence (1866) that the Trentine national question begun to rise: in a climate of patriotic exaltation and relevant geopolitical changes, more and more Trentine intellectuals claimed to be unified to the newborn kingdom. However, a relevant part of the population, whose identification was basically linked to their village or valley, remained loyal to Vienna and, overall, to the figure of Franz Joseph.1 This entangled framework of identification and nationality persisted until the entrance of Italy in World War I, with as main goal the annexation of Trent and Trieste. In 1914, more than 60,000 Trentine were recruited in the Austro-Hungarian army and sent to the Eastern front.