Diet of Dalmatia

Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Dalmatia

The Diet of Dalmatia (Croatian, Dalmatinski sabor, Serbian: Далматински сабор, Dalmatinski sabor; Italian: Dieta della Dalmazia) was the regional assembly of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was founded in 1861 in Zadar and was eventually dissolved in the early 1900s.

The Autonomists (pro-Italian) held their position as the parliamentary majority from the founding of the Dalmatian diet until 1870, when the People's Party (Croatian) won the parliamentary elections that year. Croatian became the official language of the diet in 1883.^[1]

The Premises

Under the constitutional reforms promoted by the Emperor Francis Joseph with the imperial Decret dated 20 October 1860, the Empire was in some way "federalization", following the majority opinion of the Board Empire: according to these determinations every province of the kingdom was reconstituted - or newly-created - a proper diet, which had been conferred many legislative and judicial powers.

In Croatia, the imperial law, accompanied by the first convocation of the local diet, was warmly welcomed, and since its first meeting with union representatives allege to Dalmatia: an old question raised periodically in the face of the imperial authorities.

An imperial autograph on 5 December in Vienna created a 'courtly department (ministry) for Croatia-Slavonia, introduced the Croatian language in the administration of these territories and declared that accommodate the demands of rebuilding the ancient tiara-Slavonia-Croatian Dalmatian, postponing a final decision, however, when Dalmatia, still lacking provincial assembly, was able to express their political will. They also agreed that a political representation of Dalmatia was sent to Zagreb to discuss the issue at a conference chaired by the Ban of Croatia, the highest political authority in the territory of Croatia-Slavonia.

The autograph imperial produced various representations in Dalmatian cities: it was particularly the city of Split congregation - led by Antonio Bajamonti - to be distinguished by the bitterness of the protests, sending an appeal to Francis Joseph to convene the provincial assembly of Dalmatia before taking no decision on the constitutional arrangements of the province within the Empire. In the report attached to the appeal, Bajamonti wrote a few sentences later become famous: "The Dalmatian should be even Slavic, will never Croatian election."

Most of the Dalmatian municipalities on the basis of Split, refused to send their representatives in Zagreb, deciding instead to form a delegation that went to Vienna to plead the claims no annexation to Croatia.

Meanwhile, the imperial court began to fear that the granting of overly broad powers to the diets would facilitate the unleashing of domestic centrifugal forces, reducing the authority of the emperor.

In February 1861 were held several meetings of the Council of Ministers of Austria, during which they discussed at length the problem of Dalmatia and his possible meeting with Croatia: Ivan Mažuranić, chairman of the department courtly for Croatia-Slavonia, pleaded passionately cause, supported by Foreign Minister Bernhard von Rechberg, who considered the union needed to counter an alleged "Italian threat" against the Dalmatian was necessary - told Rechberg - strengthening the Slavic element in Dalmatia, loyal to Austria, Confronting secessionist dreams of a very influential Italian minority. The positions of the Dalmatian separatists were supported by liberal politicians instead of German, who managed to persuade the emperor to postpone the decision, setting up a provincial assembly Dalmatian that would later negotiate with Croatian representatives on the possibility of unification.

The creation of the Diet

Recommended by the German-speaking Liberals, Francis Joseph issued a license by February 26, 1861 which created an Imperial Parliament (composed of the House and Senate) with extensive legislative powers, drastically reducing the powers previously planned for the provincial assembly. Within this patent, 15 were approved statutes of the reconstituted provincial assembly, with its Sabor regulations, which provided for an electoral system that gave voting rights only to those who were in possession of even a minimal fee.

The electoral system was based on four curiae, representing various social bodies:

• The high census (which ten representatives elected in Dalmatia)
• The cities (eight representatives)
• The chambers of commerce (three representatives)
• The rural municipalities (twenty representatives)

Apart from these, for the Kingdom of Dalmatia was envisaged that Members were entitled to the Archbishop of Zadar and Vladika (Metropolitan) Orthodox for Dalmatia, Istria and Albania pro tempore. The seat of the Diet was Zara.

This system gives the bourgeois and aristocratic classes and the urban population than rural, if the rest of the empire strengthened the political clout of the German group, in the eastern Adriatic (Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia) favor speaking populations and Italian culture, traditionally the richest and most concentrated in cities on the coast.

The first diet of 1861

Based on these assumptions, between 24 and 30 March 1861 held the first elections for the provincial assembly of Dalmatia.

These flagrant sanctioned victory of the liberal movement Autonomist Party (autonomy) in training adverse Croatian People's Party (Narodna stranka) also called "annexation" or "national". The separatists won 29 seats out of 41.

Party	Seats
Autonomist Party	29
People's Party	12
Total	41

Elected representatives

Autonomist Party

From Zadar

• Vittorio Bioni
• Cosimo de Begna Possedaria
• Vincenzo Duplancich
• Antonio Smirich (from 1863: Giovanni Salghetti-Drioli)
• Antonio Bajamonti
• Spiro Petrović
• Natale Filippi
• Giacomo Ghiglianovich
• Francesco Borreli

From Split

• Leonardo Dudan
• Giorgio Giovannizio
• Luigi Lapenna
• Vincenzo degli Alberti

From Šibenik

• Antonio Galvani

From Makarska

• Giacomo Vucovich

From Dubrovnik

• Giovanni Radmilli
• Luigi Serragli

From Korcula

• Giovanni Smerchinich

From Hvar

• Girolamo Macchiedo
• Giovanni Macchiedo
• Girolamo Vusio

From Skradin

• Simeone Bujas
• Giovanni Marasović

From Drnis

• Melchiorre Difnico

From Trogir

• Antonio Radman
• Antonio Fanfogna

From Sinj

• Josip Dešković
• Anton Buljan

From Imotski

• Niccolò Mirossevich

People's Party

From Dubrovnik

• Miho Klaic
• Marino Giorni

From Kotor

• Josip Gjurović (from 1863 Kosta Vojnović)
• Bernardo Verona (from 1863 Josip Banović-Damianović)

From Benkovac

• Petar Radulović

From Drnis

• Pane Sablić
• Krsto Kulišić

From Vrgorac

• Miho Pavlinović

From Cavtat

• Djure Pulić

From Ston

• Krsto Jerković

From Budva

• Luka Tripcović
• Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša^[2]

President of the Diet: Spiro Petrović (Autonomist Party)

In this first election had not yet radicalized the identification between the Autonomist Party and the Party of the People respectively with the Italians and Croats (or more generally the Slavs of Dalmatia): the idea of Dalmatian Nation with the Niccolo Tommaseo ideas - that is, a nation-bridge between Slavia and Italy - had breached even among the Dalmatian ethnic Slavs, so that among some members are elected Serb separatists (Petrović) or bilingual, with Croatian mother language (Buljan, Bujas, Marassovich and Mirossevich). At the same time, among annexationists all know the Italian language and some (Days and Verona) were also ethnically Italian: the chronicles of the time even reported that some annexationists members were derided for their inability to speak in Croatian.

On 18 April 1861, the Diet passed a motion submitted by Baiamonti and Galvani and to reject the request for union Dalmatian for Croatia and Slavonia. Only two were the dissenting votes.

Diet of 1864

Party	Seats
Autonomist Party	32
People's Party	9
Total	41

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1864:

Girolamo Alesani (1864–1866), Antonio Bajamonti, Cosimo de Begna Possedaria, Vittorio Bioni, Orsatto Bonda, Giuseppe Descovich (1866–1867), Melchiorre Difnico, Pietro Doimi, Stefano Doimi, Giovanni Fanfogna, Natale Filippi (1866–1867), Antonio Galvani, Giacomo Ghiglianovich (1866–1867), Nicola Lallich, Francesco Lanza, Luigi Lapenna (1864–1866), Giovanni Battista Macchiedo(or Machiedo), Pietro Doimo Maupas, Luigi Mery, Simeone Michieli Vitturi, Andrea Nicolich, Spiridione Petrovich, Giuseppe Piperata, Valerio Ponte, Giovanni Radmilli, Simeone Rossignoli, Luigi Serragli, Antonio Stermich, Giacomo Vucovich, Vincenzo Vuletich, Giovanni Zaffron, Francesco Zanchi.

President of Diet: Spiro Petrović (Autonomist Party).

Diet of 1867

Partito	Seats
Autonomist Party	26
People's Party	15
Total	41

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1867: Girolamo Alesani (1869–1870), Antonio Bajamonti, Cosimo de Begna Possedaria, Vittorio Bioni, Agostino Cindro, Giuseppe Descovich (1867–1868), Stefano Doimi (1867–1869), Giovanni Fanfogna, Gaetano Frari, Luigi Frari, Giacomo Ghiglianovich, Giorgio Giovannizio, Stefano Knezevich (Croatian People's Party), Luigi Lapenna, Enrico Matcovich, Pietro Doimo Maupas, Andrea Nicolich, Spiridione Petrovich, Giuseppe Piperata, Antonio Radman, Antonio Rolli, Simeone de Rossignoli, Giovanni Salghetti-Drioli, Luigi Serragli, Giacomo Vucovich, Vincenzo Vuletich, Giovanni Zaffron.

President of Diet: Spiro Petrović (Autonomist Party).

Diet of 1870

Party	Seats
People's Party	25
Autonomist Party	16
Total	41

President of the Diet: Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša (People's Party).

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1870:
Vincenzo Alesani, Antonio Bajamonti, Cosimo de Begna Possedaria (1870–1873), Natale Filippi (1870–1873), Gaetano Frari, Matteo Gligo, Stefano Knezevich, Andrea Krussevich (1872–1873 e 1875-1876), Francesco Lanza (1870–1874), Luigi Lapenna (1872–1873), Pietro Doimo Maupas, Luigi Mery, Francesco Milcovich (1874–1876), Giuseppe Mladineo (1871–1874), Luigi Nutrizio (1875–1876), Giuseppe Piperata (1871–1873), Valerio Ponte (1870-1870), Giuseppe Radman (1874–1876), Simeone Rossignoli (1874–1876), Niccolò Trigari (1874–1876), Vincenzo Vuletich (1871–1876).

For the first time the People's Party won elections in Dalmatia. The Croat majority did not recognize the validity of the election of many autonomies representatives, and this involves a series of resignations and replacements, plus a heavy indoor climate. The diets had the power within the Empire decisions on schools, therefore this time they closed all Italian schools in Dalmatia, with the exception of those Zadar. It was during these years that the head of the National Party from Dubrovnik Miho Klaic, gave a speech to the Diet, here will be more in Dalmatia Dalmatian Italians. This statement already been and will be one of refrain legacies of Dalmatian Croats, as to be contained in various publications, paradoxically, often written in Italian. In Dalmatia, there is no other nationality you may be out of the Croatian-Slavonic or Serbs. (...) So some Dalmatians wrongly believe themselves Italians, they are not Italians than culture. (...) To this end for them "(Dalmatia) 'should be all Slavic.

Diet of 1876

Party	Seats
People's Party	30
Autonomist Party	11
Total	41

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1876:
Pietro Abelich, Antonio Bajamonti, Cosimo de Begna Possedaria (1878–1880), Giovanni Botteri, Gustavo Ivanich, Stefano Knezevich, Pietro Doimo Maupas, Cesare Pellegrini Danieli, Giovanni Smerchinich, Niccolò Trigari.

President: Đorđe Vojnović (People's Party, after 1879 Serb Party).

Diet of 1883

Party	Seats
Croatian National Party	26
Serbian Party	8
Autonomist Party	7
Total	41

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1883:
Antonio Bajamonti (1888), Gustavo Ivanich (1883–1885), Michele Kapovich (1883-1889), Pietro Doimo Maupas, Giuseppe Messa, Giuseppe Pezzi, Antonio Radman (1885–1886), Luigi Serragli (1883–1885), Leopoldo Stermich (?), Niccolò Trigari.

President: Đorđe Vojnović (Serb Party), Vice president: Michele Kapovich (Autonomist Party).

For the first time in elections for the renewal of the Diet representatives Dalmatian Slavs are divided. The People's Party becomes the Croatian National Party, as he presents for the first cultured on a Serbian Party, born a few years before. This party has a policy very flexible: first allied with the Croats, following up with a lot of Autonomist in local elections, and was fiercely attacked by Croat nationalists: for example what happened to Dubrovnik, which various ethnic-linguistic Serbs believed than Dubrovnik was a Serbian city. From this position, the party is closer to the Croatian Serbs, especially as take off the "Yugoslavian Movement", which claimed to unite all the Slavic peoples. The difficulty to distinguish at this stage, the autonomous Serb deputies in the list of names shown above is reflected, in part because contemporary documents often bear the words of names in Latinized form (The name is Italian, and last name - when is - ending in "-ch"): with a question mark indicates those deputies will probably be identified as Serbs.

Diet of 1889

Party	Seats
Croats National Party	26
Serbian Party	9
Autonomist Party	6
Total	41

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1889:
Antonio Bajamonti (end to 1891), Lorenzo Benevenia, Pietro Doimo Maupas (end to 1891), Baldassarre Podich, Ercolano Salvi (dal 1891), Antonio Smirich, Niccolò Trigari, Niccolò de' Vidovich.

President: Đorđe Vojnović (Serb Party).

Diet of 1895

Party	Seats
People's Party	23
Serbian Party	9
Autonomist Party	6
Party of Rights	3
Total	41

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1895:

Roberto Ghiglianovich, Giovanni Lubin, Ercolano Salvi, Stefano Smerchinich, Niccolò Trigari, Luigi Ziliotto

President: Miho Klaić (People's Party, until 1896); Gajo Bulat (People's Party, from 1896 to 1901).

Diet of 1901

Party	Seats
People's Party	18
Party of Rights	9
Serbian Party	6
Autonomist Party	6
Pure Party of Rights	2
Total	41

lected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1901:
Roberto Ghiglianovich, Natale Krekich, Luigi Pini (dal 1903), Ercolano Salvi, Stefano Smerchinich, Niccolò Trigari (ens to 1902), Luigi Ziliotto.

President: Vicko Ivčević (People's Party, from 1905 Croat Party).

Diet of 1908

Party	Seats
Croatian Party	22
Party of Rights	8
Serbian Party	7
Autonomist Party	6
Total	43

Elected for Autonomist Party, in the Dalmatian parliamentary election, 1908:
Roberto Ghiglianovich, Natale Krekich, Luigi Pini (1910–1918), Ercolano Salvi, Stefano Smerchinich, Luigi Ziliotto.

President: Vicko Ivčević (Croat Party)

Presidents of the Diet

The 2nd and 3rd Presidents were Serbs, while the 1st and latter three were Croats.

• Špiro Petrović (1861–1870) - Autonomist Party
• Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša (1870–1876) - People's Party
• Đorđe Vojnović (1877–1895) - People's Party (up to 1879), later Serbian People's Party
• Miho Klaic (1896) - People's Party
• Gajo Bulat (1896–1900) - People's Party
• Vicko Ivčević (1900–1918) - People's Party, later Croatian Party

Sources

• R.de' Vidovich, Albo d'Oro delle Famiglie Nobili Patrizie e Illustri nel Regno di Dalmazia, Fondazione Scientifico Culturale Rustia Traine, Trieste 2004
• L.Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia. Dal Risorgimento alla Grande Guerra, Le Lettere, Firenze 2004
• L.Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia. 1914-1924, Le Lettere, Firenze 2007
• F.Semi-V.Tacconi (cur.), Istria e Dalmazia. Uomini e tempi. Dalmazia, Del Bianco, Udine 1992
• A.Tamaro, La Dalmazia e il Risorgimento Nazionale, Stabilimento Cromo-Lito-Tipografico Evaristo Armani, Roma 1918
• L.Vulicevic, Partiti e lotte in Dalmazia, Stabilimento Tipografico e Calcografico del "Tergesteo", Trieste 1875

References

1. ^ Gimnazija s hrvatski nastavnim jezikom 1897.-1921.
2. ^ R.de'Vidovich, Albo d'Oro delle Famiglie Nobili Patrizie e Illustri nel Regno di Dalmazia, Fondazione Scientifico Culturale Rustia Traine, Trieste 2004, pp. 235-236