Fighting and dying for autonomy: Fiume’s realistic alternative to Italy, 1918–1924

This article examines an alternative form of identification to the nation state which arose in Fiume in the context of the symbolic and political violence the city experienced during the years after the First World War (1918–1924). While historians mainly focus on the Italian-poet Gabriele D’Annunzio’s presence in the city (1919–1920), the conflicts following 1920 ‘Christmas of Blood’ reveal ongoing violence between the supporters of the city-state’s independence and Italian fascists and nationalists. These conflicts also point to persistent and readjusting forms of loyalty with roots in the late Habsburg period. They show how, between 1918 and 1924, the autonomy of Fiume and the option of a free state were seen as realistic alternatives to Italy and the Italian nation state. By focusing on the figure of Ernesto Zaller (1873–1923) and by providing some insight into the biographies of those involved in the postwar violence, this article will show how Fiumian autonomism was advocated as a potential contender to Italian nationalism, as well as how it developed into a form of loyalty and an agenda worth dying for in 1921–1923. Finally, the article will show how postwar violence in Fiume should be considered as part of the transition from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as a legacy of D’Annunzio, and as a feature of emergent Italian fascism.