The Bloody Christmas of 1920 ( hr, Riječki krvavi božić; it, Natale di sangue) was a series of clashes in

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

(now

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

), which led to the conclusion of the Fiume campaign carried out by Italian poet and adventurer, Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1920.

Background

Upon the return of the liberal politician

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. After Benito Mussolini, he is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history. A pr ...

to government in June 1920, during the

Biennio Rosso The Biennio Rosso (English: "Red Biennium" or "Two Red Years") was a two-year period, between 1919 and 1920, of intense social conflict in Italy, following the First World War.Brunella Dalla Casa, ''Composizione di classe, rivendicazioni e prof ...

, the official attitude towards the Kingdom of Italy's regency of Carnaro constituted in Fiume began to waver. On November 12 of the same year, Italy and Yugoslavia signed the

Treaty of Rapallo Following World War I there were two Treaties of Rapallo, both named after Rapallo, a resort on the Ligurian coast of Italy: * Treaty of Rapallo, 1920, an agreement between Italy and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the later Yugoslav ...

, forming the

Free State of Fiume The Free State of Fiume () was an independent free state that existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of comprised the city of Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to the K ...

as a consequence to an occupation of Fiume by Gabriele d'Annunzio and his troops which began with the

Impresa di Fiume Impresa (full name: IMPRESA Sociedade Gestora de Participações Sociais SA) () is a Portugal, Portuguese Mass media, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Paço de Arcos, in Oeiras Municipality, Portugal, Oeiras municipal ...

. D'Annunzio entered Fiume as part of his and many Italians protest for an incomplete victory after World War I, because Italy was denied some of the Eastern Adriatic lands it claimed and was promised at its entry to the war.

Occupation

The resumption of Italy's premiership by the liberal Giovanni Giolitti in June 1920 signalled a hardening of official attitudes to d'Annunzio's coup. On 12 November, Italy and Yugoslavia concluded the Treaty of Rapallo, under which Fiume was to be an independent state, the Free State of Fiume, under a government acceptable to both. D'Annunzio refused to accept an ultimatum by Italian General

Enrico Caviglia Enrico Caviglia (4 May 1862 – 22 March 1945) was a distinguished officer in the Italian Army. Victorious on the bloody battlefields of the Great War, he rose in time to the highest rank in his country, Marshal of Italy; he was also a Senato ...

to abandon

and claimed the

as illegal and his Regency declared war on Italy. The

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

launched a full-scale attack against Fiume on 24 December 1920: after several hours of intense fighting, a truce was proclaimed for Christmas day; the battle subsequently resumed on 26 December. Since D'Annunzio's legionnaires were refusing to surrender and were strongly resisting the attack using

machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

and

grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...

, the Italian

dreadnoughts The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

'' and '' Duilio'' opened fired on Fiume and bombed the city for three days. D'Annunzio resigned on 28 December and the Regency capitulated on 30 December 1920, being occupied by Italian forces.

Following defeat

Following the defeat of d'Annunzio's forces, there was an election of the Constituent Assembly, giving

autonomists The Autonomists (french: Autonomistes; it, Autonomisti) was a Christian-democratic Italian political party active in the Aosta Valley. It was founded in 1997 by the union of the regional Italian People's Party with For Aosta Valley, and some ...

and independentists an overwhelming victory with 65% of the vote. On 5 October 1921,

Riccardo Zanella Riccardo Zanella (27 June 1875 – 30 March 1959) was the only elected president of the short lived Free State of Fiume. Biography Zanella was born to an Italian father and Slovene mother in Fiume, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). He a ...

became the first and only elected president of the short lived

, however this was unable to end disputes over the city. Seven months later in Rome, Mussolini became prime minister, and Italy started heading towards a fascist regime. As a result, Zanella was overthrown in a putsch by local fascists in March 1922, resulting in an Italian military occupation of the city. This period of diplomatic tension ended with the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

on 27 January 1924, which assigned Fiume to Italy and Sušak along with other villages, to Yugoslavia, with joint port administration.

References

*Corrado Zoli. The days of Fiume. Zanichelli, Bologna., 1921. *Giuseppe Moscati. The five-day River. Publisher Carnaro. Second edition 1931 *James Properzj Bloody Christmas, D'Annunzio in Fiume, Mursia Editore, Milan (2010) {{ISBN, 9788842544258 *Giovanni Savegnago, critical review of Alla Festa Della Rivoluzione. Artisti e libertari con d'Annunzio a Fiume. (Claudia Salaris). Bologna. Il Mulino. 2002. *New York Times articles on the following dates of 1920: 24 November, December 2, 8, 9, 10, 11th, 13th, 24th, 27th, 28th, 30th. *Tea Mayhew: Maritime and History Museumof Croatian Littoral RijekaBloody Christmas 1920 – Gabriele D'Annunzio’s Rijeka Adventur

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120402022400/http://www.reakt.org/fiume/pdf/011_bloody_christmas.pdf
Bloody christmas in the book “Rijeka or death! D’Annunzio's occupation of Rijeka”
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) Italian irredentism History of Rijeka Free State of Fiume Wars involving Italy 1920 in Europe 1920 in Italy Gabriele D'Annunzio December 1920 events

Background

Occupation

Following defeat

See also

References