Bozner Blutsonntag (German for Bozen Bloody Sunday) refers to the events of 24 April 1921 in Bozen (Italian Bolzano). It was the first climax of fascist violence in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

, a German-speaking province that was annexed by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Events

On 24 April 1921, a referendum was held in the part of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

still belonging to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

regarding the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

to the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

. The fascists, who at that time were a paramilitary group involved in thuggery throughout Italy, considered the coincidental opening of the Bozen Spring Fair on the same day as a provocation connected with the plebiscite. They decided to disrupt the traditional costume procession (Trachtenumzug) through Bozen. Despite warnings, the Italian authorities did not take any security measures to protect the local populace. In the morning of 24 April 1921, about 290 fascists from the rest of Italy arrived at the Bozen railway station and united with about 120 supporters of the fascist movement from Bozen. During the traditional costume procession, the fascists attacked the participants and spectators with clubs, pistols and hand grenades. About 50 South Tyroleans were injured, some severely. Franz Innerhofer, a teacher from Marling, was shot to death, while trying to protect a boy. The Italian military intervened only to escort the aggressors to the railway station, where they were able to leave unharmed. The request by the Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti to immediately arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice resulted in the arrest of two Bozen fascists. Benito Mussolini threatened to force the liberation of his comrades with 2000 fascists on 1 May 1921 in Bozen, but the two were then released.

Legacy

A commemorative plaque commemorates the events at Ansitz Stillendorf (where Innerhofer was shot). On 25 April 2011, the Italian national holiday to the liberation from fascism and

national socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

, a square in the historical center of Bozen was named in the honor of Franz Innerhofer (immediately south of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano).

References

Sources

* * *
„Der Tiroler“
from 26 April 1921

Footnotes

External links

Conference of the City of Bozen named "Franz Innerhofer und der frühe Faschismus in Bozen" (German)

Maridl Innerhofer on the murder of her father on Bozner Blutsonntag (German)Documentary film ''Der Bozner Blutsonntag von 1921'' from RAI Bozen (German)
{{Authority control Conflicts in 1921 Italian Fascism History of South Tyrol 1921 in Italy April 1921 events Bolzano