![Amuvra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Amuvra.jpg)
Petru Rocca (french: Pierre Rocca, it, Pietro Rocca;
Vico, 1887 - Vico, 1966) was a
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
n politician and writer who supported Corsican independence from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Initially he advocated regionalism for Corsica within the French state. He briefly supported
Italian irredentism in Corsica, before returning to a position of French-Corsican regionalism before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Early life
Pietro (Petru in Corsican) Rocca was a printer by trade, and before 1914 contributed to the original Corsican cultural magazine ''A Tramuntana''. Called up for military action in
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 ...
he was wounded on multiple occasions and wrote about his wartime experiences. In recognition of his service he was decorated with the French Legion of Honor.
Corsica, like France's other heavily agricultural regions, was heavily affected by the casualties of the war. Rocca returned to
Ajaccio
Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...
and, with other combat veterans disillusioned in the French state and nation, founded the Corsican literary magazine ''A Muvra'' (the
Muflon
The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, the Caspian region from eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds.
Taxonomy
''Ovis gmelini'' was the sci ...
)''.'' This journal offered a home to a range of Corsican political projects, ranging from simple decentralisation within France, to an independent state, to merging into the Italian state. Differing political contexts during the interwar would lead to each of the currents gaining popularity at different times.
''A Muvra'' led to the formation of the first Corsican regionalist party, the ''Partitu Corsu d'Azione'' (1922 to 1926), modelled on the
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
n regionalist party in Italy, the ''Partito Sardo d'Azione''. Rocca highlighted the successful examples of other national movements in Europe:
Home Rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
and
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
; the
Mancomunitat
In present-day Spain a ''mancomunidad'' ( an, mancomunidat, ast, mancomunidá, ca, mancomunitat, gl, mancomunidade, eu, mankomunitatea; in English language, English "commonwealth" or municipal association) is an association of municipalities ...
and
Generalitat
Generalitat (, literally in English 'Generality') is the name of two major medieval and early modern political institutions and their modern-day analogues in Kingdom of Spain. The ancient Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia were ...
in
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, and the ongoing efforts of the
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
** Breton people
** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Ga ...
nationalist movement
The Nationalist Movement is a Mississippi-founded white nationalist organization with headquarters in Georgia that advocates what it calls a "pro-majority" position. It has been called white supremacist by the Associated Press and Anti-Defamati ...
Breizh Atao in France.
But between 1925 and 1928, in the context of
the Alsatian regionalist crisis, the French state adopted a severe stance towards regionalism. Petru Rocca and many of the PCA began to doubt the French state's goodwill towards self-rule for regional nationalities. He affirmed France to be a state formed by multiple nationalities -
Alsatian,
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
,
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
** Breton people
** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Ga ...
,
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
and
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
, as well as Corsican - and demanded that these be granted
regional self-rule within a multi-national French state. Petru Roccia therefore represented Corsica when, in 1926, the various regiona-national movements of France founded an umbrella association to coordinate their efforts, the Central Committee for the National Minorities of France.
In 1927 Rocca set up a more hardline party, the ''Partitu autonomista di Corsica,'' backed by monsignor Domenico Parlotti and Dr. Croce, director of the ''Archivi di Stato della Corsica.''
The 1930s and Second World War
During the late 1930s the crisis of the French state prompted many of the leaders of France's interwar national movements to slowly evolve from regionalism (greater self-rule within the French Republic) to separatism or irridentism with a neighbouring state, often losing patience with the French state and openly accepting the patronage of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. This was the case for
Olivier Mordrel in Brittany, l'
abbé Gantois in French Flanders et
Hermann Bickler, who together coordinated their efforts through the journal ''
Peuples et frontières'' (1936 to 1938) ''-'' the Corsican perspective was provided by Rocca.
During this period, Rocca's opinions followed a similar path. From 1935 Rocca and ''A Muvra'' began to openly reject the idea that Corsica had a place within the French state, a position developed in contact with other Corsican intellectuals such as
Petru Giovacchini
Petru Giovacchini (french: Pierre Giovacchini, it, Pietro Giovacchini; 1 February 1910 – 29 September 1955) was a Corsican activist, born in Canale-di-Verde to an old family of the Corsican nobility with deep-rooted pro-Italian feelings. Gio ...
,
Marco Angeli di Sartèna
Marco Angeli di Sartena (1905-1985) was a politician from Corsica, who wrote in the famous Literary Review "A Muvra". He was an active irredentist, supporting the union of Corsica to Italy.
Life
He was born in Sartena, from a noble Corsican fam ...
, and
Marta Renucci
Marta may refer to:
People
* Marta (given name), a feminine given name
* Märta, a feminine given name
* Marta (surname)
:István Márta composer
* Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer
Places
* Marta (river), an ...
. The end result was
Italian irredentism
Italian irredentism ( it, irredentismo italiano) was a nationalist movement during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Italy with irredentist goals which promoted the unification of geographic areas in which indigenous peoples ...
, the idea that Corsica (through its language and long historical connections) was a culturally-Italic nation and would be better off merging into the Kingdom of
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 re ...
. This position was actively encouraged by
Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, who wished to
acquire territories from France with historically Italic culture such as
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
,
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
and
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
. But whereas Italian linguists, sponsored by the
Fascist government, presented the
Corsican language
Corsican (''corsu'' , ; full name: ''lingua corsa'' , ) is a Romance language constituted by the continuum of the Italo-Romance dialects spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica (France) and on the northern end of the island of Sardinia (Ita ...
as a mere
dialect of Italian (with the political undertone that Corsica 'belonged' to Italy), Rocca maintained that Corsican and Italian were two distinct languages descended from a common ancestor. He was thus suspicious of
Mussolini's plans to absorb Corsica just as France had done, and by
World War Two
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
had lost enthusiasm for the idea of Corsican union with Italy.
In any event Rocca had attracted the suspicion of French police, which made little distinction between full Italian-Corsican irredentists and French-Corsican autonomists. In 1938 he was stripped of his Legion of Honour. Around this time ''A Muvra'' began to publish articles against
Freemasons
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, whom Rocca held responsible for the French 'occupation' of Corsica. In 1939, as war with Germany and Italy approached, Rocca was arrested and his journal suspended for the crime of "''threatening the authority of France in the territories under its control''".
After the end of the
world war
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
and the foundation of the
Fourth Republic, in 1946 Rocca was sentenced to 15 years of jail and sent to the
forced labour camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
on
Devil's Island
The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the Salvation Islands ...
(
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
).
Orsu Ghjuvanni Caporossi, Cronica di A Corsica
/ref> When released, he quickly recreated his original ''Partitu Corsu Autonomista''.
In 1953, Petru Rocca created an academy for the defense of the Corsican language
Corsican (''corsu'' , ; full name: ''lingua corsa'' , ) is a Romance language constituted by the continuum of the Italo-Romance dialects spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica (France) and on the northern end of the island of Sardinia (Ita ...
and demanded that the French state officially recognise the Corsican people and language, and accede to the re-opening of the old university at Corte. Rocca remained a lifelong supporter of Corsican nationalism
Corsican nationalism is a nationalist movement in Corsica that advocates more autonomy for the island, if not outright independence from France.
Political support
The main separatist party, Corsica Libera, achieved 9.85% of votes in the 20 ...
, a political movement that returned to the mainstream shortly after his death in 1966
Works
* Les corses devant l’anthropologie, Gamber, 1913
* Pruverbii, massime è detti corsi, 1921
* A pignatta, cumedia di Plautu, 1924
* Storia popular di Corsica, 1930
* Una Vittoria Autonomista. L'Assemblea di i Stati Generali di Corsica, 1934
* Quaderni di u Cursismu, 1935
* Parlà d'Aghjacciu, puesii, 1955
* Tempi è tempi, 1963
See also
* Corsican nationalism
Corsican nationalism is a nationalist movement in Corsica that advocates more autonomy for the island, if not outright independence from France.
Political support
The main separatist party, Corsica Libera, achieved 9.85% of votes in the 20 ...
* Italian irredentism
Italian irredentism ( it, irredentismo italiano) was a nationalist movement during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Italy with irredentist goals which promoted the unification of geographic areas in which indigenous peoples ...
* Italian irredentism in Corsica
* Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
* Petru Giovacchini
Petru Giovacchini (french: Pierre Giovacchini, it, Pietro Giovacchini; 1 February 1910 – 29 September 1955) was a Corsican activist, born in Canale-di-Verde to an old family of the Corsican nobility with deep-rooted pro-Italian feelings. Gio ...
* Marta Renucci
Marta may refer to:
People
* Marta (given name), a feminine given name
* Märta, a feminine given name
* Marta (surname)
:István Márta composer
* Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer
Places
* Marta (river), an ...
* Marco Angeli di Sartèna
Marco Angeli di Sartena (1905-1985) was a politician from Corsica, who wrote in the famous Literary Review "A Muvra". He was an active irredentist, supporting the union of Corsica to Italy.
Life
He was born in Sartena, from a noble Corsican fam ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocca, Pietro
1887 births
1966 deaths
People from Corse-du-Sud
History of Corsica