Austrian Littoral

The Austrian Littoral ( _de. Österreichisches Küstenland, _it. Litorale Austriaco, _hu. Tengermellék, Slovenian: "Avstrijsko primorje", _hr. Austrijsko primorje) or Küstenland ("Litorale", "Primorska") was a crown land (Kronland) within the Austrian Empire (later Austria-Hungary) from 1813 to 1918.

The Austrian Littoral included the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margravate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had independent administrations, but were all subject to the Imperial Governor in Trieste, the capital of the Littoral. Trieste had strategic importance as Austria-Hungary's primary sea port and the coast of the Littoral was a resort destination, the Austrian Riviera. The region was a multi-national one with Italians, Slovenes, Croats, Germans, Furlans, and Istriots being the main ethnic groups. In 1910, it had an area of 7969 km² and a population of 894,287.

An area of similar extent under the name of Adriatic Littoral ("Adriatisches Küstenland") was one of the operational zones of German forces during World War II after capitulation of Italy in September 1943 until the end of the war.

History

The Habsburg Monarchy gained suzerainty over the ports of Trieste and Fiume (Rijeka) on the northern Adriatic coast in 1382 and 1474 respectively, but did little initially to consolidate or develop their holdings in the Littoral. The supremacy of the Republic of Venice in the Adriatic and the attention to the threat posed by an expanding Ottoman Empire gave the Habsburgs little opportunity to enlarge the two cities. They remained separately administered and retained their autonomy until into the 18th century.

Emperor Charles VI increased Habsburg sea power by making peace with the Ottomans and declaring free shipping in the Adriatic. In 1719, Trieste and Fiume were made free ports. In 1730, administration of the Littoral was unified under the Intendancy in Trieste.

However, in 1775, Joseph II divided the administration of the two main ports, assigning Trieste as the port for the Austrian Hereditary Lands and Fiume for the Kingdom of Hungary. Shortly after, Trieste was merged with Gorizia and Gradisca.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Habsburg Monarchy gained Venetian lands in the Istrian Peninsula and the Quarnero (Kvarner) Islands as part of the Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797.

However, these territories and all of the new Austrian Empire's Adriatic lands were soon lost to the French Empire's puppet state, the Kingdom of Italy in the Treaty of Pressburg of 1805. The 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn then transferred the area to the Illyrian Provinces which were directly ruled by France. With Napoleon's defeats, the Austrian Empire regained the region and, in 1813, all of the Littoral including Trieste, Gorizia and Gradisca, all of Istria, the Quarnero Islands, Fiume, and the hinterland of Fiume, Civil Croatia, including Karlstadt (Karlovac) became one administrative unit. From 1816, the Littoral was a part of the Austrian Empire's Kingdom of Illyria.

In 1822, Fiume and Civil Croatia were separated from the territory and ceded to the Kingdom of Hungary (and in 1849 to Croatia).

The Littoral was officially the Trieste ("Triest") Province, one of two provinces (or "gouvernements") of the Kingdom, the other being Laibach (Ljubljana). It was subdivided into four districts (kreis): Gorizia ("Görz"; including Gorizia and the Julian March), Istria ("Istrien"; Eastern Istria and the Quarnero Islands), Trieste ("Triest"; the Trieste hinterland and Western Istria), and Trieste city ("Triester Stadtgebiet").

Around 1825, the Littoral was reorganized into only two subdivisions: Istria with its capital at Mitterburg (Pisino/Pazin) and Gorizia with Trieste and its immediate surroundings under the direct control of the crown and separate from the local administrative structure.

In 1849, the Kingdom of Illyria was dissolved and the Littoral became a separate crown land with a governor in Trieste. It was formally divided into the Margravate of Istria and the Princely County ("Gefürstete Grafschaft") of Gorizia and Gradisca with Trieste remaining separate from both.

In 1861, Gorizia and Gradisca and Istria became administratively separate entities and, in 1867, Trieste received separate status as well.

Following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Littoral fell within Italy's newly expanded borders as part of Venezia Giulia (the Julian March). After World War II, most of it was included in the Second Yugoslavia. Today Croatia and Slovenia each hold portions of the territory and the city of Trieste remains under Italian rule.

The name of the region lives on in its Slovenian version, "Primorska" (Slovenian Littoral), a region of Slovenia.

Area and population

Area:
* Gorizia and Gradisca: 2918 km²
* Istria: 4956 km²
* Triest: 95 km²

Population (1910 Census):
* Gorizia and Gradisca: 260,721 - 89.3 persons/km²
* Istria: 403,566 - 81.4 persons/km²
* Triest: 230,000 - 2414.8 persons/km²

Ethnic groups

Total:

* Italians : 356,676 (including 60,000-75,000 Friulans) (40 %)
* Slovenes : 276,398 (31 %)
* Croats : 172,784 (19 %)
* Others: 88,424 (10 %)

Gorizia and Gradisca:
* Slovenes 154,564 (58 %)
* Italians 90,119 (36 %)
* Germans 4,486 (2 %)

Istria:
* Croats: 168,184 (43.5 %)
* Italians: 147,417 (38.1 %)
* Slovenes: 55,134 (14.3 %)
* Germans: 12,735 (3.3 %)

Districts

Gorizia and Gradisca:
*Gorizia City ("Stadt Görz")
*Gorizia ("Görz Land")
*Gradisca
*Monfalcone
*Sežana ("Sesana")
*Tolmin ("Tolmein", "Tolmino")

Istria:
*Koper ("Capodistria")
*Krk ("Veglia")
*Lošinj ("Lussin")
*Poreč ("Parenzo")
*Pazin ("Mitterburg", "Pisino")
*Pula ("Pola")
*Volosko ("Volosca")

ee also

*Julian March
*Slovenian Littoral
*London Pact
*Battles of the Isonzo

References

* [http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/kuk_kuestenland.htm Küstenland]
* [http://www.terra.es/personal7/jqvaraderey/185915BK.gifMap]