Italian colonists on the Dodecanese islands - Italian colonists- settlers who received land plots on the Dodecanese islands occupied by Italy in 1911 in order to actively Italianize the territories occupied by Italy during the Italian-Turkish war .
Content
Background
The Dodecanese Islands were occupied by the Italians during the Italian-Turkish war of 1911-1912. Initially it was supposed to establish only a temporary Italian military administration there, however, the First World War soon erupted, in which the Italians and Turks again became warring parties. At the end of the First World War, Italy pledged to cede all the islands except Rhodes , Greece, however this was not done due to the defeat of the Greeks in the Asia Minor campaign . The islands became the final possession of Italy in 1923 in accordance with the Treaty of Lausanne .
History
After the fascists, led by Benito Mussolini, came to power in 1922, a gradual implementation of the policy of real colonization of the islands was initiated, providing for the relocation of a large number of Italian colonists and the mass "Italianization" of the local population. The Italian administration contributed in every way to the influx of Italian immigrants to the islands, but did not achieve much success in this matter: according to the census of April 21, 1936, 7015 Italian colonists lived on the Dodecanese Islands, most of whom settled on the islands of Rhodes , Leros and Kos . While Italians in Rhodes and Kosa, as a rule, were engaged in farming , the settlers in Leros preferred military or state service in the city of Portolago.
When in September 1943, after the Allies landed in Sicily and southern Italy, the Mussolini government was overthrown and a truce was signed between the new Italian government and the Allies , the Dodecanese islands became the battleground between the British and the Germans. The Italian troops initially supported the British mostly, but were defeated; many managed to escape to Turkey, where they were interned, while some of the Germans who were captured were shot during the so-called massacre on the island of Kos. At the same time, the island of Cagliostro ( Kastelorizo ) was occupied and retained by British troops. The Dodecanese operation became one of the last major victories of Germany in the war, and the islands remained under German control until early May 1945, although de jure Germany recognized them as possession of the puppet Italian social republic (also known as the Salo Republic), founded after the liberation of Mussolini from captivity, but the new governor, Hugo Faralli, who joined the Republic of Salo, was completely dependent on the German authorities.
Disappearance of the Italian community
The German troops on the Dodecanese Islands began to capitulate on May 9, 1945 and did not resist the English who landed on them, who decided to restore the Italian civilian administration to ease the control of the islands: the former mayor of Rhodes, Antonio Macchi, whose task was to repatriate Italians to their homeland and defending the interests of those who wanted to stay on the Dodecans. On January 1, 1947, the British transferred power over the islands to the Greek administration, which immediately concluded an agreement with Mackey under which it pledged not to carry out the deportations of the Italians: the Greeks believed that former colonists could be useful in restoring the region’s war-torn economy. According to the results of the Paris Peace Treaty, the islands in 1947 were finally transferred by Italy to Greece.
The official transfer of powers to the first Greek civil governor took place on Rhodes on September 15, 1947, but even before this event, the Greek administration showed that it was in no hurry to fulfill the agreement concluded with Mackey: the Italians began to be discriminated, the Catholic churches were forcibly transformed into Orthodox , and in the main hospital of Rhodes different departments for Italians and Greeks were formed . Mackey went to Rome to seek help against the oppression, and by September 1, 1947, he was able to organize the deportation of 6,000 former colonists to Italy. On August 31, 1949, an agreement was signed between Italy and Greece on the deportation of all former colonists to Italy by the end of the year, while the Greek authorities ordered them to sell their property. At the same time, several Italians who were willing to stay in spite of everything were granted dual citizenship, and Italian was taught in Dodecanese schools until 1950.
Architectural Heritage
Notes
See also
- Osadniki