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45°21′11″N 14°26′34″E / 45.3531°N 14.4429°E
Free State of Fiume | |||||||||
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| 1920–1924 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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 Map of the Free State of Fiume (original Hungarian district of Fiume in dark green) | |||||||||
| Capital | Fiume (Rijeka) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Official Italian · Hungarian · German Regional Venetian · Chakavian Croatian | ||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1921–22 | Riccardo Zanella | ||||||||
• 1922–23 | Giovanni Giuriati | ||||||||
| Military Governor | |||||||||
• 1923–24 | Gaetano Giardino | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
| 12 November 1920 | |||||||||
• Control established | 30 December 1920 | ||||||||
| 3 March 1922 | |||||||||
• Annexed by the Kingdom of Italy | 22 February 1924 | ||||||||
| Currency | Fiume krone (until 1920) Italian lira (after 1920) | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Croatia | ||||||||
The Free State of Fiume (pronounced [ˈfjuːme]) was an independent free state that existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of 28 km2 (11 sq mi) comprised the city of Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to the Kingdom of Italy.
Fiume gained autonomy for the first time in 1719 when it was proclaimed a free port of the Holy Roman Empire in a decree issued by the Emperor Charles VI. In 1776, during the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa, the city was transferred to the Kingdom of Hungary and in 1779 gained the status of corpus separatum within that Kingdom. The city briefly lost its autonomy in 1848 after being occupied by the Croatian ban (viceroy) Josip Jelačić, but regained it in 1868 when it rejoined the Kingdom of Hungary, again as a corpus separatum. Fiume's status as an exclave of Hungary meant that, despite being landlocked, the Kingdom had a port. Until 1924, Fiume existed for practical purposes as an autonomous entity with elements of statehood.[citation needed]
In the 19th century, the city was populated mostly by Italians, and as minorities by Croats and Hungarians, and other ethnicities. National affiliations changed from census to census, as at that time "nationality" was defined mostly by the language a person spoke. The special status of the city, being placed between different states, created a local identity among the majority of the population.[citation needed] The official languages in use were Italian, Hungarian, and German; most of the business correspondence was carried out in Italian, while most families spoke a local dialect, a blend of Venetian with a few words of Croatian.[1] In the countryside outside the city, a particular kind of Croatian Chakavian dialect with many Italian and Venetian words was spoken.[2]
- ^ Il nuovo Samani: Dizionario del dialetto fiumano (Rome: Società di Studi Fiumani, 2007)
- ^ I. Lukežić: Trsatsko-bakarska i crikvenička čakavština. Izdavački centar Rijeka, Rijeka 1996.