Page 320 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

320 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

and adhere to the occupier’s decrees. In certain articles, especially as concerns the relation of
the civilian population to the occupant, the Hague rules were clear and unequivocal. Many
articles, though, were open to various interpretations, which the Italian occupying authorities
exploited to their own benefit on Slovene occupied territories. In deliberate violation of the
basic rule of the Hague Conventions, that the occupation is temporary, the Italian govern-
ment clearly shown through the occupying authorities that it intended to remain in the oc-
cupied territories after the end of the victorious war against Austria-Hungary.
However, these instructions could only apply to general, basic and (as it turned out in
the case of the Italian occupation) theoretical conditions, since it was the opinion of the
Italian authorities that they did not entirely meet the needs of the then state of war and the
occupation. Precisely the intention that the occupied territories would remain under Italian
4
authority led the later to the introduction of measures of a permanent character. The Italian
Supreme Command concluded that public life had in its entirety (administration, public of-
fices and public services) come to a halt. This situation resulted from the absence of the most
distinguished personalities and a major part of the civilian population due to mobilisation
and the Austrian and Italian internments, as well as to the voluntary or inevitable emigration
of the Slovene (and Friulian) population. The public administration measures taken by the
Italian authorities were also based on a belief that Venezia Giulia and Trent were not foreign
territories to be strategically occupied during the war but part of Italian national territory in
enemy hands which should be redeemed and returned to the nation once and for all. These
were the so-called unredeemed provinces (terre irredente).
To comply with international rules, the Italians essentially retained the Austrian adminis-
trative system and Austrian public offices. Slovene territory was divided under two civilian
commissariats. The sphere of the judiciary remained unchanged, which was due to the inter-
nal disagreement in relation to the competencies of the military and civilian judicial bodies
and legislation.
A first decisive security measure taken by the Italian military authorities was the evacu-
ation, mainly on security grounds, of the Slovene population living within 500 m of the
operational zone of the Soča Front. Ten to twelve thousand Slovenes were moved to Italian
towns. The evacuation was most often made in great haste and without prior notice. The
refugees usually arrived at rest stops in trains equipped with disinfection facilities, because
they came from an area stricken by contagious epidemics which had broken out under the
unhealthy conditions of occupation or through contact with Austrian soldiers retreating from
the Eastern Front. The refugees were therefore vaccinated against cholera and dysentery in
Udine and Palmanova. They were then divided into groups and taken to various Italian towns
where they came under the responsibility of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.
The refugee experiences were diverse, multifaceted and so complex that they deserve
treatment from various perspectives. One can surely draw some parallels between their ac-
counts, such as their fear on the eve of the war, their chaotic plight, their arrival in unknown
places, countless predicaments, their hope and despair, and the first families returning to
their destroyed homes. The scattered population was under extreme pressure and duress as a

4 R. Esercito Italiano. Comando Supremo. Segretariato Generale per gli Affari Civili, La gestione dei servizi
civili. Relazione, I, Longo, Treviso [1916], p.9