Italian Aegean Islands
Encyclopedia
The Italian Dodecanese, formally known as Italian Aegean Islands (Italian
: Isole italiane dell'Egeo, Greek
: Ιταλικά νησιά του Αιγαίου), were a group of twelve major islands in the Aegean Sea
, off the southwest coast of Turkey
, which belonged to the Kingdom of Italy
from 1912 to 1947.
was occupied by Italy during the Italo-Turkish War
of 1912. Italy had agreed to return the islands to the Ottoman Empire
according to the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912; however the vagueness of the text allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on the Dodecanese in the Article 15 of the Treaty of Lausanne
in 1923. Dodecanese was formally annexed by Fascist Italy
, as the Possedimenti Italiani dell'Egeo.
Italian interest in the Dodecanese was rooted in strategic purposes, and the islands were intended to further the Empire's long range imperial policy. The islands of Leros
and Patmos
were used as bases for the Royal Italian Navy.
campaign of the islands. The first Governor General, Mario Lago, delegated land for Italian settlers and encouraged intermarriage with local Greeks. In 1929, scholarships at the University of Pisa
for Dodecanesian students were promoted to disseminate Italian culture and language among the local professional class. The Orthodox
rite was suppressed and only Catholic ceremonies were recognized. The Italian authorities also tried to limit the power of the Greek church without success by trying to set up an autonomous Dodecanesian church. Fascist youth organizations such as Opera Nazionale Balilla
were introduced on the islands, and the Italianization of names was encouraged by the Italian authorities. Local Greek islanders did not receive a full Italian citizenship and were not required to serve in the Italian armed forces.
Under the governorship of Cesare Maria De Vecchi
(1936 to 1940) the Italianization efforts intensified. The Italian language
became compulsory in education and the public life, with Greek being only an optional subject in schools. The fascist municipality (comune
) system was set up to the islands in 1937, with newly appointed podesta
s. in 1938, Italian Racial Laws were introduced to the islands along with a series of decrees equalizing local legislation with Italian law.
were farmers involved in setting up new agricultural settlements, while Italians of Leros were generally employed by the army and lived at its facilities in the new Italian-built model town of Portolago (modern Lakki).
and waterworks were constructed, sometimes using forced Greek labor.
Some examples of Italian architecture are still found on the islands:
The Italians also surveyed
the islands for the first time in history, and began to introduce mass-scale tourism
to Rhodes
and Kos
. However, the smaller islands were mostly neglected by the improvement efforts and were left underdeveloped.
. Major Italian archaeological efforts from the 1930s onward were intended to discover Roman antiquities and thus strengthen the Italian claim on the islands.
, Fascist authorities pushed for the incorporation of the Cyclades
and Sporades
into Italy's Aegean possession, but the Germans were opposed to any territorial reduction of the puppet Hellenic State
. As the Cyclades were already under Italian occupation, the preparation for outright annexation was continued despite of the German opposition.
). The Germans prevailed, and although they were driven out of mainland Greece in 1944, the Dodecanese remained occupied until the end of the war in 1945. During the German occupation, the Dodecanese remained under the nominal sovereignty of the Italian Social Republic
, but were de facto subject to the German military command.
In the Treaty of Peace in 1947, the islands were ceded to Greece.
Governors
Vice Governor
German Commanders
Chief Administrators
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: Isole italiane dell'Egeo, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Ιταλικά νησιά του Αιγαίου), were a group of twelve major islands in the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, off the southwest coast of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, which belonged to the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
from 1912 to 1947.
Background
The DodecaneseDodecanese
The Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group...
was occupied by Italy during the Italo-Turkish War
Italo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
of 1912. Italy had agreed to return the islands to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
according to the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912; however the vagueness of the text allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on the Dodecanese in the Article 15 of the Treaty of Lausanne
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
in 1923. Dodecanese was formally annexed by Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, as the Possedimenti Italiani dell'Egeo.
Italian interest in the Dodecanese was rooted in strategic purposes, and the islands were intended to further the Empire's long range imperial policy. The islands of Leros
Leros
Leros is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 km from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 11-hour ferry ride . Leros is part of the Kalymnos peripheral unit...
and Patmos
Patmos
Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...
were used as bases for the Royal Italian Navy.
Administrative policies
From 1923, the Italians embarked on a gradual forced ItalianizationItalianization
Italianization or Italianisation is a term used to describe a process of cultural assimilation in which ethnically non or partially Italian people or territory become Italian. The process can be voluntary or forced...
campaign of the islands. The first Governor General, Mario Lago, delegated land for Italian settlers and encouraged intermarriage with local Greeks. In 1929, scholarships at the University of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
for Dodecanesian students were promoted to disseminate Italian culture and language among the local professional class. The Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
rite was suppressed and only Catholic ceremonies were recognized. The Italian authorities also tried to limit the power of the Greek church without success by trying to set up an autonomous Dodecanesian church. Fascist youth organizations such as Opera Nazionale Balilla
Opera Nazionale Balilla
thumb|240px|A young balilla in [[Piazza Venezia]].Opera Nazionale Balilla was an Italian Fascist youth organization functioning, as an addition to school education, between 1926 and 1937 .It was named after Balilla, the moniker of Giovan Battista Perasso,...
were introduced on the islands, and the Italianization of names was encouraged by the Italian authorities. Local Greek islanders did not receive a full Italian citizenship and were not required to serve in the Italian armed forces.
Under the governorship of Cesare Maria De Vecchi
Cesare Maria De Vecchi
Cesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician.-Biography:...
(1936 to 1940) the Italianization efforts intensified. The Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
became compulsory in education and the public life, with Greek being only an optional subject in schools. The fascist municipality (comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
) system was set up to the islands in 1937, with newly appointed podesta
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
s. in 1938, Italian Racial Laws were introduced to the islands along with a series of decrees equalizing local legislation with Italian law.
Italian settlement efforts
Efforts to bring Italian settlers to the islands were not notably successful. By 1936, Italians in the Dodecanese numbered 16,711, the most of whom living on Rhodes and Leros. Italians of Rhodes and KosKos
Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...
were farmers involved in setting up new agricultural settlements, while Italians of Leros were generally employed by the army and lived at its facilities in the new Italian-built model town of Portolago (modern Lakki).
Public works
Mussolini wanted to transform the islands into showcases of the Italian colonial empire, and undertook a series of massive public works in the archipelago. New roads, monumental buildings in accordance with fascist architectureFascist architecture
Rationalist-Fascist architecture was an Italian architectural style developed during the fascism regime and in particular starting from the late 1920s. It was promoted and practiced initially by the Gruppo 7 group, whose architects included Luigi Figini, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Larco, Gino...
and waterworks were constructed, sometimes using forced Greek labor.
Some examples of Italian architecture are still found on the islands:
- The Grande Albergo delle Rose (now "Casino Rodos") built by Florestano Di Fausto and Michele Platania in 1927, with a mix of Arab, Byzantine and Venetian styles.
- The Casa del Fascio of Rhodes, built in 1939 in typical fascist style. It serves now as the City Hall.
- The Catholic church of San Giovanni, built in 1925 by Rodolfo Petracco, as a reconstruction of the medieval cathedral church of the Knights of St. John.
- The Teatro Puccini of the city of Rhodes, now called "National Theater", built in 1937 with 1,200 seats.
- The Palazzo del Governatore in downtown Rhodes, built in 1927 in Venetian style. It now houses the offices of the Prefecture of the Dodecanese.
- The Villaggio rurale San Benedetto, now Kolymbia village, built in 1938 as a planned model village with all modern services.
- The Community of Portolago (now Lakki) in the island of Leros, built in 1938 in typical Italian Deco style.
The Italians also surveyed
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
the islands for the first time in history, and began to introduce mass-scale tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
to Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
and Kos
Kos
Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...
. However, the smaller islands were mostly neglected by the improvement efforts and were left underdeveloped.
Archeology
Mussolini stated that Rhodes had merely returned to its ancestral home after being annexed by Italy, as the Dodecanese had been an important part of the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Major Italian archaeological efforts from the 1930s onward were intended to discover Roman antiquities and thus strengthen the Italian claim on the islands.
Administrative division
| Island (Italian name in parenthesis) | Area size | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Rhodes Rhodes Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within... (Rodi) and dependent islets |
1412 km² (545.2 sq mi) | 60244 |
| Patmos Patmos Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,... (Patmo) and dependent islets |
57.1 km² (22 sq mi) | 3214 |
| Leipsoi Leipsoi Leipsoi is an island south of Samos and to the north of Leros in Greece. It is well serviced with ferries passing between Patmos and Leros and on the main route for ferries from Piraeus. Lipsi or Lipsous is a small group of islets at the northern part of the Dodecanese near to Patmos island and... (Lisso) |
174 km² (67.2 sq mi) | 993 |
| Kalymnos Kalymnos Kalymnos, is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese and is located to the west of the peninsula of Bodrum , between the islands of Kos and Leros : the latter is linked to it through a series of islets... (Calino) and dependent islets |
128.2 km² (49.5 sq mi) | 15338 |
| Kos Kos Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is... (Coo) |
296 km² (114.3 sq mi) | 20003 |
| Astypalaia Astypalaia Astypalaia , called in Italian Stampalia and in Ottoman Turkish İstanbulya , is a Greek island with 1,238 residents . It belongs to the Dodecanese, an island group of twelve major islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The island is 18 km. long, 13 km. wide at the most, and covers an... (Stampalia) and dependent islets |
113.6 km² (43.9 sq mi) | 1767 |
| Nisyros Nisyros Nisyros is a volcanic Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the islands of Kos and Tilos. Its shape is approximately round, with a diameter of about , and an area of . Several other islets are found in the direct... (Nisiro) and dependent islets |
48 km² (18.5 sq mi) | 2375 |
| Symi Symi Symi also transliterated Syme or Simi is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas of significance in history and mythology... (Simi) and dependent islets |
63.6 km² (24.6 sq mi) | 6176 |
| Tilos Tilos Tílos is a small Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It has a population of 533 inhabitants . Along with the uninhabited offshore islets of Antitilos and Gaidaros, it forms the Municipality... (Piscopi) and dependent islets |
64.3 km² (24.8 sq mi) | 1227 |
| Halki (Calchi) and dependent islets | 30.3 km² (11.7 sq mi) | 1476 |
| Karpathos Karpathos Karpathos is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality Karpathos, which is part of the Karpathos peripheral unit. From its remote position Karpathos has preserved many... (Scarpanto) and dependent islets |
306 km² (118.1 sq mi) | 7893 |
| Kasos Kasos Kasos is a Greek island municipality in the Dodecanese. It is the southernmost island in the Aegean Sea, and is part of the Karpathos peripheral unit. As of 2001, its population was 990. The island has been called in , .-Geography:... (Caso) and dependent islets |
69.4 km² (26.8 sq mi) | 1913 |
| Megisti (Castelrosso) and dependent islets | 11.5 km² (4.4 sq mi) | 2267 |
| Italian Aegean Islands | 2668.3 km² (1,030.2 sq mi) | 132289 |
- Source: Census of 1936
- Source: Annuario Generale, Consociazione Turistica Italiana, Roma, 1938
Planned expansion
After the Battle of GreeceBattle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
, Fascist authorities pushed for the incorporation of the Cyclades
Cyclades
The Cyclades is a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
and Sporades
Sporades
The Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. It consists of 24 islands, of which four are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.-Administration:...
into Italy's Aegean possession, but the Germans were opposed to any territorial reduction of the puppet Hellenic State
Hellenic State
Hellenic State was used as the official name of the modern Greek state two times in its history:* the period of governance by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1828–1832, when Greece was first constituted as a regular state after the Greek War of Independence * the period of Axis occupation of the country...
. As the Cyclades were already under Italian occupation, the preparation for outright annexation was continued despite of the German opposition.
End of Italian influence
After the Italian capitulation of September 1943, the islands briefly became a battleground between the Germans, British and the Italians (the Dodecanese CampaignDodecanese Campaign
The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...
). The Germans prevailed, and although they were driven out of mainland Greece in 1944, the Dodecanese remained occupied until the end of the war in 1945. During the German occupation, the Dodecanese remained under the nominal sovereignty of the Italian Social Republic
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
, but were de facto subject to the German military command.
In the Treaty of Peace in 1947, the islands were ceded to Greece.
List of colonial heads of the Italian Aegean Islands (1912-1947)
Commanders- Giovanni Battista Ameglio (5 May 1912 - 14 October 1913)
- Ferruccio Trombi (15 October 1913 - 8 November 1913) (provisional)
- Francesco Marchi (9 November 1913 - 26 April 1914)
- Giovanni CroceGiovanni CroceGiovanni Croce was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance, of the Venetian School...
(27 April 1914 - 26 May 1917) (provisional to 3 August 1914) - Vittorio Elia (27 May 1917 - 15 December 1919)
- Achille Porta (15 December 1919 - 6 August 1920)
- Carlo Senni (7 August 1920 - 16 September 1920) (provisional)
- Felice Maissa (17 September 1920 - 16 August 1921)
- Alessandro De Bosdari (17 August 1921 - 15 November 1922)
Governors
- Mario LagoMario LagoMario Lago was an Italian statesman and diplomat.Originally from the town of Peveragno, Lago was Governor of the Italian Aegean Islands from 1922 to 1936. His term of office is characterized by a far-sighted policy and respect for ethnic and cultural identity of the inhabitants of the colony...
(16 November 1922 - 27 November 1936) - Cesare Maria De VecchiCesare Maria De VecchiCesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician.-Biography:...
(2 December 1936 - 9 December 1940) - Ettore BasticoEttore BasticoEttore Bastico was an Italian military officer before and during World War II. He held high commands during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War , the Spanish Civil War, and the North African Campaign....
(10 December 1940 - 14 July 1941) - Inigo CampioniInigo CampioniInigo Campioni was an Admiral in the Italian Royal Navy during World War II.Campioni was born in Viareggio, Tuscany....
(15 July 1941 - 18 September 1943)
Vice Governor
- Igino Ugo Faralli (18 September 1943 - 7 May 1945)
German Commanders
- Ulrich KleemannUlrich KleemannUlrich Kleemann was an officer in the German Army during World War II.Colonel Kleemann of the 3rd Motorized Infantry Brigade was awarded a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 October 1941...
(8 September 1943 - 20 September 1944) - Otto WagenerOtto WagenerOtto Wagener was a German major general and, for a period, Adolf Hitler's economic advisor.- Biography :An industrialist's son, Wagener was born in Durlach, graduated from Gymnasium and then became an army officer...
(20 September 1944 - 5 May 1945)
Chief Administrators
- Peter AclandPeter AclandBrigadier Peter Bevil Edward Acland, OBE, MC, TD, DL, JP, OStJ, was a British soldier.-Background:He was the younger son of Alfred Dyke Acland and his wife Beatrice, daughter of William Henry Smith and his wife Emily Danvers Smith, 1st Viscountess Hambleden. Acland was educated at Eton College and...
(May 1945 - 1945) - Charles Henry Gormley (1945 - 1946)
- Arthur Stanley Parker (1946 - 15 September 1947)