Venetism
Encyclopedia
Venetian nationalism is an ideology and a regionalist
movement demanding more autonomy, or even independence from Italy
, for Veneto
, and promoting the re-discovery the Republic of Venice
's heritage, traditions, culture and language. According to Paolo Possamai, Venetism is "the strain of Veneto and of Venetians toward the recognition of their identity and autonomy". Venetism is a broad movement, which definitely includes Venetist parties, but also encompasses people from all the political parties.
Core Venetists consider Veneto
to be a nation distinct from Italy
and often refuse the validity of the result of the referendum with which Veneto
(or, better, Venetia, see below) was united with Italy
in 1866. Some, as the Venetian National Party
/Veneto State
, propose a re-edition of that referendum and campaign for the independence of Venetia, a country that would be composed of all the territories of the historical Venetian Republic, covering the current Veneto
, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, some areas of Lombardy
(Brescia
, Bergamo
, Crema and a portion of the Province of Mantua
), and a portion of Trentino.
Although it usually refers to the whole Venetian autonomist movement, the term "Venetism" is sometimes used to identify specifically the very Venetists who refuse the concept of Padania
, a proposed state by Lega Nord, of which Liga Veneta
(the most successful Venetist party so far) is the "national" section in Veneto, while Alberto Gardin, a pro-independence publisher who supports the boycott of Italian elections, considers "Venetism" as a "partisan concept, that is part of the Italian political system (Venetists, as Socialists, Communists, PD
or PdL
, etc.)".
gives to Venetian language
the status of not endangered language, as it is usually spoken in Veneto, part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
, part of Croatia
, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina
in Brazil; and Chipilo, Puebla in Mexico.
In 1998 the Regional Council of Veneto
approved the resolution 42 concerning the "self-determination" of the "Venetian people". The resolution read: "The Venetian people [...] invokes its right to a democratic and direct referendum for the free expression of its right to self-determination". In 2006 the Regional Council officially asked to change the Constitution of Italy
in order to allow Veneto to be an autonomous region like its neighbours Friuli-Venezia Giulia
and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.
In 2007 Veneto recognized Venetian as official language of the region, alongside Italian, instituted an official website for standard Venetian and proclaimed a yearly "Day of the Venetian People" (Festa del Popolo Veneto) on 25 March, anniversary of the foundation of Venice
. In 2011 the Regional Council officially proposed the Parliament of Italy
to protect Venetian as a minority language under Italian law.
While support for a federal system
, as opposed to a centrally administered State, receives widespread consensus in Veneto, support for independence is less favoured. One poll estimated that 52.4% of people living north of the Po river consider secession advantageous (vantaggiosa), and 23.2% both advantageous and convenient (auspicabile). Another poll estimated that about 20% of people in Northern Italy (18.3% in North-West Italy, 27.4% in North-East Italy) support secession in case Italy is not reformed into a federal State. However, according to a more recent poll (January 2010), 45% of Northerners and 52% of Venetians (including Friuli-Venezia Giulia
and Trentino support the independence of Padania and, thus, in the case of Venetians of Veneto.
In the 2010 regional election
, Liga Veneta
was by far the largest party in the region with 35.2% of the vote, while its leader Luca Zaia
was elected President of Veneto by a landslide 60.2%. The combined result of Venetist parties was 37.6%, the highest ever.
Soon after the 2010 regional election, Daniele Stival
(Liga Veneta), new regional minister for Venetian Identity, appointed a commission of experts which will fix the rules of standard Venetian language
and the official Venetian names of all 581 municipalities of Veneto. The commissioners include: Rodolfo Delmonte, linguist; Gianfranco Cavallin, writer and linguist close to Raixe Venete
; Sabino Acquaviva, sociologist and avowed Venetist; Michele Brunelli, linguist; Lodovico Pizzati
, economist and secretary of Veneto State
; Davide Guiotto, president of Raixe Venete, on behalf of the Venetist movement.
existed from 697 to 1797 for exactly 1,100 years and was the first modern republic of the world. After having defeated the Republic of Genoa
, it was the most powerful Mediterranean
maritime power and, at its height, extended its rule from large parts of the Po Valley
to parts of current Slovenia
, Croatia and Greece
. Venice was the most powerful state of the Western world in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1797, after a long decline, Napoleon
traded what remained of the Republic to Austria in exchange of other lands. In 1848 Venetians, led by Daniele Manin
, rebelled against Austrian rule and proclaimed an independent Venetian Republic. Manin, who opposed the proposed unification by some Venetians with the Kingdom of Sardinia
, resigned but returned to lead again the opposition against Vienna in 1849.
Venetia was annexed to Italy in 1866, five years after the Italian unification
and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy
under the House of Savoy
in 1861. The unification of Veneto with Italy was the result of the so-called Third War of Independence
and a plebiscite held on held on 21 and 22 October 1866. In the peace treaty signed in Vienna
on 3 October 1866, it was written that the annexation of Venetia would have been subjected to the consensus of the Venetian people, properly consulted: it is unclear whether there would have been another choice from becoming Italian, nor the treaty was more precise on how to consult the people. The territory was furthermore ceded to France (under a treaty signed by General Moering, commissioner of H.M. the Emperor of Austria, and General Leboeuf, commissioner of H.M. the Emperor of the French), which would have ceded it to Italy after the plebiscite, but Venetia was already under the Italian sovereignty after the French government renounced to it on 19 October 1866. This increases doubts on the real importance of the plebiscite and leading historians suggest that the referendum in Venetia was held under military pressure, as a mere 0.01% of voters (69 out of more than 642,000 ballots) voted against the annexation and a mere 0.1% (567 ballots) was null, and that it was ultimately rigged. Some historians also suggest that the referendum was a mere administrative affair to Italy, just to formalize the sovereignty on a territory already under its possession, and that no real choice nor free vote was granted to the local population, after having investigated into the historical archive of the Austrian Foreign Office. The plebiscite could have been a mere demonstration to gain legitimacy after the bad conduct of Italy during the war
.
The Kingdom of Italy adopted Italian as official language. Venetians largely rejected that and continued to speak with their own Venetian language
. Linguistic nationalism started soon to be part of Venetian culture and during the last decades of the 19th century there were also some revolts against Southern Italian immigrants. However, Veneto was so poor that many Venetians emigrated too toward the Americas, especially Brazil
and Argentina
(nationalists claim that three millions left their homeland from 1870 and 1910), without losing their national heritage so that, even today, many Venetian descendants in Latin America, notably in Rio Grande do Sul
, speak Venetian.
and Republican
newspaper, La Riscossa, expoused the need for a "united elective governorate with autonomous and competent technical and administrative organs" as an alternative to the "central political rule". Guido Bergamo, Republican deputy elected in Veneto, wrote that "the Venetian problem is so acute that from today on we will preach the rebellion of Venetians. Citizens, let's not pay taxes, not recognize the central government in Rome, chase away prefects, retain the money from direct taxes in Veneto". Soon after Italico Corradino Cappellotto, a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Italian People's Party
, launched the first Venetist party forth of the 1921 general election
. This party, named Lion of Saint Mark
, won 6.1% of the votes in the province of Treviso
.
After the takeover of Benito Mussolini
, who, among other things, banned the teaching of Venetian language in schools, the rise of Fascism, the World War II and the birth of the Republic of Italy, Venetist ideas lost ground, in an era in which the "myth of the indivisibility and the unity" of the country was strong even in Veneto. However the campaign of Mussolini to eradicate regional languages was largely unsuccessful in Veneto, which soon became a stronghold of the Christian Democracy
party due to the leading role of the Catholic Church in the region.
Since 1919 Venetia plus the newly annexed territories from Austria, which included Trentino and South Tyrol
, were called the Three Venices (Tre Venezie, whereof Triveneto): Venezia Euganea (the current Veneto
plus large parts of Friuli
), Venezia Giulia (the eastern part of current Friuli-Venezia Giulia
) and Venezia Tridentina (Trentino and South Tyrol). However, under the Constitution of Italy
adopted in 1948, only Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia were granted of the status of special-statute autonomous region and the connected privileges, mainly fiscal autonomy. Hence, the proposals by some groups of unifying Veneto with the two regions cited above or giving also Veneto a similar statute.
in January 1980. The opening speech of the first convention of the party in December 1979 recited: "Today for Venetians the moment has come, after 113 years of Italian unitary colonization, to take their natural and human resources back, to fight against the wild exploitation that has brought emigration, pollution and rooting out from their culture". European integration
was seen as an opportunity to give back to Veneto its autonomy.
, Franco Rocchetta
(founder of Liga Veneta
), Ettore Beggiato
(who wrote a book titled: "1866: the big trick", 1866: la grande truffa), Sabino Acquaviva (who perfaced the book of Beggiato), Fabio Padovan
, Giorgio Lago, Flaminio De Poli, Giampaolo Borsetto, Ivone Cacciavillani, Fabrizio Comencini
, Gian Paolo Gobbo, Manuela Dal Lago
, Luca Zaia
, Flavio Tosi
, Giorgio Vido
, Giorgio Panto
, Patrik Riondato, Loris Palmerini, and, to some extent, Giancarlo Galan
, Massimo Cacciari
and Mario Rigoni Stern
.
In November 2009 the Corriere del Veneto, the regional edition of the Corriere della Sera
in Veneto, published a broad overview of what it described as "Venetist galaxy". The newspaper counted around 20 notable Venetist organizations: along the four major Venetist parties of the time (Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project
and Venetian National Party
), a large variety of minor political parties, movements, cultural associations and trade unions were listed. The most significant of these need a further treatment.
The European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs
was formed in 1994 by a group of Venetist
entrepreneurs (among them Fabio Padovan and Diego Cancian) who demanded fiscal federalism
and autonomy for Veneto, as an answer to what they called "the fiscal and bureaucratic oppression" by the Italian State, perceived as centralist and distant from the interests and the rights of the "Venetian People". In particular, they decided to organize themselves as a trade union, saying that they were the most oppressed workers in Italy.
A prominent Venetist cultural association is Raixe Venete
(Venetian Roots), which organizes every year the well-known Festa dei Veneti in Cittadella
and whose website is translated in several languages. The association has strong links with independentists
from all over Europe and especially from the Basque Country
. In Cittadella, in occasion of the Festa dei Veneti, Venetists of every political colour, politicians of different political parties (including non-Venetist, both right and left), Venetist associations, actors, comedians, flag-wavers, musicians (notably including Herman Medrano) and rock bands, and many people meet at the beginning of September every year. In November 2009 Raixe Venete organized a demonstration in Venice in support of the teaching of Venetian in schools: a wide range of people took part, from Roberto Ciambetti
, leader of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord in the Regional Council of Veneto
, to Luca Casarini
, a former far-left anti-globalization
activist and leader of the Tute Bianche
in Veneto.
Another notable association is named Venetians Movement, which was founded in 2006 by Patrik Riondato. It presents itself as a cross-party political movement which aims to promote independence regardless of individual political positions such as left or right, in a democratic and nonviolent way, even if recently it took part to the founding of the Party of the Venetians
, a coalition of Venetist parties ranging from the centre-right to the far-left. Other three leading although small groups are the self-proclaimed Venetian Most Serene Government
(VSG), whose main leaders include Luigi Faccia and late Giuseppe Segato, Self-Government of the Venetian People led by Loris Palmerini and Venetian State of Vittorio Selmo.
On the cultural side, it is worth of mention the Milizia Veneta (Venetian Militia), in practice a corp of people who perform historic representations of the Venetian army (including flag-raising at the Festa dei Veneti), Europa Veneta, Par San Marco and Veneti Eventi.
The Venetist movement has also several publications, notably including Quaderni Veneti and Gaxeta Veneta, a webmagazine.
, active between 1921 and 1924. Then, in the 1960s, the Venetian Regionalist Autonomist Movement (MARV) was active, but it was more a cultural association than a political party. In fact the first organized Venetist parties were started only after the institution of Veneto as Region and the direct election of the Regional Council
in 1970.
Some parties campaign for federal reform, others for autonomy or a special statute for Veneto, others for an autonomous North-East region covering Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, finally some campaign for an independent Venetian state.
Since the late 1970s many Venetist parties were founded in Veneto, covering all the ideologic spectrum:
and the St Mark's Campanile
in Venice in order to proclaim the "independence of Veneto". After eight hours barred in the Campanile, the Carabinieri
entered and arrested the group. The members of the group, including the two leaders of the Venetian Most Serene Government
(Veneto Serenissimo Governo), Luigi Faccia and Giuseppe Segato, who did not take part to the action, were all jailed and processed. The effort, which was more symbolic than anything else, was criticized by Umberto Bossi
and Roberto Maroni
, leaders of Lega Nord, at that time proponents of the independence of Padania
, while it was praised by Gianfranco Miglio
, a former senator of the League who was then elected as an independent for the centre-right Pole of Freedoms
.
The Serenissimi soon became a sort of "heroes" for many Venetists and the tank with which they reached Piazza San Marco on that night is usually an exhibit at the yearly Festa dei Veneti and at other rallies of that kind, also outside Veneto. Segato was a candidate of Liga Veneta Repubblica in the 2001 general election
and came short of election to the Italian Senate
, having received 9.8% of the vote in the constituency of Schio
. Representatives from most political parties in Veneto, including centre-left figures, defended the Serenissimi: Claudio Rizzato of the Democrats of the Left
even praised the "noble ideals" of the group, while Massimo Cacciari
and Green
Gianfranco Bettin
campaigned for the pardon to those in jail, along with Liga Veneta
and the regional section of Forza Italia
. Some of them are not embarrassed in taking part to a rally, the Festa dei Veneti, in which the tanko is exposed. More recently also leading members of the League, including Bossi and Roberto Calderoli
, praised them and another leghista, Roberto Castelli
, when minister of Justice in 2003, proposed a pardon for Faccia who was still in jail, unsuccessfully as Faccia refused it.
. According to the police, the group had planned an aggression to Luca Zaia
, a leading member of Liga Veneta
–Lega Nord, during the Festa dei Veneti of 2009, because he would have betrayed Venetist ideals by accepting to become minister of Agriculture in Berlusconi IV Cabinet
. However the attack did not take place also because Zaia failed to show up in Cittadella on that occasion. The day after Zaia declared: "Maybe those people confuse Venetism with something different. Being a Venetist, for me, means defending our heritage, promote the language and the literature of this region".
annexed the remaining portion of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
, including current Veneto
, Friuli
and the province of Mantua
in 1866 was cancelled by a decree come into force on 13 December 2010, likely for a government mistake. It is now unclear whether this event will have any real and direct consequence, or will be just used by indipendentist groups to pursue a lawsuit in favour of an independent Venetian state (perhaps in front of the European Court of Justice
) as previously done.
The debate began anyway since the first day, when independentist and autonomist groups declared that Veneto is no more part of Italy. Political and juridical opinion are conflicting on whether Veneto still belongs to Italy or not, and a regional inquiry is due. Actually, on the following day, the ministerial staff informed that the annexation act was cancelled since it was of no use, after the Constitution of Italy
, which ensures national unity, but not all legal opinions agree for various reasons with this interpretation, as indipendentist groups immediately pointed out. In particular, the Treaty of Osimo
, signed in 1975 by Italy and Yugoslavia
, formally transferred the sovereignty of Italian "Zone-B" to Yugoslavia without any changes to the Italian Constitution. This precedent proves that the borders of the Italian Republic (hence the territory subject to the Italian Constitution) are established by means of international treaties
, not the Constitution itself. That is, the Constitution of Italy does ensure national unity, but the territory to which this constitutional national unity applies is determined via international treaty. Besides, if state borders could be established via constitution, rather than with treaties, it would be possible for a state to unilaterally annex the territory of another state. Such a position is not tenable and this casts serious doubts on the possibility that Italy can determine its territorial extent in its own Constitution.
, which had a banner around the neck reading "l'eroe degli immondi" ("the hero of the unclean"), instead of "l'eroe dei due mondi" ("the hero of the two worlds"). The party was organized by Raixe Venete
, Bortolino Sartore (leader of Liga Veneto Autonomo
) and Patrick Riondato (leader of the Venetians Movement and leading member of Veneto State
) and was attended by members of many Venetist parties, including several local councillors of Liga Veneta
.
Luca Zaia
, President of Veneto
and leading member of Liga Veneta, while criticizing Garibaldi, dissociated from the act: "I love Veneto. I consider myself a Venetist, but burning a shape is a signal of which beware of" when "behind a shape there is a person". Also Luca Schenato, leading member of Veneto Stato and contributor of Press News Veneto, criticized the act by saying that it "reminded me other latitudes where it is common to burn puppets of political enemies of the flags of Israel
and the United States": "I do not see any need for that because my message is not of hate or war. My message and my thought are joyful, proactive and forward-looking. Raixe Venete, for its part, precised that it organized the party but not the burning itself.
Regionalism (politics)
Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international commercial system...
movement demanding more autonomy, or even independence from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, for Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, and promoting the re-discovery the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
's heritage, traditions, culture and language. According to Paolo Possamai, Venetism is "the strain of Veneto and of Venetians toward the recognition of their identity and autonomy". Venetism is a broad movement, which definitely includes Venetist parties, but also encompasses people from all the political parties.
Core Venetists consider Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
to be a nation distinct from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and often refuse the validity of the result of the referendum with which Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
(or, better, Venetia, see below) was united with Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1866. Some, as the Venetian National Party
Venetian National Party
The Venetian National Party was a Venetist, libertarian and separatist political party active in Veneto, Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia Giulia...
/Veneto State
Veneto State
Veneto State is a Venetist independentist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum...
, propose a re-edition of that referendum and campaign for the independence of Venetia, a country that would be composed of all the territories of the historical Venetian Republic, covering the current Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, some areas of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
(Brescia
Province of Brescia
The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...
, Bergamo
Province of Bergamo
The Province of Bergamo is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of 1,098,740 , an area of 2,722.86 square km, and contains 244 comuni...
, Crema and a portion of the Province of Mantua
Province of Mantua
The Province of Mantua is a province in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Mantua.-Communes:It includes 70 comuni , ranging in area from Viadana, with 102.19 km², to Mariana Mantovana, with 8.81 km²....
), and a portion of Trentino.
Although it usually refers to the whole Venetian autonomist movement, the term "Venetism" is sometimes used to identify specifically the very Venetists who refuse the concept of Padania
Padania
Padania is an alternative name for the Po Valley in Italy. The term was sparingly used until the early 1990s, when Lega Nord, a political party in Italy, proposed Padania as a possible denomination for an autonomous Northern Italy...
, a proposed state by Lega Nord, of which Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
(the most successful Venetist party so far) is the "national" section in Veneto, while Alberto Gardin, a pro-independence publisher who supports the boycott of Italian elections, considers "Venetism" as a "partisan concept, that is part of the Italian political system (Venetists, as Socialists, Communists, PD
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
or PdL
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
, etc.)".
Achievements
The Statute of Veneto Region cites the "Venetian people" and UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
gives to Venetian language
Venetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
the status of not endangered language, as it is usually spoken in Veneto, part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
, part of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
in Brazil; and Chipilo, Puebla in Mexico.
In 1998 the Regional Council of Veneto
Regional Council of Veneto
The Regional Council of Veneto is the regional parliament of Veneto.It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary Regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948.-Composition:...
approved the resolution 42 concerning the "self-determination" of the "Venetian people". The resolution read: "The Venetian people [...] invokes its right to a democratic and direct referendum for the free expression of its right to self-determination". In 2006 the Regional Council officially asked to change the Constitution of Italy
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 13 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947...
in order to allow Veneto to be an autonomous region like its neighbours Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.
In 2007 Veneto recognized Venetian as official language of the region, alongside Italian, instituted an official website for standard Venetian and proclaimed a yearly "Day of the Venetian People" (Festa del Popolo Veneto) on 25 March, anniversary of the foundation of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. In 2011 the Regional Council officially proposed the Parliament of Italy
Parliament of Italy
The Parliament of Italy is the national parliament of Italy. It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members . The Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members is the lower house. The Senate of the Republic is the upper house and has 315 members .Since 2005, a party list electoral law is being...
to protect Venetian as a minority language under Italian law.
While support for a federal system
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
, as opposed to a centrally administered State, receives widespread consensus in Veneto, support for independence is less favoured. One poll estimated that 52.4% of people living north of the Po river consider secession advantageous (vantaggiosa), and 23.2% both advantageous and convenient (auspicabile). Another poll estimated that about 20% of people in Northern Italy (18.3% in North-West Italy, 27.4% in North-East Italy) support secession in case Italy is not reformed into a federal State. However, according to a more recent poll (January 2010), 45% of Northerners and 52% of Venetians (including Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
and Trentino support the independence of Padania and, thus, in the case of Venetians of Veneto.
In the 2010 regional election
Venetian regional election, 2010
The Venetian regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010, as part of Italy's big round of regional elections.Luca Zaia, rising star of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, was elected President by a landslide. With the support of 60.2% of Venetians, he was the most voted President of Veneto since...
, Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
was by far the largest party in the region with 35.2% of the vote, while its leader Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia is an Italian Venetist politician, member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.Since March 2010 Zaia is President of Veneto...
was elected President of Veneto by a landslide 60.2%. The combined result of Venetist parties was 37.6%, the highest ever.
Soon after the 2010 regional election, Daniele Stival
Daniele Stival
Daniele Stival is an Italian Venetist politician.A member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, he was first elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 2000. Since 2001 Stival has been also secretary of the party for eastern Veneto...
(Liga Veneta), new regional minister for Venetian Identity, appointed a commission of experts which will fix the rules of standard Venetian language
Venetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
and the official Venetian names of all 581 municipalities of Veneto. The commissioners include: Rodolfo Delmonte, linguist; Gianfranco Cavallin, writer and linguist close to Raixe Venete
Raixe Venete
Raixe Venete is a Venetist cultural association.Every year it organizes the Festa dei Veneti in Cittadella, where Venetists of every political colour, Venetist associations, actors, musicians and rock bands, and many simple citizens gather and whose website is translated in several languages...
; Sabino Acquaviva, sociologist and avowed Venetist; Michele Brunelli, linguist; Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati
Lodovico Pizzati is a Venetian independentist, economics professor and Venetist politician.Son of Giulio, one of the earliest members of Liga Veneta , Lodovico Pizzati has been a Venetist all throughout his life...
, economist and secretary of Veneto State
Veneto State
Veneto State is a Venetist independentist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum...
; Davide Guiotto, president of Raixe Venete, on behalf of the Venetist movement.
Annexation of Veneto by Italy
The Venetian Most Serene RepublicRepublic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
existed from 697 to 1797 for exactly 1,100 years and was the first modern republic of the world. After having defeated the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
, it was the most powerful Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
maritime power and, at its height, extended its rule from large parts of the Po Valley
Po Valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km² including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po River basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the...
to parts of current Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Croatia and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Venice was the most powerful state of the Western world in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1797, after a long decline, Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
traded what remained of the Republic to Austria in exchange of other lands. In 1848 Venetians, led by Daniele Manin
Daniele Manin
Daniele Manin was an Italian patriot and statesman from Venice. He is a hero of Italian unification .-Early life:...
, rebelled against Austrian rule and proclaimed an independent Venetian Republic. Manin, who opposed the proposed unification by some Venetians with the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, resigned but returned to lead again the opposition against Vienna in 1849.
Venetia was annexed to Italy in 1866, five years after the Italian unification
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
and the creation of 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...
under the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
in 1861. The unification of Veneto with Italy was the result of the so-called Third War of Independence
Third Italian War of Independence
The Third Italian War of Independence was a conflict which paralleled the Austro-Prussian War, and was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire.-Background:...
and a plebiscite held on held on 21 and 22 October 1866. In the peace treaty signed in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 3 October 1866, it was written that the annexation of Venetia would have been subjected to the consensus of the Venetian people, properly consulted: it is unclear whether there would have been another choice from becoming Italian, nor the treaty was more precise on how to consult the people. The territory was furthermore ceded to France (under a treaty signed by General Moering, commissioner of H.M. the Emperor of Austria, and General Leboeuf, commissioner of H.M. the Emperor of the French), which would have ceded it to Italy after the plebiscite, but Venetia was already under the Italian sovereignty after the French government renounced to it on 19 October 1866. This increases doubts on the real importance of the plebiscite and leading historians suggest that the referendum in Venetia was held under military pressure, as a mere 0.01% of voters (69 out of more than 642,000 ballots) voted against the annexation and a mere 0.1% (567 ballots) was null, and that it was ultimately rigged. Some historians also suggest that the referendum was a mere administrative affair to Italy, just to formalize the sovereignty on a territory already under its possession, and that no real choice nor free vote was granted to the local population, after having investigated into the historical archive of the Austrian Foreign Office. The plebiscite could have been a mere demonstration to gain legitimacy after the bad conduct of Italy during the war
Third Italian War of Independence
The Third Italian War of Independence was a conflict which paralleled the Austro-Prussian War, and was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire.-Background:...
.
The Kingdom of Italy adopted Italian as official language. Venetians largely rejected that and continued to speak with their own Venetian language
Venetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
. Linguistic nationalism started soon to be part of Venetian culture and during the last decades of the 19th century there were also some revolts against Southern Italian immigrants. However, Veneto was so poor that many Venetians emigrated too toward the Americas, especially Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(nationalists claim that three millions left their homeland from 1870 and 1910), without losing their national heritage so that, even today, many Venetian descendants in Latin America, notably in Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
, speak Venetian.
Fascism to World War II
Percursors of the Venetist movement were both left-wing and right-wing. In 1920 a Venetian SocialistItalian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
and Republican
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...
newspaper, La Riscossa, expoused the need for a "united elective governorate with autonomous and competent technical and administrative organs" as an alternative to the "central political rule". Guido Bergamo, Republican deputy elected in Veneto, wrote that "the Venetian problem is so acute that from today on we will preach the rebellion of Venetians. Citizens, let's not pay taxes, not recognize the central government in Rome, chase away prefects, retain the money from direct taxes in Veneto". Soon after Italico Corradino Cappellotto, a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Italian People's Party
Italian People's Party (1919–1926)
The Italian People's Party was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy.It was founded in 1919 by Luigi Sturzo, a Catholic priest. The PPI was backed by Pope Benedict XV to oppose the Italian Socialist Party...
, launched the first Venetist party forth of the 1921 general election
Italian general election, 1921
The Italian general election of 1921 took place on 15 May 1921.The Liberal governing coalition, strengthened by the joining of Fascist candidates in the "National Blocs" , came short of a majority...
. This party, named Lion of Saint Mark
Lion of Saint Mark
Lion of Saint Mark was a short-lived political party active in Veneto and the forerunner of many Venetist parties.The party was founded in 1921 by Italico Corradino Cappellotto, a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Italian People's Party...
, won 6.1% of the votes in the province of Treviso
Province of Treviso
The Province of Treviso is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso.The province has an area of 2,477 km², and a total population of 886.886 . There are 95 municipalities in the province .-Municipalities:-External links:*...
.
After the takeover of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, who, among other things, banned the teaching of Venetian language in schools, the rise of Fascism, the World War II and the birth of the Republic of Italy, Venetist ideas lost ground, in an era in which the "myth of the indivisibility and the unity" of the country was strong even in Veneto. However the campaign of Mussolini to eradicate regional languages was largely unsuccessful in Veneto, which soon became a stronghold of the Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
party due to the leading role of the Catholic Church in the region.
Since 1919 Venetia plus the newly annexed territories from Austria, which included Trentino and South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
, were called the Three Venices (Tre Venezie, whereof Triveneto): Venezia Euganea (the current Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
plus large parts of Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
), Venezia Giulia (the eastern part of current Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
) and Venezia Tridentina (Trentino and South Tyrol). However, under the Constitution of Italy
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 13 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947...
adopted in 1948, only Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia were granted of the status of special-statute autonomous region and the connected privileges, mainly fiscal autonomy. Hence, the proposals by some groups of unifying Veneto with the two regions cited above or giving also Veneto a similar statute.
Comeback of Venetist ideals
Venetist ideas had a comeback in the 1960s, when the Venetian Regionalist Autonomist Movement (MARV) campaigned for the institution of the ordinary regions (including Veneto), prefigured by the Italian Constitution. The ordinary regions were finally instituted by 1970. Since the 1970s Veneto experienced a dramatic economic boom thanks to a new production model based on small enterprises. The high burden of taxes and bureaucracy, associated with the increasing frustration with the inefficient and overstaffed Italian government in Rome, that continued to channel Northern taxes as massive development aid to the corrupt and backward Southern regions, was the key element, along with linguistic and historical claims, that led to the formation of Liga VenetaLiga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
in January 1980. The opening speech of the first convention of the party in December 1979 recited: "Today for Venetians the moment has come, after 113 years of Italian unitary colonization, to take their natural and human resources back, to fight against the wild exploitation that has brought emigration, pollution and rooting out from their culture". European integration
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
was seen as an opportunity to give back to Veneto its autonomy.
People and movements
Prominent Venetists include Goffredo PariseGoffredo Parise
Goffredo Parise was an Italian writer and journalist. He won the Viareggio Prize in 1965 and the Strega Prize in 1982. He was an atheist.-References:...
, Franco Rocchetta
Franco Rocchetta
Franco Rocchetta is a Venetist politician.Rocchetta was born in Venice. He was a founding member of Liga Veneta in 1978–1980, and its national president and practical leader...
(founder of Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
), Ettore Beggiato
Ettore Beggiato
Ettore Beggiato is a Venetist historian and politician.As member of several Venetist political parties , he was member of the Regional Council of Veneto from 1985 to 2000...
(who wrote a book titled: "1866: the big trick", 1866: la grande truffa), Sabino Acquaviva (who perfaced the book of Beggiato), Fabio Padovan
Fabio Padovan
Member of the Liga Veneta-Lega Nord, Fabio Padovan was deputy at the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994 and leader of the European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs , an organization defending the little and medium-sized industries in Veneto....
, Giorgio Lago, Flaminio De Poli, Giampaolo Borsetto, Ivone Cacciavillani, Fabrizio Comencini
Fabrizio Comencini
Fabrizio Comencini is a Venetist politician.Comencini started his political career in the Italian Social Movement , for which he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 1985 and 1990. In the early 1990s, during his second term as regional councillor, he switched to Liga Veneta–Lega Nord...
, Gian Paolo Gobbo, Manuela Dal Lago
Manuela Dal Lago
Manuela Dal Lago is an Italian Venetist politician. She is member of Liga Veneta-Lega Nord.In the late 1970s she started her political career in the Italian Liberal Party, reaching the position of youth leader of the party in Veneto...
, Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia is an Italian Venetist politician, member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.Since March 2010 Zaia is President of Veneto...
, Flavio Tosi
Flavio Tosi
Flavio Tosi is an Italian Venetist politician. He is member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.-Career:Having joined Liga Veneta in 1991, he was elected to the Municipal Council of Verona in 1994 at the age of 25. From 1997 to 2003 he was also provincial secretary of Liga Veneta for the Province of Verona...
, Giorgio Vido
Giorgio Vido
Giorgio Vido is an Italian Venetist politician. Elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies for the Liga Veneta-Lega Nord, Link title he left the party in 1994....
, Giorgio Panto
Giorgio Panto
Giorgio Panto was an Italian Venetist entrepreneur and politician.Panto was born at Meolo, in the Province of Venice...
, Patrik Riondato, Loris Palmerini, and, to some extent, Giancarlo Galan
Giancarlo Galan
Giancarlo Galan is an Italian politician.After having been a Liberal activist in the Seventies and the Eighties, he was not active in politics until he joined Forza Italia since its foundation in 1994. In the same year he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies.In 1995 he ran successfully...
, Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari is an Italian philosopher and politician.Born in Venice, Massimo Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua , where he also received his doctorate, writing a thesis on Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Judgment." In 1985, he became professor of Aesthetics at the...
and Mario Rigoni Stern
Mario Rigoni Stern
Mario Rigoni Stern was an Italian author and World War II veteran.His first novel Il sergente nella neve, published in 1953 , draws on his own experience as a Sergeant Major in the Alpini corp during the disastrous retreat from Russia in World War II...
.
In November 2009 the Corriere del Veneto, the regional edition of the Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
in Veneto, published a broad overview of what it described as "Venetist galaxy". The newspaper counted around 20 notable Venetist organizations: along the four major Venetist parties of the time (Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, Liga Veneta Repubblica, North-East Project
North-East Project
North-East Project is a Venetist, fiscal federalist and libertarian Italian political party based in Veneto, demanding larger autonomy, if not complete independence for the region.-History:...
and Venetian National Party
Venetian National Party
The Venetian National Party was a Venetist, libertarian and separatist political party active in Veneto, Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia Giulia...
), a large variety of minor political parties, movements, cultural associations and trade unions were listed. The most significant of these need a further treatment.
The European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs
European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs
The European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs - Entrepreneurs' Trade Union is an association of entrepreneurs based in Veneto, one of the regions of Italy....
was formed in 1994 by a group of Venetist
Venetism
Venetian nationalism is an ideology and a regionalist movement demanding more autonomy, or even independence from Italy, for Veneto, and promoting the re-discovery the Republic of Venice's heritage, traditions, culture and language...
entrepreneurs (among them Fabio Padovan and Diego Cancian) who demanded fiscal federalism
Fiscal federalism
As a subfield of public economics, fiscal federalism is concerned with "understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government"...
and autonomy for Veneto, as an answer to what they called "the fiscal and bureaucratic oppression" by the Italian State, perceived as centralist and distant from the interests and the rights of the "Venetian People". In particular, they decided to organize themselves as a trade union, saying that they were the most oppressed workers in Italy.
A prominent Venetist cultural association is Raixe Venete
Raixe Venete
Raixe Venete is a Venetist cultural association.Every year it organizes the Festa dei Veneti in Cittadella, where Venetists of every political colour, Venetist associations, actors, musicians and rock bands, and many simple citizens gather and whose website is translated in several languages...
(Venetian Roots), which organizes every year the well-known Festa dei Veneti in Cittadella
Cittadella
Cittadella is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the thirteenth century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is 1461 m in circumference with a diameter of around 450 m. There are four gates which roughly...
and whose website is translated in several languages. The association has strong links with independentists
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
from all over Europe and especially from the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
. In Cittadella, in occasion of the Festa dei Veneti, Venetists of every political colour, politicians of different political parties (including non-Venetist, both right and left), Venetist associations, actors, comedians, flag-wavers, musicians (notably including Herman Medrano) and rock bands, and many people meet at the beginning of September every year. In November 2009 Raixe Venete organized a demonstration in Venice in support of the teaching of Venetian in schools: a wide range of people took part, from Roberto Ciambetti
Roberto Ciambetti
Roberto Ciambetti is an Italian Venetist politician.A member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, he was secretary of the party from 2003 to 2007 for the Province of Vicenza. Having elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 2005, he became floor leader of the party in 2008...
, leader of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord in the Regional Council of Veneto
Regional Council of Veneto
The Regional Council of Veneto is the regional parliament of Veneto.It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary Regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948.-Composition:...
, to Luca Casarini
Luca Casarini
Luca Casarini is an Italian activist and former proponent of the Tute Bianche movement. Casarini was influential in the development of the "white overalls" movement, that practiced social and civil disobedience while dressed in white overalls and padding .On March 2008, Luca Casarini published his...
, a former far-left anti-globalization
Anti-globalization
Criticism of globalization is skepticism of the claimed benefits of the globalization of capitalism. Many of these views are held by the anti-globalization movement however other groups also are critical of the policies of globalization....
activist and leader of the Tute Bianche
Tute Bianche
Tute Bianche was a militant Italian social movement, active from 1994 to 2001.Activists covered their bodies with padding so as to resist the blows of police, to push through police lines, and to march together in large blocks for mutual protection during demonstrations.-Name:Tute Bianche means,...
in Veneto.
Another notable association is named Venetians Movement, which was founded in 2006 by Patrik Riondato. It presents itself as a cross-party political movement which aims to promote independence regardless of individual political positions such as left or right, in a democratic and nonviolent way, even if recently it took part to the founding of the Party of the Venetians
Party of the Venetians
The Party of the Venetians was a Venetist-separatist coalition of parties active in Veneto.The alliance, which was formed in January 2010, after the disbandment of Veneto Freedom, was composed of five groups, which continued to be active as factions of Veneto State, since when the PdV was merged...
, a coalition of Venetist parties ranging from the centre-right to the far-left. Other three leading although small groups are the self-proclaimed Venetian Most Serene Government
Venetian Most Serene Government
The Venetian Most Serene Government , whose members are often referred to as Serenissimi, is a political organization active in Veneto, reclaiming independence and self-government for Venetian lands...
(VSG), whose main leaders include Luigi Faccia and late Giuseppe Segato, Self-Government of the Venetian People led by Loris Palmerini and Venetian State of Vittorio Selmo.
On the cultural side, it is worth of mention the Milizia Veneta (Venetian Militia), in practice a corp of people who perform historic representations of the Venetian army (including flag-raising at the Festa dei Veneti), Europa Veneta, Par San Marco and Veneti Eventi.
The Venetist movement has also several publications, notably including Quaderni Veneti and Gaxeta Veneta, a webmagazine.
Political parties
The first Venetist party in Veneto was Lion of Saint MarkLion of Saint Mark
Lion of Saint Mark was a short-lived political party active in Veneto and the forerunner of many Venetist parties.The party was founded in 1921 by Italico Corradino Cappellotto, a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Italian People's Party...
, active between 1921 and 1924. Then, in the 1960s, the Venetian Regionalist Autonomist Movement (MARV) was active, but it was more a cultural association than a political party. In fact the first organized Venetist parties were started only after the institution of Veneto as Region and the direct election of the Regional Council
Regional Council of Veneto
The Regional Council of Veneto is the regional parliament of Veneto.It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary Regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948.-Composition:...
in 1970.
Some parties campaign for federal reform, others for autonomy or a special statute for Veneto, others for an autonomous North-East region covering Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, finally some campaign for an independent Venetian state.
Since the late 1970s many Venetist parties were founded in Veneto, covering all the ideologic spectrum:
- Liga VenetaLiga VenetaLiga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
(LV – started in 1979, part of Lega Nord since 1991) - Liga Federativa VenetaLiga Federativa VenetaLiga Federativa Veneta was a Venetist political party active in Veneto.LFV was founded in 1983 by splinters from Liga Veneta led by Giulio Pizzati. In 1987 the party was merged into the Veneto Autonomous Region Movement , a brand new party formed by more recent splinters from Liga Veneta...
(LFV – started in 1983, merged into MVRA in 1987) - Liga Veneta SerenissimaLiga Veneta SerenissimaLiga Veneta Serenissima was a Venetist political party active in Veneto.LFS was founded in 1984 by splinters from Liga Veneta led by Achille Tramarin. Tramarin was first elected national secretary of Liga Veneta in 1980 and in the 1983 regional election he was elected to the Italian Chamber of...
(LVS – started in 1984, merged into UPV in 1987) - Venetian Most Serene GovernmentVenetian Most Serene GovernmentThe Venetian Most Serene Government , whose members are often referred to as Serenissimi, is a political organization active in Veneto, reclaiming independence and self-government for Venetian lands...
(VSG – started in 1987, still active) - Veneto Autonomous Region MovementVeneto Autonomous Region MovementThe Veneto Autonomous Region Movement was a Venetist political party active in Veneto.MVRA was founded in 1987 by splinters from Liga Veneta led by Geppino and Umberto Vecchiato...
(MVRA – started in 1987, merged into LVR/VdE in 2000) - Union of the Venetian PeopleUnion of the Venetian PeopleThe Union of the Venetian People was a Venetist political party active in Veneto.-History:The party was founded in 1987 by splinters from Liga Veneta led by Ettore Beggiato and Gianni Butturini. In the 1990 regional election UPV won 1.9% of the vote and Beggiato was re-elected to the Regional...
(UPV – started in 1987, merged into LV in 1995) - Lega Autonomia VenetaLega Autonomia VenetaThe Lega Autonomia Veneta was a centre-left regionalist political party in Veneto.The party was composed mainly of dissidents from Liga Veneta, but nevertheless its long-standing leaders were Mario Rigo, a former Mayor of Venice and MEP for the Italian Socialist Party, and Oscar De Bona,...
(LAV – started in 1991, merged into MNE in 1997) - Liga Nathion VenetaLiga Nathion VenetaLiga Nathion Veneta was a short-lived Venetist political party active in Veneto.LNV was founded in 1994 by Franco Rocchetta and Marilena Marin, after they had left Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, a party they were instrumental to establish...
(LNV – started in 1994, disbanded soon after) - North-East UnionNorth-East UnionThe North-East Union is a Venetist political party active in Veneto.The party was formed in 1996 by splinters from Liga Veneta–Lega Nord led by Adriano Bertaso. In the 1996 general election the party won 2.0% of the vote in the region , having run only in the Verona–Padua–Vicenza–Rovigo constituency...
(UNE – started in 1996, briefly merged into LVR/VdE in 1999) - North-East Movement (MNE – started in 1997, merged into The Democrats in 1999)
- Liga Veneta Repubblica/Veneti d'Europa (LVR/VdE – started in 1998, merged into LFV in 2002)
- Veneto Padanian Federal RepublicVeneto Padanian Federal RepublicVeneto Padanian Federal Republic was a short-lived Venetist political party active in Veneto.In 1998, when Liga Veneta split between Venetists and Padanists, Renato Martin, Mayor of Jesolo and friend of Jörg Haider, was one of the leaders of the second group...
(VRFP – started in 1999, disbanded soon after) - Liga dei VenetiLiga dei VenetiLiga dei Veneti was a short-lived Venetist political party active in Veneto.LdV was founded in 1999 by a group of splinters of Liga Veneta Repubblica led by Mariangelo Foggiato, regional councillor and party president, and Antonio Serena, senator...
(LdV – started in 1999, merged into PNE in 2004) - Future VenetoFuture VenetoFuture Veneto was a short-lived Venetist political party active in Veneto.In 1999 Giuseppe Ceccato, national president of Liga Veneta and senator, was expelled from Lega Nord...
(VF – started in 1999 as part of ApEAutonomists for EuropeAutonomists for Europe is a minor regionalist, Christian-democratic and liberal Italian political party. Founded in 2000 by splinters of Lega Nord as a potentially dangerous competitor, is now a rather marginal force...
, merged into LVR/VdE in 2000) - Fronte Marco PoloFronte Marco PoloFronte Marco Polo was a Venetist political party active in Veneto, named after Marco Polo.Fabio Padovan, leader of the European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs and former deputy of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, and Giorgio Vido, another former deputy of LV–LN, formed FMP in 1999 in view of the 2000...
(FMP – started in 1999, merged into LFV in 2002) - Liga Fronte VenetoLiga Fronte VenetoLiga Veneta Repubblica is a Venetist political party. The party maintains a mildly independentist position and campaingns the self-government of Veneto....
/Liga Veneta Repubblica (LFV/LVR – started in 2002, merger of LVR/VdE and FMP) - Bellunese Autonomist Party (PAB – started in 2003, joined PdV in 2009)
- Free Veneto (VL – started in 2004, joined PdV in 2010)
- North-East ProjectNorth-East ProjectNorth-East Project is a Venetist, fiscal federalist and libertarian Italian political party based in Veneto, demanding larger autonomy, if not complete independence for the region.-History:...
(PNE – started in 2004) - Venetian Land (TV – started in 2006)
- Venetians Movement (MV, started in 2006, joined PdV in 2009)
- Venetian State (SV, started in 2007, joined PdV in 2009)
- Venetian AgreementVenetian AgreementVenetian Agreement is a centrist social-democratic Italian political party active in Veneto.It emerged in 2006 as a regional split from the Italian Democratic Socialists and it is led by Carlo Covi, regional deputy, and Monica Balbinot, minister of Culture of Padova...
(IV – started in 2007) - Venetian National PartyVenetian National PartyThe Venetian National Party was a Venetist, libertarian and separatist political party active in Veneto, Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia Giulia...
(PNV – started in 2007, joined VS in 2010) - Venetian People's MovementVenetian People's MovementThe Venetian People's Movement is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy, based in Veneto. Its leader is Francesco Piccolo....
(MPV – started in 2008) - Venetian People's UnityVenetian People's UnityThe Venetian People's Unity is a Venetist socialist and separatist political party.Founded in 2008, the party seeks to represent the "Venetian left" and takes example from Herri Batasuna...
(UPV – started in 2008, joined PdV in 2009) - Forum of the VenetiansForum of the VenetiansThe Forum of the Venetians is a Venetist political party.It was founded in November 2008 by Diego Cancian, member of the Regional Council of Veneto for North-East Project...
(FdV – started in 2008) - Lega Lombardo VenetaLega Lombardo VenetaLega Lombardo Veneta is a right-wing political party active in Northern Italy.The party, which was founded in 2008 by Roberto Fornili, proposes federal reform, autonomy for the regions and libertarian principles....
(LLV – started in 2008) - Venetian Independence (IV – started in 2009, joined PdV in 2010)
- Venetie for Self-Government (VpA – started in 2009)
- Veneto FreedomVeneto FreedomVeneto Freedom was a Venetist-separatist coalition of parties active in Veneto.Talks between several Venetist parties over the formation of a united party as a reliable competitor of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord started in February 2008 during a meeting in Pastrengo, Verona.The alliance, promoted by...
/Party of the VenetiansParty of the VenetiansThe Party of the Venetians was a Venetist-separatist coalition of parties active in Veneto.The alliance, which was formed in January 2010, after the disbandment of Veneto Freedom, was composed of five groups, which continued to be active as factions of Veneto State, since when the PdV was merged...
(VF/PdV – coalition, started in 2009, joined VS in 2010) - Liga Veneto AutonomoLiga Veneto AutonomoLiga Veneto Autonomo is a Venetist political party active in Veneto.LFV was formed in early 2010 by senior members of Liga Veneta Repubblica , notably including Giorgio Vido and Bortolino Sartore, in the run up of the 2010 Venetian regional election...
(LVA – started in 2010) - Veneto StateVeneto StateVeneto State is a Venetist independentist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum...
(VS – started in 2010) - Community Democratic LeagueCommunity Democratic LeagueCommunity Democratic League is a Venetist and Christian-socialist political party active in Veneto. The party was founded in July 2011 by some splinters of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord led by Davide Lovat. Lovat had been an activist of Liga Veneta in the province of Vicenza for 18 years before becoming...
(LDC – started in 2011)
St Mark's Campanile assault
During the night between 8 and 9 May 1997 a group of armed Venetist separatists, the so-called Serenissimi, "attacked" Piazza San MarcoPiazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco , is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza". All other urban spaces in the city are called "campi"...
and the St Mark's Campanile
St Mark's Campanile
St Mark's Campanile is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, located in the Piazza San Marco. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city....
in Venice in order to proclaim the "independence of Veneto". After eight hours barred in the Campanile, the Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
entered and arrested the group. The members of the group, including the two leaders of the Venetian Most Serene Government
Venetian Most Serene Government
The Venetian Most Serene Government , whose members are often referred to as Serenissimi, is a political organization active in Veneto, reclaiming independence and self-government for Venetian lands...
(Veneto Serenissimo Governo), Luigi Faccia and Giuseppe Segato, who did not take part to the action, were all jailed and processed. The effort, which was more symbolic than anything else, was criticized by Umberto Bossi
Umberto Bossi
Umberto Bossi is an Italian politician, leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy. He is married to Manuela Marrone and has four sons ....
and Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni is an Italian politician from Varese. He is a member of the Northern League political movement. Since 1992 he is a Member of the Chamber of Duputies of the Italian Republic, always elected in Lombardy's districts and costituencies...
, leaders of Lega Nord, at that time proponents of the independence of Padania
Padania
Padania is an alternative name for the Po Valley in Italy. The term was sparingly used until the early 1990s, when Lega Nord, a political party in Italy, proposed Padania as a possible denomination for an autonomous Northern Italy...
, while it was praised by Gianfranco Miglio
Gianfranco Miglio
thumb|Gianfranco Miglio School Centre in [[Adro]].Gianfranco Miglio was an Italian jurist, political scientist and politician, founder of the Partito Federalista. For 30 years, he presided over the Political science Faculty of Milan's Università Cattolica...
, a former senator of the League who was then elected as an independent for the centre-right Pole of Freedoms
Pole of Freedoms
The Pole of Freedoms was a centre-right electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi.The alliance was composed primarily of Forza Italia and the Lega Nord, but also included Christian Democratic Centre and the Union of the Centre...
.
The Serenissimi soon became a sort of "heroes" for many Venetists and the tank with which they reached Piazza San Marco on that night is usually an exhibit at the yearly Festa dei Veneti and at other rallies of that kind, also outside Veneto. Segato was a candidate of Liga Veneta Repubblica in the 2001 general election
Italian general election, 2001 (Veneto)
The Italian general election of 2001 took place on 13 May 2001. The election was won in Veneto by the centre-right House of Freedoms coalition, which won also nationally, by a landslide...
and came short of election to the Italian Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
, having received 9.8% of the vote in the constituency of Schio
Schio
Schio is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza situated North of Vicenza and East of the Lake of Garda. It is surrounded by the Little Dolomites and Mount Pasubio.-History:...
. Representatives from most political parties in Veneto, including centre-left figures, defended the Serenissimi: Claudio Rizzato of the Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...
even praised the "noble ideals" of the group, while Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari is an Italian philosopher and politician.Born in Venice, Massimo Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua , where he also received his doctorate, writing a thesis on Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Judgment." In 1985, he became professor of Aesthetics at the...
and Green
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens is a green political party in Italy, which includes also a large eco-socialist faction. Since 2009 the party leader is Angelo Bonelli.-Early years:...
Gianfranco Bettin
Gianfranco Bettin
Gianfranco Bettin is an Italian sociologist and long-time leader of the Greens in Veneto.During his career, he has been deputy mayor of Venice for Mestre and member of the Regional Council of Veneto...
campaigned for the pardon to those in jail, along with Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
and the regional section of Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
. Some of them are not embarrassed in taking part to a rally, the Festa dei Veneti, in which the tanko is exposed. More recently also leading members of the League, including Bossi and Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli
Roberto Calderoli is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy. He is currently a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet....
, praised them and another leghista, Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli
Roberto Castelli is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the third Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, he is a Senator and one of the main representatives of Lega Nord.- Career :...
, when minister of Justice in 2003, proposed a pardon for Faccia who was still in jail, unsuccessfully as Faccia refused it.
Self-Government of the Venetian People
In November 2009 a group of separatists who called themselves "Self-Government of the Venetian People" (not to be confused with the association with the same name led by Loris Palmerini, see above) were prosecuted with the charge of having built a paramilitary organization. The Italian police seized arms and uniforms of the so-called Polisia Veneta (Venetian Police) in the headquarters of the group in TrevisoTreviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
. According to the police, the group had planned an aggression to Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia is an Italian Venetist politician, member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.Since March 2010 Zaia is President of Veneto...
, a leading member of Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
–Lega Nord, during the Festa dei Veneti of 2009, because he would have betrayed Venetist ideals by accepting to become minister of Agriculture in Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...
. However the attack did not take place also because Zaia failed to show up in Cittadella on that occasion. The day after Zaia declared: "Maybe those people confuse Venetism with something different. Being a Venetist, for me, means defending our heritage, promote the language and the literature of this region".
Cancellation of the annexation of Veneto by Italy
On 8 February 2011 the Corriere del Veneto reported that the act by which the Kingdom of ItalyKingdom 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...
annexed the remaining portion of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia was created at the Congress of Vienna, which recognised the House of Habsburg's rights to Lombardy and Venetia after the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed by Napoleon in 1805, had collapsed...
, including current Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
and the province of Mantua
Province of Mantua
The Province of Mantua is a province in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Mantua.-Communes:It includes 70 comuni , ranging in area from Viadana, with 102.19 km², to Mariana Mantovana, with 8.81 km²....
in 1866 was cancelled by a decree come into force on 13 December 2010, likely for a government mistake. It is now unclear whether this event will have any real and direct consequence, or will be just used by indipendentist groups to pursue a lawsuit in favour of an independent Venetian state (perhaps in front of the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
) as previously done.
The debate began anyway since the first day, when independentist and autonomist groups declared that Veneto is no more part of Italy. Political and juridical opinion are conflicting on whether Veneto still belongs to Italy or not, and a regional inquiry is due. Actually, on the following day, the ministerial staff informed that the annexation act was cancelled since it was of no use, after the Constitution of Italy
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 13 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947...
, which ensures national unity, but not all legal opinions agree for various reasons with this interpretation, as indipendentist groups immediately pointed out. In particular, the Treaty of Osimo
Treaty of Osimo
The Treaty of Osimo was signed on 10 November 1975 by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Italian Republic in Osimo, Italy, to definitely divide the Free Territory of Trieste between the two states...
, signed in 1975 by Italy and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, formally transferred the sovereignty of Italian "Zone-B" to Yugoslavia without any changes to the Italian Constitution. This precedent proves that the borders of the Italian Republic (hence the territory subject to the Italian Constitution) are established by means of international treaties
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
, not the Constitution itself. That is, the Constitution of Italy does ensure national unity, but the territory to which this constitutional national unity applies is determined via international treaty. Besides, if state borders could be established via constitution, rather than with treaties, it would be possible for a state to unilaterally annex the territory of another state. Such a position is not tenable and this casts serious doubts on the possibility that Italy can determine its territorial extent in its own Constitution.
Garibaldi's burning controversy
During the night between 28 February and 1 March 2011, during a Venetian New Year's Day bruxamarso (a party which traditionally includes the stake of the passing year), a group of Venetists put at stake a shape of Giuseppe GaribaldiGiuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
, which had a banner around the neck reading "l'eroe degli immondi" ("the hero of the unclean"), instead of "l'eroe dei due mondi" ("the hero of the two worlds"). The party was organized by Raixe Venete
Raixe Venete
Raixe Venete is a Venetist cultural association.Every year it organizes the Festa dei Veneti in Cittadella, where Venetists of every political colour, Venetist associations, actors, musicians and rock bands, and many simple citizens gather and whose website is translated in several languages...
, Bortolino Sartore (leader of Liga Veneto Autonomo
Liga Veneto Autonomo
Liga Veneto Autonomo is a Venetist political party active in Veneto.LFV was formed in early 2010 by senior members of Liga Veneta Repubblica , notably including Giorgio Vido and Bortolino Sartore, in the run up of the 2010 Venetian regional election...
) and Patrick Riondato (leader of the Venetians Movement and leading member of Veneto State
Veneto State
Veneto State is a Venetist independentist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum...
) and was attended by members of many Venetist parties, including several local councillors of Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
.
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia
Luca Zaia is an Italian Venetist politician, member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.Since March 2010 Zaia is President of Veneto...
, President of Veneto
President of Veneto
The President of Veneto is the supreme authority of Veneto, a Region of Italy.-Election:Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Veneto, since 1995 de facto and 2000 de jure, the President is elected by popular vote every five years under universal suffrage: in regional elections the...
and leading member of Liga Veneta, while criticizing Garibaldi, dissociated from the act: "I love Veneto. I consider myself a Venetist, but burning a shape is a signal of which beware of" when "behind a shape there is a person". Also Luca Schenato, leading member of Veneto Stato and contributor of Press News Veneto, criticized the act by saying that it "reminded me other latitudes where it is common to burn puppets of political enemies of the flags of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the United States": "I do not see any need for that because my message is not of hate or war. My message and my thought are joyful, proactive and forward-looking. Raixe Venete, for its part, precised that it organized the party but not the burning itself.
See also
- List of political parties in Veneto
- Politics of VenetoPolitics of VenetoThe Politics of Veneto, Italy takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government...
- Republic of VeniceRepublic of VeniceThe Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
- TrivenetoTrivenetoThe name Tre Venezie was created in 1863 by historical linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli . The area included what would become by 1866-1919 the three Italian regions of Venezia Euganea, Venezia Giulia and Venezia Tridentina...
- Venetia
- VenetoVenetoVeneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
External links
- it.Wiki article on the Serenissimi
- it.Wiki article on the Festa dei Veneti