TIGR
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TIGR (an acronym of the place-names
Background
After the Fascist movement came to power in 1922, anti-Slavic policies were enforced as part of Italianization. In 1923, the use of Slovene and Croatian in all public offices, including post offices and means of public transport, was prohibited. In the same year, the Gentile reform declared Italian as the only language of public education; by 1928, all Slovene and Croatian schools, including private ones, were closed down. In 1925, the use of Slovene and Croatian was prohibited in the courts of law. All Slovene and Croatian names of towns and settlements were Italianized. By 1927, all public use of Slovene and Croatian was prohibited. It was prohibited to give children Slavic names, and all Slavic-sounding surnames were administratively given an Italian-sounding form. The Fascist Italianization prohibited Slavic inscriptions on gravestones.[citation needed]
By 1927, all Slovene and Croatian associations—not only political ones, but also cultural, educational and sport associations—were dissolved, as were all financial and economic institutions in the hands of the Slovene and Croatian minority. Starting in 1928, the state law also started limiting the use of Slovene and Croatian in the churches, and in 1934, all use of Slovene and Croatian in Roman Catholic liturgy (including singing and sermons) was prohibited.
Under the effect of this policy, tens of thousands emigrated abroad, mostly to Yugoslavia and South America.
Composition and activity
Its membership consisted of radical (mostly national liberal) Slovene youth from former
The TIGR carried out several bomb attacks on Italian and German soil,[6] as well as assassinations of Italian military personnel, police forces, civil servants and prominent members of the National Fascist Party.[7] It also planned a popular uprising against the Fascist regime, which was however never carried out.[8] Because of these actions, it was treated as a terrorist organization by the Italian state.
The organization was dismantled by the
Early activity
The first organized anti-Fascist resistance activities in the Julian March began in the mid 1920s in the easternmost districts of the region (around
In September 1927, a group of Slovene
The two organization were formed mostly by Slovene progressive nationalist youngsters from Trieste, the Karst Plateau, Inner Carniola, and the Tolmin district. Between 1927 and 1930, the organization launched numerous attacks on individual members or supporters of the National Fascist Party (both Italian and Slovene), and also killed several members of repressive forces: carabinieri, border guards, military personnel.
In the
In Istria, the TIGR cell was led by Vladimir Gortan, a Croat activist from Beram (near Pazin).[13] Differently from most Slovene cells, Gortan opted for open demonstrative actions, such as attacks on police convoys. In March 1929, during the Fascist plebiscite, when he raided a polling station near the town of Pazin, killing one peasant. Soon afterwards, he was caught by the Italian police and executed.
On 10 February 1930, in the headquarters of the newspaper Il Popolo di Trieste, the TIGR places a bomb killing the editor Guido Neri. Three other journalists and typographers remained injured.[14]
In 1930 the
Re-organization in the 1930s
After the trial of 1930, the organization quickly re-organized itself under the leadership of Albert Rejec and Danilo Zelen. It expanded its membership and shifted its tactics. Instead of demonstrative attacks on symbolic figures and institutions of Fascist repression, they opted for targeted attacks on infrastructure and high-ranking military, militia and police personnel. They also built a wide intelligence network, and established contacts with British and Yugoslav intelligence services. Ideological propaganda was intensified.
While in the late 1920s, the organization had close connection with radical Yugoslav nationalist movements, such as
Among the actions planned by the organization, the most daring and far-reaching was probably the attempt on
After the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, the TIGR expanded its activity to neighboring Nazi Germany, focusing primarily on bomb actions against crucial infrastructure: railways, and high-voltage power lines. The actions led to a thorough investigation by the Fascist regime, which disclosed most of the TIGR cells in 1940/1941.
Second World War
In 1941 several members of TIGR were condemned for espionage and terrorism at the
During
Aftermath and legacy
After the establishment of the
In the late 1970s, the first historical accounts on the activity of the TIGR started to appear. Only in the 1980s, however, did their resistance activity started to be appreciated again, with several historical books written on the matter. The historian Milica Kacin Wohinz was one of the first to produce a thorough study of the movement in a monograph entitled "The First Anti-Fascism in Europe", and published in 1990.
Throughout the 1990s, the history of TIGR received increased publicity and started to be mentioned in public speeches. In 1994, the Association for the Nourishment of Patriotic Traditions of the Slovenian Littoral Organization TIGR (colloquially known as the "Association TIGR" or "Patriotic Association TIGR") was formed in Postojna, and eventually became the main promoter of the positive evaluation of the TIGR legacy.
In 1997 on the 50th anniversary of annexation of the
Since the 1990s, many monuments and memorial plaques have been erected to commemorate TIGR activists and their activities.
Prominent TIGR members
- Albert Rejec
- Zorko Jelinčič
- Danilo Zelen
- Ferdo Kravanja
- Fran Marušič
- Dorče Sardoč
- Zvonimir Miloš
- Just Godnič
- Tone Černač
- Ferdo Bidovec
- Alojz Valenčič
- Ivan Ivančič
- Andrej Manfreda
- Vekoslav Španger
- Drago Žerjal
- Vladimir Gortan
- Jože Dekleva
- Jože Vadnjal
- Mirko Brovč
- Franc Kavs
- Anton Majnik
- Maks Rejec
- Rudolf Uršič
- Viktor Bobek
People linked to the organization
- Ciril Kosmač, writer
- Vladimir Bartol, writer
- Stanko Vuk, author and activist
- Pinko Tomažič, Communist activist
- Ivan Marija Čok, Slovenian immigrant politician in Yugoslavia
See also
- Slovene minority in Italy (1920-1947)
- Lojze Bratuž
- Engelbert Besednjak
- Josip Vilfan
- Lavo Čermelj
- Klement Jug
- Slovene Partisans
- Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation
References
- ^ Milica Kacin Wohinz, Prvi antifašizem v Evropi. Primorska 1925-1935 (Koper: Lipa, 1990)
- ^ Website of the TIGR Society
- ISBN 978-961-231-871-0
- ^ Cresciani, Gianfranco (2004) Clash of civilisations, Italian Historical Society Journal, Vol.12, No.2, p.4
- ^ a b Mira Cencič, TIGR (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1997)
- ^ Slovenska matica, 1995)
- ^ Milica Kacin Wohinz, Marta Verginella, Primorski upor fašizmu (Ljubljana, 2008).
- ^ Borut Rutar, Iz primorske epopeje: Mirko Brovč in narodna vstaja organizacije TIGR, 1938-1941 (Klagenfurt: Mohorjeva družba, 2004)
- ^ Tatjana Rejec, Partija in tigrovci (Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 2008)
- ^ Tatjana Rejec, Pričevanja o TIGR-u (Ljubljana, 1995)
- ^ Branko Marušič, ed., Domovina, kje si? Zbornik ob 100. obletnici rojstva Alberta Rejca (Celje: Mohorjeva družba, 1999)
- ^ Kacin-Wohinz, Milica (1987). "Borba". Enciklopedija Slovenije. Vol. 1. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. p. 328.
BORBA, ilegalna protifašistična narodnorevolucionarna organizacija slov. in hrv. mladine ...
- ^ Kacin-Wohinz, Milica (1989). "Vladimir Gortan". Enciklopedija Slovenije. Vol. 3. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. p. 301.
GORTAN, Vladimir ... hrv. rodoljub.
- ^ (in Italian) Tribunale speciale per la difesa dello Stato, Bevk-January 1930.pdf Reg. no.81/1930 Judgment No. 29, on coordinamentoadriatico.it Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ferenc, Tone (1992). "Mala Gora". Enciklopedija Slovenije. Vol. 6. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. p. 382.
Boj na M. g. je bil prvi oboroženi spopad z okupatorjem v osrednji Sloveniji.
- ^ Fajfar, Simona. "Bitka na Mali gori je zaveza za prihodnost". Delo. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
13. maja 1941 se je na Mali Gori pri Ribnici zgodil prvi oboroženi spopad Slovencev, pripadnikov organizacije TIGR, z okupatorjem
- ^ "Zelen, Danilo (1907–1941)". Slovenska biografija. Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
Z. je prvi Slov., ki je padel v boju z okupatorjem na Slov.