What is Italian irredentism in Istria?
[[File:Muggia z001.JPG|thumb|300px|Muggia, the only Italian city of contemporary Istria, was a center of the Italian irredentism in Istria]] '''Italian irredentism in Istria''' was the political movement dedicated to the unification of [[Istria]] to [[Italy]].<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/topic/Italian_irredentism_in_Istria Enotes: Italian irredentism in Istria]</ref> ==Characteristics== When [[Napoleon]] defeated Venice in 1797 he found that Istria was populated by Italians on the coast and in the main cities, but the interior was populated mainly by Croats and Slovenians. This dual [[ethnicity]] in the same [[peninsula]] created a situation of antagonism (hostility) between Slavs and Italians for the supremacy of Istria, which started the first [[nationalism]]s after Napoleon's fall.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NK3PAAAAMAAJ&dq=italian+irredentism+in+istria&pg=PA455 Unredeemed Italy: Istria (Google Book)]</ref> Since 1815 Istria was a part of the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] monarchy, and [[Slavs|Croats/Slovenians]] and Italians engaged in a nationalistic fight with each other.<ref>Benussi, Bernardo. ''L' Istria nei suoi due millenni di storia''. p. 63</ref> As a consequence Istria has been the theater of an ethnic struggle between them, with bloody [[nationalism|nationalistic]] wars, during the XIX and XX centuries. The Italian irredentism was actively followed by many Italians in Istria (called [[Istrian Italians]]), like the Italian hero [[Nazario Sauro]] of Capodistria (actual Koper).<ref>[http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/movm/parte04/bio04/movm420b.asp Biography of Nazario Sauro]</ref> Indeed, between 1918 and 1947 Istria was part of the Kingdom of Italy, but after [[WWII]] was part of [[Yugoslavia]]. Now the Istrian Italians are reduced to a small minority, who has survived the [[Istrian-Dalmatian exodus|Istrian exodus]] and the [[Foibe massacres]] during and after [[WWII]].<ref>Arrigo Petacco, ''The exodus. The story of the Italian population of Istria, Dalmatia, and Venezia Giulia'', Mo