Rijeka: A City of 7 Nations in 100 Years
The city of Rijeka is Croatia’s 3rd largest city with a population of 108k and located in the north-west of the country on Kvarner Bay, within the Adriatic Sea. Because of its strategic position, Rijeka has been a frequently contested city, changing rulers and demographics many times over the last few centuries.
Historically, Rijeka was called Tarsatica (Ancient Greek), Vitopolis (City of St. Vitus in Latin), and Flumen (River in Latin). But in more recent times, it’s known as:
— Rijeka (Croatian)
— Fiume (Italian and Hungarian)
— Reka (Slovenian)
— Reka/Rika (Chakavian — A dialect of Croatian)
— Sankt Viet am Flaum (German)
Empires, monarchies and republics alike have battled it out and gained influence in the region, all in order to take advantage of Rijeka’s deep-water access to the sea and its connections to neighbouring nations. The most active period has been the last century, where a total of 7 nations have been in control of the city:
— Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)
— Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941)
— Italian Regency of Carnaro (1919–1920)
— Free State of Fiume (1920–1924)
— Kingdom of Italy (1924–1943)
— Yugoslavia (1945–1991)
— Croatia (1991–Present)
Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)
Austria-Hungary was formed as a dual monarchy at the signing of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. The autonomous Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was created in 1868 within Transleithania in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the city of Fiume (Rijeka) was left disputed.
Later in 1868, a settlement known as the Rijeka Addendum (Riječka Krpica, translated as “Patch of Rijeka”) gave the city a corpus separatum status due to its pre-Napoleonic history, and became legally owned by Hungary but administrated by both Croatia and Hungary. This gave the city a semi-autonomous status within the kingdom and had a total area of 21 km². The City of Fiume and its District (Fiume város és kerülete) comprised the city and three neighbouring villages; Cosala (Kozala), Drenova, and Plasse (Plase).
In 1914, WWI began with Austria-Hungary declaring war against the Kingdom of Serbia, and in 1917 had to withdraw from defeated countries due to the crippling economic condition of the country. On 10 September 1919, the Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed, declaring the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to be dissolved, and was succeeded by German Austria and the Hungarian Democratic Republic.
Italian Regency of Carnaro (1919–1920)
In 1915 during WWI, Italy made a pact with the Allies (the Treaty of London) to promise the lands of the Austrian Littoral (Made up of the County of Gorizia and Gradisca in Italy, the Free City of Trieste, and the county of Istria) to go to Italy, but the agreement didn’t include the city of Rijeka. The establishment of rival Croatian-Serbian and Italian administrations in the city took place in the final weeks of the war as both the Kingdom of Italy and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes claimed sovereignty over Rijeka due to their ethnic populations within the city.
In 1918, Rijeka became occupied and then annexed by the military of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and then an international force of British, Italian, French and American troops entered the city in November. After the war finished in 1919, it was agreed that Rijeka would remain outside of Italian borders and become amalgamated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
General Gabriele D’Annunzio of the Royal Italian Army was angered at what he believed to be the surrender of an Italian city. So on 12 September 1919, he led a 2,600-strong force and successfully seized Rijeka (Fiume), and forced the occupying Allies (US, British and French) out of the area. That day, he announced that Fiume had become annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, but the Italian government opposed his move, blockaded the city, and demanded surrender. On 8 September 1920, Fiume was officially proclaimed by D’Annunzio to be the Italian Regency of Carnaro.
Free State of Fiume (1920–1924)
The Treaty of Rapallo was signed on 12 November 1920 by the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in order to solve border disputes in the Austrian Littoral region. It stated that Rijeka would become the Free State of Fiume.
General Gabriele D’Annunzio (Comandante of the Carnaro) ignored the treaty and declared war on the Kingdom of Italy. On 24 December 1920, Italy sent the Royal Italian Army to Fiume, and after several hours of fighting a truce was proclaimed for Christmas Day, and then fighting resumed on the 26th. The battle lasted for 5 days and became known as the Christmas Battle (or Bloody Christmas), with a victory for Italy on 30 December 1920 where Rijeka officially became the Free State of Fiume.
A democratic election by the Fiuman electorate on 24 April 1921 approved the idea of a free state of Fiume-Rijeka with a Fiuman-Italo-Yugoslav consortium ownership structure for the port. Rijeka’s first President, Riccardo Zanella, was met with official international recognition and greetings from all major powers and countries worldwide. Fiume’s total territory was 28 km² comprising the city, rural areas to its north, and a corridor to its west connecting it to the Kingdom of Italy.
Kingdom of Italy and Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1924–1943)
On 27 January 1924, the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes signed the Treaty of Rome that agreed to the annexation of Fiume by Italy, which took effect on 16 March. The government of the Free State considered this act invalid and somewhat continued their activities as they were into the 1950s.
The city became a part of the newly-formed Province of Fiume, and during its time within the Kingdom of Italy, it became a border town with little strategic importance for the Kingdom. However, since it retained its free port status, it gained many many economic concessions and subsidies from the government, including separate tax treatment and investments.
In 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes changed their name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in order to “unify” their peoples as the term Yugoslavia was already used colloquially.
At the beginning of WWII, Fiume found itself in a difficult situation with having a majority Italian population but being surrounded by potentially hostile Croatians. So in April 1941, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and set the stage for a bloody battle in Fiume and the surrounding. The same month, the Independent State of Croatia was established as a puppet state by Nazi Germany that consisted of modern-day Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and parts of Serbia and Slovenia.
The Kingdom of Italy formally surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, so Rijeka and surrounding territories were occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany, where it became part of the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (OZAK).
Because of the city’s industries of oil, torpedoes and shipyards, the city was frequently bombed by Allied air attacks. On 3 May 1945, Yugoslav Partisan troops attacked the area in order to push the occupiers back. The Germans were forced to retreat and destroyed much of the city’s harbour and infrastructure along their way.
Yugoslavia (1945–1991)
The end of WWII in Europe was marked by Germany’s surrender on 8 May 1945, and therefore the OZAK was dissolved. The Fiuman government requested the Partisans to respect the city-state’s internationally recognised sovereignty, were initially promised a position as a Federal Republic within Yugoslavia, but Rijeka was ultimately incorporated into the Republic of Croatia in Yugoslavia.
As the change to Yugoslav sovereignty was being formalised, the majority of ethnic Italians were forced to leave the city or were executed, and soon after, the neighbouring cities of Rijeka and Sušak were united. By 1954, less than a third of the original population of Rijeka still resided in the city, of which remained was majority Croatian. This led to locals ruining and destroying Italian and Venetian remnants in the city and removing any bilingual inscriptions (which had previously been given bilingual status after WWII).
In the 1950s, the city was resettled by immigrants from various parts of Yugoslavia and was reconstructed and industrialised after the destruction from the war. Rijeka became the main port for Yugoslavia and took advantage of its geographic potential, soon becoming the second richest (GDP per capita) within Yugoslavia.
Croatia (1991–Present)
The Republic of Croatia declared its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991, and the War on Independence soon followed. Most of the fighting in Croatia took place along the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, which left Rijeka largely untouched.
After the war, the majority of the large businesses from Yugoslavia were subject to the switch from a socialist model to capitalism and privatisation scandals, leading to a lot of well-established businesses ceasing to exist or heavily reducing their operations. This has led to a strong economic stagnation in Rijeka’s region, however, to this day, the city is in the process of transitioning away from manufacturing and heading towards the services and tourism sectors.