South Tyrol Austria/Italy Timeline
by Russell Grant
1919
On 10th September the peace treaty of St. Germain is signed and South Tyrol is irrevocably annexed by Italy .
1946
The Paris Agreement between Austria and Italy over the autonomy of South Tyrol produces no noticeable improvement in the lot of the South Tyroleans . Italian prime minister Degasperi and the Austrian foreign secretary Gruber sign an agreement on the future of South Tyrol in Paris on 5 th September which provides for a degree of autonomy, the preservation of the South Tyrolean culture, equality of the German language with Italian, facilitated trade relations with Austria and a revision of the Italian resettlement policy.
1947
The Autonomy Bill drawn up in Rome under the direction of Degasperi is rejected by South Tyrolean politicians who were not consulted.
1948
On 29th January the Autonomy Statute is made law in Rome, though the region now includes the Italian-speaking province of Trento, not just South Tyrol. The intention is to ensure an Italian majority - clearly not what was in mind when the Paris Agreement was drawn up, which the international community understood to apply only to South Tyrol . At this time the name Südtirol/South Tyrol is still not allowed to be mentioned in documents. South Tyrolean deputies are in the minority at the first regional government
1969
Negotiations between the Austrian and Italian governments begun in 1961 result in an ‘Autonomy Package' ratified in Vienna and Rome .
1972
The new autonomy statute for Trentino and South Tyrol comes into force though its measures are phased in extremely slowly.
1992
After 23 years of arduous and lengthy negotiations South Tyrol 's Autonomy Statute is finally passed into law by the Italian parliament. Austria formally recognises that Italy has fulfilled its obligations with regard to South Tyrol 's autonomy.
2001
On 7th October the Roman Senate finally passes the constitutional Bill on federalism, which must first be confirmed by a referendum on 9th November, 2001 before it can become law. Among other things this constitutional amendment abolishes the need for the endorsement of the Italian government on laws passed by the provincial parliament, and an increase in the competences of the provincial parliament with regard to primary legislation. The term ‘Südtirol' is finally included in the Italian constitution.
Please feel free to download the audio files for your MP3 player or to listen to on your PC. Russell interviews Dr Christoph Engel, CEO South Tyrol Marketing about South Tyrol:
Visit USA Media Awards held at the Royal
Geographical Society, Kensington in July 2006 -
Russell Grant, The Lord of Ashford in Middlesex,
guest of honour.
