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Lectures
Here you can find links to the Fiume Historical Lecture series videos, presenting the city's history from the three national points of view.

Fiume Lectures I.: End of a World - Emiliano Loria
National conflicts and revolutionary endeavors in the heart of Europe: Fiume-Rijeka 1918-1924.

The talk focuses on the situation in Fiume from the moment the First World War ended until the birth and rapid fall of the Free State of Fiume. In particular the birth of the Italian National Council (1918), which administered the city until the proclamation of the Regency of Carnaro (1920), provided with a very innovative constitutional text composed by Alceste De Ambris and Gabriele d'Annunzio, which is still debated today. The expulsion of d'Annunzio and his legionaries from the city of Fiume (January 1921) left a deep economic and political destabilization that contributed to the collapse of the Free State of Fiume governed by Riccardo Zanella (March 1922). The annexation of the city to the Kingdom of Italy (January 1924) stabilized the situation but coincided with the emergence of the more violent and dictatorial face of Fascism.

Fiume Lectures II.: Rijeka or Death - Tea Perinčić
D'Annunzio's regime in Rijeka 1919-1921

After the WWI Austro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed and the city of Rijeka was a city without state. It was up to Allies to decide the destiny of the city – to become a part of the Kingdom of Italy or a part of the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, or as a third option to be a state city under the international protectorate. The Italian National Council of Rijeka invited Gabriele D'Annunzio, famous Italian writer, soldier and adventurist to conquer Rijeka in the name of the Kingdom of Italy, but this was without official consent of the Italian government. When D'Annunzio and his para-military troops arrived to the city the situation became burlesque. There were everlasting parties all around, performances and speeches given by D'Annunzio on the daily basis from the balcony of the Governor's palace (his temporary residence) or on some of the main city's square. On the other side of this shiny coin often presented as world's capital of freedom and progress or hippie before „flower power" was collapse of Rijeka's economy and over present poverty of the citizens politicly divided due to overgrowing nationalism and chauvinism. Everything ended with bloody events of street fights and bombing the city on Christmas 1920 after which D'Annunzio left Rijeka.

Fiume Lectures III.: The Economic History of Fiume - Márton Pelles
The history of Fiume as a Hungarian port town presented from the Hungarian point of view, which says the city was rightfully part of the Hungarian state between 1779 and 1918.

The moment when Maria Theresa gave the city to Hungary was based on economic calculations, because when the new roads were built in 1771, in the trade of Fiume the majority of the goods were coming from Hungary. However, the legal connection was formed, an economical modernization of the port was needed. This started after the Austro-Hungarian and Hungarian-Croatian compromises in 1867-1868.

The presentation summarizes the development of transport infrastructure, industry, and trade and how sea navigation companies, and with them the importance of Fiume grew in the second half of the 19th century.

Fiume Lectures IV.: Three Views of a Story - Panel Discussion
A panel discussion in which the three historians of Fiume / Rijeka involved in the Fiume Crisis project answer a series of specific questions by the participants.

During the early month of the project, after each of the Fiume Lectures, participants filled out a questionnaire for reflection and further discussion, highlighting which aspects of the lecture sparked curiosity and a desire for further study.

We selected the most popular topics and developed a list of questions to which, during the final panel discussion, each historian provided an answer based on their respective national historiography.

Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
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