Italian irredentism (1880-1915). Unredeemed, irredentist and unredeemed irredentist

Abstract

After a brief explanation of the term and the historical phenomenon known as “Italian irredentism”, the article deals with the concept of “redemption” in a political and (pseudo) religious sense. Effective priest and singer of this charming ambiguity is Gabriele D’Annunzio, who settled the national myth with this curse. The glance to the cities symbol of irredentism, Trento and Trieste, focuses on two prominent figures or, if we want to, two martyrs: Guglielmo Oberdan, bomber without an attempt on Franz Joseph I, and Cesare Battisti, protagonist of a real tragedy between international socialism and war interventionism in 1915. Voices of Italian and Austrian intellectuals and writers accompany the various events of the Italian irredentist movement, even after 1918, till the opposite irredentism of South Tiroleans in the ’60 and ’70. Finally, it commemorates a policy that has the courage to disbelieve concepts such as “redemption” and to accept the “parecchio” obtained without bloodshed.