Cesare Battisti (4 February 1875 – 12 July 1916) was an Italian patriot,

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician and journalist of Austrian citizenship, who became a prominent

Irredentist Irredentism () is one state's desire to annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the population of the parent state. Hist ...

at the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Biography

He was born the son of a merchant at

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

, a city with a predominantly

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

-speaking population, which at the time was part of the

Cisleithania Cisleithania, officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council (), was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867—as distinguished from ''Transleithania'' (i.e., ...

n crown land of

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. Battisti attended the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

, where he became a follower of the

Italian irredentism Italian irredentism ( ) was a political movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Kingdom of Italy, Italy with irredentism, irredentist goals which promoted the Unification of Italy, unification of geographic areas in which indig ...

movement, aiming at the unification of his

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

homeland with the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, though contrary to activists like

Ettore Tolomei Ettore Tolomei (16 August 1865, in Rovereto – 25 May 1952, in Rome) was an Italian nationalism, nationalist and Italian fascism, fascist. He was designated a Member of the Italian Senate in 1923, and ennobled as Conte della Vetta in 1937. Pre- ...

and Gabriele d'Annunzio he did not claim the predominantly

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking areas of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

up to the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass ( , shortly ; ) is a mountain pass over the Alps which forms the Austria-Italy border, border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Alps, major passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has the lowes ...

. In 1899, he married Ernesta Bittanti in a civil ceremony. The couple had three sons. A journalist by profession and a member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria, he was elected as a representative to the Tyrolean ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

'' assembly at

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

as well as to the Austrian Imperial Council (''Reichsrat'') at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1911, where he vainly tried to obtain a status of

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

for the Trentino region. Disgruntled by Austro-Hungarian attitudes to minorities in their empire, Battisti agreed to construct a military guide for the Italians to the Austrian provinces that bordered Italy. When Austria-Hungary mobilised in August 1914, Battisti fled with his family to the

, where he held public meetings demanding Italy join the

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was built upon th ...

forces against Austria. With Italy's entry into World War I following the 1915

London Pact The Treaty of London (; ) or the Pact of London (, ) was a secret agreement concluded on 26 April 1915 by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on the one part, and Italy on the other, in order to entice the last to enter the Great War on ...

, though still an Austrian citizen, Battisti fought against the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

in the Alpini Corps at the Italian Front. After the

Battle of Asiago The Südtirol Offensive, also known as the Battle of Asiago or Battle of the Plateaux (in Italian: Battaglia degli Altipiani), wrongly nicknamed ''Strafexpedition'' "Punitive expedition" (this name has no reference in official Austrian document ...

, he and his 2nd Lt Fabio Filzi were captured by the Austrian forces on 10 July 1916 and faced a

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

in his hometown Trento at Buonconsiglio Castle, charged with

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

. Though Battisti officially enjoyed

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

, he was sentenced to death by

strangulation Strangling or strangulation is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain by restricting the flow of oxygen through the trachea. Fatal strangulation typically occurs ...

. He requested a military execution by firing squad so as to not dishonour the Italian Army uniform, but the judge denied his request and instead procured for him some shabby civilian clothes. Dressed in these, he was executed (hanged and garrotted) the same day, the brutality of which was increased by the fact that executioner botched the job so that Battisti actually was hanged twice. The smiling execution squad posed with his body for photographs, which when later published did severe damage to Austria's reputation. The author Karl Kraus applied a picture as frontispiece of his 1922 play ''Die letzten Tage der Menschheit'' ( The Last Days of Mankind). Battisti is considered a national hero in Italy and several memorials were dedicated to him in Rome as well as in his hometown Trento and at the

Bolzano Victory Monument file:Cesare Battisti by Adolfo Wildt Bozen.jpg, 240px, Sculpture portraying Cesare Battisti (politician), Cesare Battisti, by Adolfo Wildt The Victory Monument (; ) is a monument in Bolzano, northernmost Italy, erected on the personal orders of ...

. Both Trento and

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

had been under Austrian control until 1918.

References

Works

* ''Opere geografiche'', (2005). Trento: La Finestra editrice . * ''Scritti politici'' (2006). Trento: La Finestra editrice . * ''Guida alle Giudicarie'' (1909). Trento: Monauni editore . * ''Il Trentino'' (1910). Novara .

Bibliography

* Stefano Biguzzi (2008). ''Cesare Battisti''. UTET . * Karl Kraus (1918; 1922). ''Gli ultimi giorni dell'umanità''. Vienna . * Diego Leoni ed. (2008). ''Come si porta un uomo alla morte: la fotografia della cattura e dell'esecuzione di Cesare Battisti''. Trento: Museo storico in Trento-Provincia di Trento . * * Massimo Tiezzi (2007). ''L'eroe conteso. La costruzione del mito di Cesare Battisti negli anni 1916–1935''. Trento: Museo Storico in Trento .

External links

Cesare Battisti: Italian hero, patriot, martyr
* – series of photographs * Saltori, Mirko
Battisti, Cesare
in

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battisti, Cesare 1875 births 1916 deaths People from Trento People from the County of Tyrol Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1911–1918) Italian irredentism Italian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor People executed for treason against Austria-Hungary People executed by Austria by hanging Executed Italian people

Biography

See also

References

Works

Bibliography

External links