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

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

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 a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician and journalist of Austrian citizenship, who became a prominent

Irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...

at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Biography

He was born the son of a merchant at

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

, a city with a predominantly

-speaking population, which at the time was part of the Cisleithanian crown land of

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

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. Battisti attended the

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

, where he became a follower of the

Italian irredentism Italian irredentism ( it, irredentismo italiano) was a nationalist movement during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Italy with irredentist goals which promoted the unification of geographic areas in which indigenous peoples ...

movement, aiming at the unification of his

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

homeland with the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

, though contrary to activists like

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

and Gabriele d'Annunzio he did not claim the predominantly German-speaking areas of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

up to the Brenner Pass. 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 in non ...

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

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1911, where he vainly tried to obtain a status of autonomy 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 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 '' entente'' 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 as well a ...

forces against Austria.Mark Thompson (2008) The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919, Faber and Faber, London p99 With Italy's entry into World War I following the 1915 London Pact, though still an Austrian citizen, Battisti fought against the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

in the Alpini Corps at the Italian Front. L'esecuzione di Cesare Battisti

After the

Battle of Asiago The Battle of Asiago (Battle of the Plateaux) or the Südtirol Offensive (in Italian: Battaglia degli Altipiani), nicknamed ''Strafexpedition'' ("Punitive expedition") by the Italians, was a major counteroffensive launched by the Austro-Hungari ...

, he and his 2nd Lt Fabio Filzi were captured by the Austrian forces on 10 July 1916 and faced a court-martial in his hometown Trento at the Castello del Buonconsiglio, 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 diplo ...

. Though Battisti officially enjoyed parliamentary immunity, he was sentenced to death by

strangulation Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hangin ...

. He requested a military execution by firing squad so as to not dishonor 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. Both Trento and

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

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. * Massimo Tiezzi (2007). ''L'eroe conteso. La costruzione del mito di Cesare Battisti negli anni 1916-1935''. Trento: Museo Storico in Trento. * 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.

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