The Eagle on the Adriatic: Habsburg supranationalism in Trieste, Fiume/Rijeka and Dalmatia, 1848-1867

In the 1848–1867 period, the Habsburg Monarchy was shaken by the first waves of nationalism. Yet in the case of the Habsburg port cities of Trieste and Fiume/Rijeka, contended by several different opponents, Italian and Croatian nationalisms had to face centuries-long traditions of municipal autonomy. In both cities, municipalism and attachment to the House of Habsburg were particularly strong and were coupled with local urban identities that defied national forms of identification, insofar as they were ethnically and linguistically hybrid. Nationalist activists sought to exploit ethnic and linguistic elements as markers of defined national identities, yet without widespread success. The final demise of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 has been generally taken as proof of the cogency of nationalist discourse, especially the Italian, in the region. The northern Adriatic rim and Dalmatia point to the forcefulness of Habsburg supranationalism and the existence of ethnic hybridity and national indifference, which provided effective bulwarks against nationalisms for decades