Croatian national revival in Istria

Hrvatski narodni preporod u Istri je djelovao u svrhu buđenja nacionalne svijesti Hrvata u Istri, ostvarivanju jezične ravnopravnosti i radi otpora talijanizaciji. U hrvatskoj je u prvoj polovici 19. stoljeća nastao narodni pokret pod nazivom Ilirski, a ideje pokreta se postupno šire u Istru. Prema popisu stanovništva iz 1846., govornika hrvatskog jezika je bilo oko 60% a talijanskog oko 27%., ali je tu hrvatsku većinu činilo pretežito siromašno seljačko stanovništvo, dok su Talijani pretežito živjeli u gradovima i bili zemljoposjednici. Iz tog razloga su imali političku vlast. Biskup Juraj Dobrila je nakon svojeg školovanja u hrvatskom okruženju radio na buđenju hrvatskog identiteta među stanovništvom. Kroz svoj trud, rad, kršćansku brigu za Hrvatske seljake, davanje stipendija za obrazovanje mladih, propovijedi na hrvatskom, izdavanje molitvenika Oče budi volja tvoja, pokretanje kalendara Istran, lista Naša sloga, i zastupanje hrvatskih interesa u Istarskom saboru bio vrlo utjecajan i slavljen među narodom, a time je postavio temelje za buduće preporoditelje. U Istarskom saboru su hrvatski zastupnici bili manjina, ali su unatoč tome uvijek tražili ravnopravnost u korištenju hrvatskog jezika i osnivanje hrvatskih škola tamo gdje su bile potrebne. Druga generacija preporoditelja je bila pravaški orijentirana čija je ideologija bila spajanje svih hrvatskih zemalja u samostalnu Hrvatsku, a glavna skupina se zvala istarski trolist: Matko Laginja, Matko Mandić i Vjekoslav Spinčić. Listovi su bili ključni za širenje hrvatskih nacionalnih ideja velikom broju stanovnika, a oni značajni su Naša sloga, Narodni list, Pučki prijatelji i Mladi Istran/Mladi Hrvat. Čitaonice su bila mjesta gdje su se čitale novine, priređivale zabave kao što su domoljubni govori, vježbanje javnog govora, predstave, pjesme, plesovi i glazba, te razmjenjivale nacionalne ideje. Nakon zaoštravanja iredentizma kroz talijanska društva Lega Nazionale i Pro Patria, utemeljuje se Družba sv. Ćirila i Metoda koja je imala osnivati i uzdržavati škole i učitelje. Djelovanje preporoditelja je bilo vrlo uspješno, a 1907. ostvaruju političku nadmoć u izborima za Carevinsko vijeće. Međutim, početak rata, okupacija Istre i fašizam zaustavljaju razvoj i samo djelovanje preporodnih aktivnosti.The Croatian national revival in Istworked for the purpose of awakening the national consciousness of Croats in Istria, achieving linguistic equality and resisting Italianization. In Croatia, in the first half of the 19th century, a popular movement called the Illyrian movement was born, and the ideas of the movement gradually spread to Istria. According to the population census from 1846., there were about 60% Croatian speakers and about 27% Italian speakers, but the majority of Croatians were predominantly poor peasants, while Italians mostly lived in cities and were landowners. For this reason, they had political power. After his education in a Croatian environment, Bishop Juraj Dobrila worked to awaken the Croatian identity among the population. Through his effort, work, Christian care for Croatian peasants, giving scholarships for the education of young people, preaching in Croatian, publishing the prayer book Oče budi volja tvoja, publishing a calendar Istran, a weekly paper Naša sloga, and representing Croatian interests in the Istrian parliament, he was very influential and celebrated among people, and thus laid the foundations for future revivalists. In the Istrian parliament, Croatian representatives were a minority, but despite this, they always demanded equality in the use of the Croatian language and the establishment of Croatian schools where they were needed. The second generation of revivalists was oriented towards Party of Rights, whose ideology was to merger of all Croatian countries into an independent Croatia, and the main group was called the Istrian trefoil: Matko Laginja, Matko Mandić and Vjekoslav Spinčić. Newspapers were crucial for spreading Croatian national ideas to a large number of inhabitants, and the most important ones are Naša sloga, Narodni list, Pučki prijatelji and Mladi Istran/Mladi Hrvat. Reading rooms were places where newspapers were read, entertainments such as patriotic speeches, public speaking practice, plays, songs, dances and music were held, and national ideas were exchanged. After the expansion of irredentism through the Italian organizations Lega Nazionale and Pro Patria, the Society of St. Cyril and Methodius is established, and their goal is to establish and support schools and teachers. The activities of the revivalists were very successful, and in 1907. they gained political supremacy in the elections for the Imperial Council. However, at the beginning of the war, the occupation of Istria and fascism stopped the development and activities of national revival