Abstract

This chapter traces the history of nationalist naming in the Adriatic provinces from the development of nineteenth-century Habsburg onomastic policies and practices to the initiation of the Fascist surname campaign in Italy's new territory of Venezia Giulia in 1927. It places the surname measure that formed the basis for Paulovich's protest in the context of broader Fascist legislative and judicial reforms and nationalizing aims for the borderland population. It explores the effects of irredentist politics, ethnic prejudices, and Fascist Party interference on the development of local cultural policies and explores how tensions between the central government's expectations for policy initiatives and local officials' understandings of their responsibilities led to misunderstandings and conflicts with respect to the execution of the laws. The chapter demonstrates how these tensions set the stage for Paulovich's challenge to the surname measure.

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