Most folks don't realize it....but the extreme north section of Italy.....South Tyrol....was not originally a part of Italy.
This mountainous region of Italy, up until 1919 (end of WW I) was a part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The allies in WW I made up some 'promise' to Italy, to get them on the side of France-England....to give this chunk of land over to Italy, if they entered the war. The promise was carried out at the conclusion of the war.
If you ever go and drive through the region, you might note that it's about 2.5 times the size of Rhode Island. Money-wise, they make a ton of money off tourism, skiing, and agriculture (apples are a major product).
After the war, there was a bit of grumbling over the way this was handled. In the last decade, there's been some folks talking over the idea of independence. Several other states in the northern region of Italy have also discussed the matter of leaving....mostly because of the taxation and the fact that they are covering a major part of the taxation base for the government of Italy.
This topic comes up this week because of the new government in Italy. The legislature met and discussed this new idea....they would offer (with some talks with Italy required)....Austrian citizenship to folks who live in South Tyrol. The number we might be talking about? Somewhere in the 515,000 range.
The Italian reaction to this? 'Frustrated' would be a good phrase to use. In their mind, it just complicates matters more, and encourages some future-exit campaign.
Within South Tyrol's region? This was well received. The region kinda votes in a right-wing way and any method of getting back into Austria would be a positive.
How many folks in the region speak German? I went looking up this subject. The statistic given is about two out of every three speak German.
My observation of this little offer by Austria is that a bit of mess was created in 1919 with this land movement being a 'gift' by England and France, to Italy. Here we are a hundred years later, and Austria has basically planted a little idea of the return of the property. For Italy....just talking over this and possibly losing a big money-maker for the taxation folks? No way.
How many South Tyrol folks would vote to go back into Austria? Unknown. My guess is that it's a minimum of 50-percent.
It's one of those stories that might go nowhere, or in a dozen years....might be a major episode.
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