page_title: Istro-Romanians
section_title: Assimilation and Austro-Hungarian rule
hierarchical_section_title: Istro-Romanians / History / Assimilation and Austro-Hungarian rule
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ein Tschitsche im Jahre 1891. English: Drawing of a Ćić from 1891. Hrvatski: Ćić iz kasnog 19. stoljeća. Română: Ćić în 1891.
context_page_description: The Istro-Romanians are a Romance ethnic group native to, or associated with the Istrian Peninsula. Historically, they inhabited vast parts of it, as well as the western side of the island of Krk until 1875. However, due to several factors such as the industrialization and modernization of Istria during the socialist regime of Yugoslavia, many Istro-Romanians emigrated to other places, be they cities in Croatia like Pula and Rijeka or areas such as New York City, Trieste or Western Australia. The Istro-Romanians dwindled severely in number, being reduced to eight settlements on the Croatian side of Istria in which they do not represent the majority.
  It is known that the Istro-Romanians are actually not indigenous to Istria, since the differences between the Istro-Romanian language and the now extinct geographically close Dalmatian are notable. In addition, they count several similarities with the Transylvanian Romanians and Timok Vlachs, suggesting that the Istro-Romanians originate from the current areas west of Romania or Serbia.
context_section_description: During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Istro-Romanian population would begin to fall under the assimilation of the local population, only preserving its identity and language in the most densely populated settlements such as Žejane and the villages south of the Učka. The only thing left of the smallest settlements in the Croatian and Slovenian region of Ćićarija and the rest of Istria is the toponomy of the places, which proves that at some point, the Istro-Romanians were more widespread. Examples are Bolovani, Catun, Carbune, Floričići, Murari and Vlahi. Unlike the other Romance peoples such as the Romanians or the Aromanians, the Istro-Romanians did not suffer a national renaissance, probably due to the small size of their population and the influence of assimilation factors. It would not be until the time of the Revolutions of 1848 when Romanians from the two principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia) "discovered" this population in Istria. This would start a period of interest among Romanians to study and contact the Istro-Romanians. During this period, the amount of their population is estimated at 6,000.
  Towards the end of the 19th century, Istria was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, of the Austrian Littoral crown land, and was inhabited by several ethnic groups, mainly Croats and Italians. The Istro-Romanians were not recognized as a national minority unlike other peoples. Actually, researchers of the time point the discrimination they suffer. The German linguist Gustav Weigand mentions that their schoolarization is very poor. Both Croats and Italians seek to assimilate them, and as a result, in the Istro-Romanian villages there are no schools in the Croatian or Italian languages, and even less in Istro-Romanian. Weigand's statement is partly contradicted by the fact that the Italians supported this demand, but they were less numerous than the Croats. Various authors mention that church services were given in Latin and Croatian, with priests striving to hinder the cultural development of the parishioners. It is estimated that between 1850 and 1859, there were 2,955 Istro-Romanians. Meanwhile, the Istro-Romanians of Krk had been suffering severe assimilation since long before and many of them abandoned their language. They disappeared completely in 1875 when Mate Bajčić Gašpović from Bajčići (near Poljica), the last person with knowledge of Istro-Romanian on the island, died.
  During this period, the Romanian media provoked activity in the area. In the newspaper Giovine pensiero of 27 October 1887, there was a request signed by many Istro-Romanians to establish a school teaching in the Romanian language. This was discussed in the autumn of 1888 in the Diet of Istria. The Croatian representative impugned the existence of the Istro-Romanians and tried to prove that they were Slavs. Although the subsequent proposals had the support of several Italian deputies, the Croatian majority rejected all of them. In 1905, a school teaching in the Croatian language was established, with little popularity among students despite the efforts of the priest of Šušnjevica. The Romanian ethnographer and folklorist Teodor Burada found in 1896 that poverty was high among Istro-Romanians during this time: pastoralism had fallen, zootechnics were neglected and agriculture was poorly productive. They started to cultivate vineyards, but they were destroyed by the grape phylloxera bug. A way to increase their income through the work in the soil was the cultivation of culinary sage, especially in Šušnjevica. The population of Istro-Romanians between 1880 and 1884 was composed by around 2,600 people.
caption: Istro-Romanian at the end of the 19th century
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