page_title: Italian Islands of the Aegean
section_title: Administrative policies
hierarchical_section_title: Italian Islands of the Aegean / Administrative policies
caption_attribution_description: English: RodiCasadelFascio
context_page_description: The Italian Islands of the Aegean were a group of twelve major islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea, that — together with the surrounding islets — were ruled by the Kingdom of Italy from 1912 to 1943 and the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945. When the Kingdom of Italy was restored, they remained under formal Italian possession until they were ceded to Greece in 1947.
context_section_description: Starting in 1923, civil governors replaced the military commanders. The Italian politics towards the native population had two phases: while governor Mario Lago, a liberal diplomat, favoured peaceful coexistence among the different ethnic groups and the Italians, choosing a soft strategy of integration, his successor, Cesare Maria De Vecchi, embarked on a forced Italianization campaign of the islands. Lago delegated land for Italian settlers and encouraged intermarriage with local Greeks.  In 1929, scholarships at the University of Pisa for Dodecanesian students were promoted to disseminate Italian culture and language among the local professional class.
  The only sector where Lago was unaccommodating was religion: The Italian authorities also tried to limit the power of the Greek Orthodox Church without success by trying to set up an autonomous Dodecanesian church. Fascist youth organizations such as Opera Nazionale Balilla were introduced on the islands, and the Italianization of names was encouraged by the Italian authorities. The juridic state of the islands was an intermediate one (possedimento) between a colony and a part of the motherland: due to that, local islanders did not receive full citizenship and were not required to serve in the Italian armed forces.
  Under the governorship of De Vecchi (1936–40), a staunch and hard liner Fascist, the Italianization efforts became very strong. The Italian language became compulsory in education and the public life, with Greek being only an optional subject in schools. While under Lago the inhabitants were allowed to elect their own mayors, in 1937 the fascist system was set up to the islands, with newly appointed podestàs for each municipality (comune) in 1938, Italian Racial Laws were introduced to the islands along with a series of decrees equalizing local legislation with Italian law.
  De Vecchi also linked Rodi to Italy with a regular air service since the late 1930s. The "Aero Espresso Italiana" (AEI) had flight from Brindisi to Athens and Rodi with flying boats (AEI used mainly the "Savoia 55", but also the "Macchi 24bis")
caption: Casa del Fascio (City hall)
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