From the Second Special Statute of Autonomy (1972- 1991)

The 1972 Statute of Autonomy (1972) marked a new phase in relations between Austria and Italy, the Province of Bolzano-Bozen and Rome, and between German and Italian

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speakers in the Province of Bolzano (See Appendix F for the English version of the statute).

Almost immediately, however, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano entered into a conflictual relationship with the Italian state, typified by mistrust and misunderstanding (Peterlini 2007:265). The architects of the Paket and the Second Statute of Autonomy (1972) had laid the foundations for conflict resolution, however the implementation of these measures quickly descended into ‘juridical guerrilla warfare’ (Peterlini 2007:266).

Under the statute, the Province draws up laws, which are sent to Rome for approval. In this initial period, according to Klaus Dubis, SVP spokesperson and later SVP provincial councillor, numerous laws were rejected, or sent back to Bolzano for redrafting not because of technicalities, but rather political motives (ibid). Apart from the grave problems created for South Tyrol German speakers during Fascism, there was a

dichotomy between what Peterlini describes as the centralised governmental style of the Italian state and ‘…a minority, that was once Austrian, and accustomed to the historical liberty of the Tyrol.’ (ibid. My translation).

The two legislative instruments to have greatest impact on German and Italian speakers in the post Autonomy Statute (1972) period, seen by SVP as the two pillars of autonomy, came into force in 1976. These were embodied in Dpr (Provincial Decree) 752/76 relating to proportionality in public employment (also called the quotas) and bilingualism in public life. To be Italian speaking, German speaking or Ladin speaking came to have not only social, but also institutional implications, regimented by law (after Kroskrity 2000).

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By 1981, almost ten years after the implementation of the Autonomy Statute 1972 and five years after the implementation of Dpr 752/76 (relating to quotas and bilingualism in public institutions), progress was slow. The use of German in public administration, the police and courts was still not possible. Employment opportunities in the public

administration for German speakers continued to prove elusive (Peterlini 2007:269-271).

1981 was also significant as it was the year of the Italian national census, and the first occasion in which residents of the Province of Bolzano had to declare their linguistic affiliation. The results of this part of the census became the true basis for the quota, or proportional allotment of public sector jobs. For Italian speakers this was a rude

awakening, since the public sector had always been seen as their domain. This was underlined by the fact that public posts would now not only be awarded following strictly proportional lines, there was another criterion that had to be met: certified bilingualism (Peterlini 2007:271-272). Peterlini also notes that during this time, Italian speakers felt under pressure as the quota and bilingualism laws appeared to favour German speakers above Italian speakers (ibid). Arguably, this held truth, since the laws were designed toaddress the deficit of the situation previous to 1972.

The declaration of linguistic affiliation also had other implications, for example in the allotment of public housing, and division of other public resources and finance.

The Catholic Church also became involved. 15^th October 1981 the Bishop of Bolzano, Joseph Gargitter, stated that to refuse the declaration of linguistic affiliation constituted an invitation to renounce it (Peterlini 1996:169 in Peterlini 2007:273).

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Catholic youth organisations were committed to reducing intergroup conflict and promoted the declaration by stating that whoever works for the defence of minorities, must logically accept the declaration of ethnic affiliation because whoever wants to protect an ethnic group must also know to which group they belong (Peterlini 2007:273).

Underlining this, Anton Zelger, then Provincial Councillor responsible for German Language Culture and Education, made the pronouncement ‘the more clearly we are separate, the better we understand each other’ (Peterlini 2007:267, my translation). This was the expression of an SVP notion that the needs of each linguistic group were such that they should take their own path in the development of their own identity, to include schools, libraries and cultural institutions.

The results of the 1981 census showed for the first time that the German speaking population had increased, by 2%, and the Italian population had shrunk, for the first time since 1921, by 4.6% (Peterlini 1996:169 in Peterlini 2007:273). Canon Michael Gamper’s March of Death for German speaking South Tyroleans (Steininger 2004:112-3) appeared to have been halted.

The strengthening position of German speakers in the province contrasted with the perceived weakening of the Italian speaking position. In 1985, the far-right Italian Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement party – MSI) managed to collect almost 23,000 signatures in a petition decrying the Autonomy Statute (1972). The demands of the petition included:

 Abolition of the obligation for bilingualism for Italian speakers;

 Pre-eminence of Italian in all spheres of contact;

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 Abolition of ethnic proportionality (‘that robs us of houses and work’)

 The repeal of provincial laws requiring four years residence before eligibility to vote.

The effect of the petition was that in 1986 and 1987, the Italian Parliament debated the South Tyrol question twice. (Peterlini 2007:274-275)

Alleanza Nazionale, the daughter party of MSI, on the Italian right, also saw its support grow through the 1980s and by late 1980s had established itself as the strongest Italian party in both the city and provincial councils.

Support for the German speaking right also grew during the same period. In 1983 a group broke away from SVP to form to form Union für Südtirol, which had the declared aim of achieving self-determination.

There were expressions of dissatisfaction with the general situation by German speaking activists, which led to the arrest of a group of South Tyroleans who had protested in favour of self-determination in Vienna, and legal action against the editor of the South Tyrol daily German language newspaper Dolomitten.

For the 1991 census, the provincial government sought to remedy the anomaly that everyone in Bolzano must belong to one of the three ethnolinguistic groups. A fourth category was added, that of other. However, whilst free to choose other, the individual respondent still had to declare to which group they wished to be considered with, for the allocation of resources and application of the rights afforded that group.

59 1.5 1992 to the Present

The year 1992 is significant in the history of the province, as this was the year that UN, with the agreement of Italy, Austria and elected representatives from the province declared UN Conflict 1497/XV resolved although this did not preclude further developments (Wolff 2008:15).

In 2001, the 1972 statute of autonomy, which is the legal framework for the region of Trentino-Alto Adige (comprising the provinces of Trento and South Tyrol-Alto Adige) was reformed to allow provincial level autonomous governments to their own autonomy without having to refer to the regional government. Also for the first time, the provincial name Südtirol – the German denomination – was recognised by the Italian state (Wolff 2008:16).

It is at this point I draw this discussion to a close, since, In terms of the overarching legal and administrative frameworks which govern the day to day life of the province, this brings us to the historical present and the temporal context from which the data is taken.

I will take some of these points and develop them further in the relevant data chapters, with regard to education and place names.