View source for Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

{{Short description|1918 event in Rome}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox summit meeting
| name         = Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of the Austria-Hungarian Empire
| other_titles = {{native name|it|Il Congresso delle Nazionalità oppresse dall’Austria-Ungheria}}<br>
{{native name|de|Kongress der unterdrückten Völker Österreich-Ungarns}}<br>
{{native name|sh|Kongres potlačenih naroda Austro-Ugarske}}<br>{{native name|cs|Kongres utlačovaných národů rakousko-uherských}}<br>{{native name|ro|Congresul Naționalităților Oprimate din Imperiul Austro-Ungar}}<br>{{native name|sk|Kongres utláčaných národov Rakúsko-Uhorska}}
| logo         =
| image        = 1899 ethnographic map of Austria-Hungary.jpg
| alt          =
| caption      = 1899 ethnographic map of Austria-Hungary
| country      = Kingdom of Italy
| date         = 8–10 April 1918
| motto        =
| venues       =
| cities       = [[Rome]]
| participants =
| chairperson  =
| president    =
| follows      =
| precedes     =
| website      = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| keypoints    = [[Allies of World War I|Entente]]'s support for full [[self-determination]] of [[Yugoslavs]], [[Czechoslovaks]], [[Romanians]] and other "oppressed nationalities" [''[[sic]]''] implying upcoming [[dissolution of Austria-Hungary]]
| compactnav   =
}}
The '''Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire''' was held towards the end of the [[World War I]] in Rome, [[Kingdom of Italy]], between 8 and 10 April 1918.<ref name="Czechoslovakia">{{cite book |author1=[[Mary Heimann]] |date=2011 |title=Czechoslovakia: the State That Failed |pages=33 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-17242-3 }}</ref> The event, attended by [[Czechoslovaks|Czechoslovak]], [[Polish people|Polish]], Italian, [[Yugoslavs|Yugoslav]] and Romanian delegation from [[Austria-Hungary]], followed the publication of the [[Wilson's 14 points]] and represented the beginning of the real support to the independence movements and the [[dissolution of Austria-Hungary]].<ref name="Matějček">{{cite web |author=Petr Matějček |title=Kongres utlačovaných národů rakousko-uherských, v dubnu roku 1918 v Římě |url=http://www.vhu.cz/kongres-utlacovanych-narodu-rakousko-uherskych-v-dubnu-roku-1918-v-rime/ |date=4 April 2021 |publisher=[[Military History Institute Prague]] |access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="Czechoslovakia"/><ref name="Carteny">{{cite journal |author1=[[Andrea Carteny]] |date=2010 |title=After the Wilson's 14 Points: the Oppressed Nationalities at the Congress of Rome (April 1918) |journal=Историјски записи |volume= |issue=3 |pages=123–135 |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=28583 }}</ref> [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] or [[Rusyns|Rusyn]] delegations were not invited to participate in the Congress due to objections raised by Polish representatives.<ref name="Matějček"/> The decision to host the event was made after prime ministers of Italy [[Vittorio Emanuele Orlando]] and [[Nikola Pašić]] of the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] became concerned with earlier statement of [[David Lloyd George]] that dissolution of the Austria-Hungary is not one of the war aims of his alliance and decided to prioritise self-determination before future border demarcation on the [[Adriatic Sea]].<ref name="Bajin">{{cite book |author1=[[Zoran Bajin]] |date=2018 |chapter=Никола Пашић и Италија уочи стварања југословенске државе (1917–1918) |trans-chapter=Nikola Pašić and Italy Ahead of the Formation of the Yugoslav State (1917–1918) |title=Дан вредан века – 1. децембар 1918. |trans-title=The Day Worthy of the Century – 1 December 1918 |pages=33–48 |publisher= [[Museum of Yugoslavia]] |url= }}</ref> The event rejected [[Austrophile|Austrophilist]] proposals on continued existence of the monarchy as a guarantor against violent and exclusive [[nationalism]] in the region and instead framed the war as a conflict between democracy and [[autocracy]].<ref name="Nationalbewegungen">{{cite web |url=https://ww1.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/das-selbstbestimmungsrecht-der-voelker-die-patentloesung-fuer-ethnische-konflikte |date=n.d. |title=Das "Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Völker" – Die Patentlösung für ethnische Konflikte? |publisher=Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. }}</ref>
Alongside representatives from affected nationalities, all [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] powers and the United States sent their ambassadors and the Congress concluded that all nationalities fully or partially subjected to Austria-Hungary have a right of full independence.<ref name="Marina Cattaruzza">{{cite book |author1=[[Marina Cattaruzza]] |date=n.d. |chapter=Great Britain, Italy, the "oppressed nationalities," and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in the First World War |title=n.t. |pages=1–19 |publisher= |url=http://italogramma.elte.hu/?dl_name=Marina_Cattaruzza_The_Dissolution_of_Austria-Hungary_in_World_War_One_2.pdf }}</ref> Ceremonial choice was made by the [[Prime minister]] [[Vittorio Emanuele Orlando]] when he decided to receive the delegation of the future neighboring Yugoslav state before any other delegation at the Congress.<ref name="Marina Cattaruzza"/> Czechoslovak representation was led by [[Edvard Beneš]] and [[Milan Rastislav Štefánik]] with all Slovak and Czech delegates being a part of the [[Czechoslovak National Council]]'s delegation.<ref name="Pravda">{{cite web |url=https://zurnal.pravda.sk/neznama-historia/clanok/467181-jar-1918-nadej-prichadzala-z-rima/ |date=24 April 2018 |title=Jar 1918: nádej prichádzala z Ríma |author=[[Vladimír Jancura]] |publisher=[[Pravda (Slovakia)]] }}</ref> Participant agreed to lay aside any dispute among themselves which would help [[Central Powers]] war efforts and which may negatively affect Allied public opinion.<ref name="US 12.04.1918">{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1918Supp01v01/d801 |date=4 April 1918 |title=The Ambassador in Italy ( Page) to the Secretary of State |publisher=[[Office of the Historian]] }}</ref>
Important precondition for the Italian agreement on hosting the event was reached during the meetings held on 14 and 18 December 1917 at the home of [[Wickham Steed]], where the [[Yugoslav Committee]] agreed in principle to accept the subsequent [[:it:Andrea Torre|Torre]]-[[Ante Trumbić|Trumbić]] agreement (7 March 1918) on principles of border demarcation between Italy and future Yugoslav state.<ref name="AC">{{cite web |last1=Carteny |first1=Andrea |title=All Against One: The Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of Austria-Hungary (1918) |url=https://www.academia.edu/5653336 |website=academia.edu |date=January 2010 |access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref> On 29 May 1918 [[United States Department of State]] expressed US government's strong interest in the work of the Congress and honest sympathies for Czechoslovak and Yugoslav national objectives.<ref name="Kardum">{{cite journal |author1=[[Livija Kardum]] |date=1991 |title=Geneza jugoslavenske ideje i pokreta tijekom prvog svjetskog rata |trans-title=The Genesis of the Yugoslav Idea and the Movement During World War I |journal=[[Croatian Political Science Review]] |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=65–88 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/113311 }}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)]]
* [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] of 3 March 1918
* [[Adriatic question]]
* [[Origins of Czechoslovakia]]
* [[Creation of Yugoslavia]]
* [[Corfu Declaration]]
* [[Union of Transylvania with Romania]]
* [[League for Small and Subject Nationalities]]
* [[Polish National Committee (1917–1919)]]
* [[Little Entente]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:1918 in international relations]]
[[Category:1918 conferences]]
[[Category:1918 in Italy]]
[[Category:Politics of World War I]]
[[Category:Events in Rome]]
[[Category:Diplomatic conferences in Italy]]
[[Category:Cultural history of World War I]]
[[Category:World War I propaganda]]
[[Category:Yugoslav unification]]
[[Category:Dissolution of Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Slovak independence movement]]
[[Category:1918 in Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Austria–Italy relations]]
[[Category:Anti-Hungarian sentiment]]
[[Category:History of Transylvania (1867–1918)]]
[[Category:Italy–Yugoslavia relations]]
[[Category:Czechoslovakia–Italy relations]]