Venetismo e il futuro della Serenissima
(Venetism and the future of the Serene Republic)
Originally published in Italian and Venetian, 1919, by Luca Vianello
Good men of Venice, I ask you: Where were you when the Italian ordered retreat?
When your brothers, sons, and fathers fell in the name of the king, and Venice was burning at the hands of the Austrians?
I ask you: What has the Italian done for you?
Where is the compensation that the king promised you would get when the Great War was over?
It is not in your hands good sir, but in the hands of the Italian, who would see us as nothing more than a land to exploit. Who is to say that the Italian will not dismantle our industry next, like they did to the Sicilian?
Would you like to spend every day for the rest of your life as a farmer or a worker, while the Italian owns your land and your factories?
I propose 5 tenets for the restoration of Venice. 5 tenets to return us to greatness that I hope one day will be hung from every signpost in the city:
I. Recognize your brethren: Venice is only a city, but it stands as beacon for all people of our former lands. Men of Trentino, Giulia, Fruli, Istria, and Dalmatia are your brothers, for they speak, or once spoke, your native language. Guide and help them to restore their sovereignty like you would a fellow man from Venice.
II. Speak our language: Many in our former lands have adopted the Tuscan tongue of the oppressive Italian. In order to stand up for ourselves we must return to speaking our mother Venetian.
III. Reopen the Grand Council: In order to stand up to the Italian tyrant, we must form our own government. The common man must one day soon march upon the chambers of the old Great Council and restore democracy to our lands.
IV. Take to the seas: Our once great republic stretched across seas. The Adriatic was our Kingdom and the Mediterranean was our world. I urge every Venetian man to learn a trade of the seas: Fishing, sailing, shipwrighting. Make the sea the lifeblood of our country once again and the sea shall reward you.
V. Remember the Great War: Remember how the Italian generals called us to retreat at Monte Grappa and told us to leave our families so that we may fight on for the king. Remember your lost comrades, and let their sacrifice for Venice motivate you in your daily life, in your prayers, in your fights, and in your dreams.
La Serenissima shall return to greatness! So stand up good men of Venice, and return to greatness with it.