Agreement between the political parties of South Tyrol

At the end of the First World War, South Tyrol became part of Italy. An agreement between Hitler and Mussolini in 1939 gave the German-speaking residents the choice between resettling or adopting Italian language and culture. However, when Mussolini was overthrown in 1943 the Nazis took control of the area – supported by German-speaking locals. In April 1945 the Allies defeated the German Wehrmacht in South Tyrol. An attempt by the newly founded South Tyrolean People’s Party to gain independence from Italy was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, they succeeded in making it a self-governed district of Italy with exemplary minority rights for the German- and Ladin-speaking population.

In 1945, exactly two years after the Nazi takeover of South Tyrol, six Italian parties and the German-speaking People’s Party issued a manifesto. It put into writing the intention to build trust between the ethnic communities. Any actions to the contrary were deemed Fascist and Nazi and made punishable offences.