Baron von Sternbach and the struggle for South Tirol

In 1919, the Treaty of St. Germain awarded a portion of the Habsburg land of Tirol south of the Brenner Pass to Italy for her support of the Entente in World War I. Although a majority of the population was Italian, 230,000 German-speaking Tiroleans were included in this transfer. Their struggle to either reverse the 1919 decision and return to Austria or to achieve linguistic and cultural autonomy within the Kingdom of Italy was led by tenacious men who had gathered political experience in the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Baron Paul von Sternbach (1869-1948) was one of these individuals. His public life illuminates what came to be known as the South Tirol problem in the interwar and post World War II years, and also illustrates the attitudes and values of a quintessential Habsburg public servant.;Research for this biography was conducted in Austrian (specifically Tirolean), German, Italian, Vatican, and American archives and libraries. Interviews and a personal diary provided by Sternbach's family yielded a portrait of a principled yet practical leader who sought to influence the newly established minority protection mechanisms of the League of Nations as the Fascist regime forcibly Italianized the South Tirol (Alto Adige) in the interwar period. When his effort failed, he turned to, but ultimately rejected, the National Socialist Empire.;The forces which shaped Sternbach's long life are reflected in his inner conflicts as he adjusted to three entirely different historical periods. Between 1935 and 1945 the former Austrian politician was persecuted and later exiled by both the Italian and German dictatorships. Like his homeland Tirol, he was caught between the aspirations of two major fascist powers and the unsteady alliance between Duce and Fuhrer, the old animosities between Austrians and Italians, and clashing German and Italian nationalisms.;Sternbach's consistent call for self-determination was rejected twice in his lifetime, in 1919 and 1945. Although reunification of the South Tirol with Austria has not occurred, the German-speaking minority on the Italian side of the Brenner owes its survival, in part, to Paul von Sternbach.