Venetian nationalism

Venetian nationalism (also Venetism,^[1] from the Venetian/Italian name, venetismo) is a nationalist, but primarily regionalist, political movement active mostly in Veneto, Italy, as well as in other parts of the former Republic of Venice.

Generally speaking, Venetists promote the distinct Venetian identity and the rediscovery of the Republic of Venice's heritage, traditions, culture, and language and/or demand more autonomy or even independence for Veneto from Italy.^[2][3][4] According to journalist Paolo Possamai, Venetism is "the strain of Veneto and Venetians toward the recognition of their identity and autonomy".^[5] Venetism is a broad movement,^[6] which definitely includes Venetist parties, notably Liga Veneta, but also encompasses people from several political parties. In 1982 Goffredo Parise, a writer and journalist, wrote: "Veneto is my fatherland. [...] Even if a Republic of Italy exists, this abstract idea is not my Fatherland [...]. We Venetians have travelled throughout the world, but our Fatherland, that for which we would fight if it were necessary to fight, is Veneto. [...] When I see "River sacred to the Fatherland" written on the bridges spanning the Piave, I am moved, not because I think of Italy, but rather because I think of Veneto."^[7][8]

Most Venetists consider Veneto a nation distinct from Italy and some refuse the validity of the result of the referendum through which Veneto (or, better, Venetia) was united with Italy in 1866.^{[9][10][11][12]} Some of them have long proposed a re-edition of that referendum and campaign for the independence of Venetia, a country that would be composed of the territories of the historical Venetian Republic, covering Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and large chunks of Lombardy (the province of Brescia, the province of Bergamo, the area around Crema and a portion of the province of Mantua).^[13] The proposal, regarding to Veneto alone, has more recently gained the support of Liga Veneta, the Government of Veneto, and the majority of the Regional Council of Veneto, which endorsed a bill aimed at organising the referendum in 2014. The Constitutional Court ruled that referendum out as contrary to the Constitution, but authorised an autonomy referendum, which took place on 22 October 2017: 57.2% of Venetians participated in the referendum and 98.1% voted "yes". Consequently, President of Veneto Luca Zaia started a negotiation with the Italian government.

Although it usually refers to the whole Venetian autonomist movement,^[14] the term "Venetism" is sometimes used to identify specifically culture-oriented Venetists, hardline Venetists or those Venetists who refuse the concept of Padania, a proposed country by Lega Nord / Lega, of which Liga Veneta (the most successful Venetist party so far) has been the "national/regional" section in Veneto. Alberto Gardin, a pro-independence publisher and later self proclaimed 121st Doge^[15] who supports the boycott of Italian elections, offers another interpretation by considering "Venetism" a "partisan concept, that is part of the Italian political system (Venetists, as Socialists, Communists, PD, PdL, etc.)".^[16]