Socio-Cultural Characters of a Border Territory
Marco Della Rocca

Abstract
It is the aim of this article to analyze the political system in effect at the end of the XIX century in a border territory, such as Trentino Alto Adige, a region straddling to worlds: the Italian and the German speaking one. In this analysis I will retrace the origins of regional autonomy by recalling the historical and political events that let to a deep imprint of the concept of self-governance in this area; starting from the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the same year of the annexation of the Bishopric of Trento to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and until the outbreak of WWI. The aim of this study is to understand how deeply the forms of self-governance that the Austrian empire granted to the area influenced the culture and society of the time, and even left traces in today's modern society.

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