Pula/Pola – the main base of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.k. Kriegsmarine)

David Orlović

•First Austrian rule (1798-1805) after Napoleon’s takeover of Venice and the Peace of Campoformio

•Second Austrian rule (1813-1918)•Illyrian provinces of the French Empire (1805-1913)

Pula of the 1st half of the 19th century was a small, derelict town ravaged by malaria and other diseases, as well as constant emigration to other lands. Its minimum population amounted to 600. Most of the inhabitants were Italian speakers, former subjects of the Venetian republic.

Pula chosen as the main naval base of the monarchy

Hans Bitrich Dahlerup (1790-1873), then the main commander of the Austrian fleet based in Venice advised the government to move the base to Pula after the revolution in Italy in 1848.

•Geo-political considerations, the geography of the area and the relative proximity to Vienna were decisive.•1850 – fortifying of the area commences.•1856 – the cornerstone of the future Arsenal laid. Franz Joseph I. present at the ceremony.•Contemporary population: 1100. A steady inflow of new citizens follows the event.

Fortifications

The K.u.k. See Arsenal

Efficience of the base proved in the 1866 battle of Lissa

Wilhelm von Tegetthoff (1827-1871)

Sinking of the Italian battleship Re d’Italia

Development of the navy - battleships

Monarch klasse 1895/6

Erzherzog Karl klasse 1903/5

Habsburg klasse 1900/2

Radetzky klasse 1908/10

Dreadnought battleships

Tegetthoff klasse (1911-14):

•Tegetthoff•Viribus Unitis•Prinz Eugen•Szent István

Development of the navy

Development of the city

1876 railway connection with Vienna

1871 hydrographical center1861 K. u. k. Marinespital in Pola

1904 tram line opened

Development of the city

1854 Politeama Ciscutti - theater

1903 Markthalle

1913 Marine Kasino

Italians

Croats

Germans

Slovenians

Other

Foreigners

1910 census : 58,560 inhabitants

Soldiers

Civilians

Newspapers

World War I

November 1918

State of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs

Sinking of the Viribus Unitis Italians occupy on the 5th November

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