The People » History

The Contemporary Age

The fall of the Venetian Republic opens a tormented twenty-year period, in which military occupations, political and administrative changes follow each other. The first French domination, between 1797 and 1798, is followed by the Austrian domination. After the Treaty of Pressburg of 26th December 1805, the whole Veneto becomes part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Feltre and Belluno give rise to Dipartimento della Piave with Belluno as its capital. After the defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna, a new change occurs: within the dominions of the Hapsburg Empire, Feltre and Belluno become part of the Lombardo-Veneto Kingdom. In 1866, after the third war of independence, they are annexed to the Kingdom of the House of Savoy. Their historical, political, and administrative events coincide with the events characterizing the united Italy.

The Park landscape still shows many evidences of the past war events. For instance, the military routes of World War I, developing along the slopes with a moderate and constant gradient, with large hairpin bends for the manoeuvres with heavy pieces of artillery and with imposing stone retaining walls. During the last decades of the 19th century, the massive emigration towards the Austro-Hungarian Empire and America led to the abandonment of the province by over 22,500 people. This phenomenon also interested the two post-war periods, with noteworthy consequences on local economy, welfare state, and culture.