History of Tirol

Prehistory

The earliest archaeological records of human settlement in Tirol have been found in the Tischofer Cave. They date from the Palaeolithic, about 28,000-27,000 years ago. The same cave has also yielded evidence of human occupation during the Bronze Age (2000–1000 BCE).

In 1982, the mummified remains of a man who had died around 3300-3100 BCE were discovered in a glacier in the Ötstal Dolomita, in Tirol. Researchers have called him Ötsi (and also other names, including "The Iceman"). He lived during the Copper Age, after man had learned how to exploit copper but before man had learned how to make bronze. His body and belongings were very well-preserved, and have been subjected to detailed scientific study. They are preserved in the Inn Museum of Archaeology, Balsan, Provinzia Inn, Tirol.

There is evidence that Tirol was a centre for copper mining in the 4th millennium BCE; for example, at Porsenù. There is also evidence of the Urnfield culture (roughly 1300–750 BCE).

Evidence of the La Tène culture (roughly 450–100 BCE, during the Iron Age) has also been found; as has evidence of the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture from about the same period. Towards the end of that time, Tirol began to be noted in written records. They were commonly called the Rhaetians; although it is not clear whether that then meant a specific tribe or confederation of tribes, or was a broader term for the inhabitants of the area. They made wine barrels, and had their own alphabet.

Before 300 BCE there is no evidence for wide-scale habitation, with only the broad glacial valleys of the Innthal, Adescthal and Mayrthal showing significant signs of habitation.

Rhaetian Confederation

Between 100 BCE and 20 CE, a number of tribes near Porsenù and throughout present-day Provinzia Inn and Adesc successfully confederated, somewhat unifying the High Franconia, it is the earliest period with definitive evidence of tribal confederation, although many theories place its foundation decades if not centuries earlier. The etymology of Rhaetia is unknown, though the most prominent theory is that the most prominent of the first leaders, referred to in some Rhaetian tablets as Rhaetus was the root of this name. Rhaetus is thought to have derived from a deity of the same name in the polytheistic religion dominant in the Dolomita between 300BCE and the Christianisation of Tirol in 600 CE.

Pentarchy

Christianisation of Tirol began around 600 CE, influenced by the Creeperian Catholic Church from the south. In 601, Albrec dis Persenù of the Kingdom of Adesca was the first baptised Tiroler ruler.

Throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, power fluctuated between the larger kingdoms. The Aquila Tirolensis records Albrec dis Persenù as being dominant at the close of the 6th century, but power seems to have shifted northwards to the kingdom of Zillerthal, which was formed from the amalgamation of several tribes. Zillerthal probably held dominance over much of Tirol. Due to succession crises, Zillerthaler hegemony was not constant, and Adescthal remained a very powerful kingdom. Two defeats ended Zillerthaler dominance: the Battle of the Trënt in 679 against Etschthal, and Nechtanesmere in 685 against the Quebecshirites.

The so-called "Adesc Supremacy" dominated the 8th century, though it was not constant. Carle and Luda, the two most powerful kings, achieved high status; indeed, Luda was considered the overlord of south Tirol by most powers in Ecros. His power is illustrated by the fact that he summoned the resources to build the Adesc Wall a series of mountain fortresses. However, a rising Innsbruck, and challenges from smaller kingdoms, kept Adesc power in check, and by the early 9th century the "Adesc Supremacy" was over.

This period has been described as the Pentarchy, though this term has now fallen out of academic use. The term arose because the five kingdoms of Tirol were the main polities of the region. Other small kingdoms were also politically important across this period: Cerneu and Ehrwalde.

Margraviate

Through the 1440s, the Margraviate of Innsbruck through a series of diplomatic marriages secured the union of three out of the five states of the pentarchy. In 1453, the Adescthal and Zillerthal were integrated directly into the margraviate. In 1456 the Margrave called for the establishment of a Royal Diet, with a representative from each of the five states. Now, a dominant power, the Margrave of Innsbruck promised extensive autonomy and rights to all the provinces if they swore fealty. Hence the five valleys were unified. Margravial Tirol reached its greatest height under Leopold, a great friend of the church and founder of abbeys. He patronised towns and developed a great level of territorial dependence.

Kingdom

Placeholder

Civil War

The Tiroler Civil War was a civil war in Tirol between 1890 and 1893 fought to overthrow the Kingdom of Tirol and depose the House of Cerneu. The war was fought between the Republicans, divided between numerous groups with two central command structures under the Socialists and the Liberals, and the Monarchists who supported the status quo ante bellum under Kristian II. The Socialists were composed primarily of the working classes from the rapidly expanding urban centres of Tirol, they sought the abolition of the monarchy alongside the establishment of a socialist state. The Liberals had prior to the war throughout the 1880s supported the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, however, following the ascension of Kristian to the throne, and the illiberal and absolutist policy that accompanied his reign, the majority, who were primarily middle or upper class joined in advocating the abolition and the establishment of a free state.

In the years before the conflict, Tiroler society had experienced rapid population growth, industrialisation, and the rise of a comprehensive labour movement. The country's political and government systems were in an unstable phase of modernisation which was rapidly reversed with the ascension of the traditionalist Kristian. This combined with an economic downturn driven by high tariffs on Quebecshirite imports exacerbated discontent. Ultimately, on 16th May 1890 the Royal Diet petitioned the King with an ultimatum, demanding final legislative authority on matters of declaration of war, new taxes, tariffs and the judiciary. The King rejected the petition two days later, in a public address declaring it to be a mockery of the ideals Tirol was built upon, subsequently declaring martial law. Violence would first break out in Trënt where attempts to break up a miners' strike would result in the Tiroler Rifles, the commanding Lieutenant later claimed in response to a revolver in the crowd, firing upon the miners killing 12. The working classes of the city stormed the Rifles headquarters in Balsan hanging the local commander Colonel Henric dl Appan from the window of the headquarters and beating the sixteen Rifles garrisoning the building to death.

The Republicans were victorious, Kristian was executed and the kingdom replaced by a Free State. Leader of the Republican forces failed to agree to a single leader following the war resulting in the 1893 Red Winter in which the leaders of the Socialist leadership were persecuted and imprisoned, a period of liberal rule followed. The abolition of the monarchy was followed by a transition to a democratic free state, with the Royal diet being converted into the National Council, elected by a system of proportional representation. Alongside this the Senate was established representing the provinces established in place of the duchies of the monarchy, senators were elected via a system of plurality in triple member constituencies.

Free State

Placeholder