48 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
1.01  DOI: https://doi.org/10.51663/pnz.64.2.03
Robert Devetak*
“The cause of our poverty is colonia.” 
The Colonate System in the County 
of Gorizia and Gradisca during  
the Austro-Hungarian Empire**
IZVLEČEK
»VZROK NAŠE REVŠČINE JE KOLONSTVO.« 
KOLONSKI SISTEM NA GORIŠKEM IN GRADIŠKEM  
V OBDOBJU AVSTRO-OGRSKE
Prispevek obravnava kolonski sistem – posebno obliko zemljiške odvisnosti, ki se je 
ohranila še skoraj stoletje po odpravi fevdalnih razmerij leta 1848. Šlo je za civilnopravno 
razmerje, za katero je bilo značilno, da so večinoma revne kmečke družine, ki niso imele v 
lasti nepremičnin, na podlagi pogodbe najele zemljišče, hišo ali celotno kmetijo v zakup, 
najpogosteje od plemiških družin ali bogatih kmečkih veleposestnikov. Sistem je spominjal 
na tlačanskega in je med koloni prehajal iz roda v rod. Kolonske družine je potiskal na druž-
beni rob in v revščino. V okviru habsburške države je bil uveljavljen tudi na območju dežele 
Goriške in Gradiške, predvsem v zahodnih predelih, ki jih je poseljevalo večinoma furlansko 
prebivalstvo. V prispevku bodo predstavljene splošne značilnosti sistema na prehodu iz 19. 
v 20. stoletje in poskusi oblasti, da bi ga formalnopravno ukinile.
Ključne besede: Goriška in Gradiška, kolonski sistem, gospodarske razmere, kmetijstvo, 
revščina, Avstro-Ogrska
* PhD, Assistant Professor, Institute for Ethnic Studies, Erjavčeva 26, SI–1000 Ljubljana and School of Hu-
manities, University of Nova Gorica, Vipavska 13, SI–5000 Nova Gorica, robert.devetak@inv.si; ORCID: 
0000-0002-5098-5392
** The article was written within the framework of the research programme P5-0409 Slovenhood Dimensions Between 
Local and Global at the Beginning of the Third Millennium, financed by the Slovenian Research and Innovation 
Agency (ARIS).
49Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
ABSTRACT
The paper examines the colonate system – a specific form of land dependency that per-
sisted for almost a century following the abolition of feudal relations in 1848. It was a civil 
law relationship that involved mostly poor peasant families who did not own property, leas-
ing land, a house, or an entire estate based on a contract, most often from noble families or 
wealthy rural landlords. The system resembled serfdom and was passed down from genera-
tion to generation between the coloni. It pushed colonate families to the margins of society 
and into poverty. The system persisted in the Habsburg monarchy, notably in the region of 
Gorizia and Gradisca, especially in the western parts. This paper will present the general 
features of the system, as it existed at the turn of the 19th century, as well as the attempts of 
the authorities to formally regulate it.
Keywords: County of Gorizia and Gradisca, colonate system, economic conditions, agri-
culture, poverty, Austria-Hungary
Introduction
In the decades preceding the First World War, the economic situation in the County 
of Gorizia and Gradisca was characterised by various factors that influenced the everyday 
socio-economic landscape of the countryside. Among the more peculiar features was 
the colonate system – a form of land dependency that went on to survive the abolition 
of feudal relations in 1848 by almost a century.1 It was particularly characteristic of the 
western parts of the County, inhabited mainly by the Friulian-speaking population. It 
was a civil-law relationship characterised by the leasing of land, a house, or an entire 
estate based on a contract (either oral or written), mostly by poor peasant families who 
did not own property. The owners of these properties were most often former feudal, 
noble families, rich landlords, the bourgeoisie, or ecclesiastical offices. The system resem-
bled serfdom and was passed down from generation to generation among the coloni. It 
pushed colonate families to the social margins and into poverty – they were one of the 
most socially deprived groups in the County. Families lived in harsh and inadequate 
conditions, leading to physical and psychological problems, the spread of infectious 
1 For more details on the colonate system on the western edge of Slovene territory in the 19th and 20th centuries, see: 
Peter Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem delu dežele Goriško-Gradiščanske do konca prve svetovne vojne,” Goriški 
letnik: zbornik Goriškega muzeja, No. 12/13 (1987): 175–203. Peter Stres, “Oris kolonata na Goriškem od konca 
I. svetovne vojne do leta 1947,” Goriški letnik: zbornik Goriškega muzeja, No. 15/16 (1989): 69–106. Peter Stres, 
“Odprava kolonata na Goriškem (1947–1955),” Goriški letnik: zbornik Goriškega muzeja, No. 35 (2011) 167–96. 
Sergij Vilfan, “Izročilo o kolonatu v Goriških Brdih,” Etnolog: glasnik Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja 1 (1992): 
137–50. Recent works include: Tanja Gomiršek, “Vrste zakupnih pogodb v Goriških brdih v prvi polovici 19. stole-
tja,” Zgodovinski časopis 71, No. 1/2 (2017): 164–85.
50 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
diseases and often premature death. The system had a determinative impact on the local 
economic and social situation, which was marked by pellagra and the mass emigration 
of the colonate population to other parts of the country and abroad. The emergence of 
mass media (newspapers), democratisation (the expansion of suffrage), and the estab-
lishment of charitable structures from the end of the 19th century onwards brought the 
issue into public discourse. The political authorities were confronted with demands to 
abolish the colonate system. This paper will outline the general features of the system 
at the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. The first part will focus on the socio-
economic consequences of the colonate system before the First World War, especially 
in the Slovene-speaking part of Gorizia and Gradisca. The second part will give a more 
detailed description of the attempts of local and state authorities to legally abolish the 
colonate system.
The County of Gorizia and Gradisca and Its Economic 
Characteristics in the Decades before the First World War 
Gorizia and Gradisca was one of the 18 provinces that made up the Cisleithanian 
part of Austria-Hungary. It was included in the administrative-political unit of the 
Austrian Littoral (Österreichische Küstenland), whose seat was in Trieste.2 It was one of 
the smaller provinces, but it was geographically very diverse, stretching south to north 
from the Adriatic Sea to the eastern Alpine peaks. In addition to its geography, the region 
was also defined by its ethnic diversity. In 1910, the population of the region numbered 
260,000,3 including Slovenes, Friulians,4 Italians, Germans5 and Jews.6 The Italian and 
partly German communities in particular held a dominant position in politics, adminis-
tration, education and the economy, significantly shaping the social image of the County, 
irrespective of its ethnic structure, which provoked opposition from the Slovene major-
ity. As a result, at the turn of the 20th century, national topics and conflicts were an eve-
ryday feature, especially those between the Slovene and Italian communities.7
Agriculture was the dominant sector of the economy in the period Austria-Hungary, 
with arable farming, animal husbandry and forestry being the main industries. The 
2 For more on the administrative-political situation and territorial features of Gorizia and Gradisca, see: Branko 
Marušič, Pregled politične zgodovine Slovencev na Goriškem: 1848–1899 (Nova Gorica: Goriški muzej, 2005), 29–37.
3 Ibidem, 45. In 1910, according to the population census, which collected data on spoken languages, 62% of the 
population was Slovene-, 36% Italian-, and 2% German-speaking.
4 In many cases, the Friulian community was equated with and belonged to the Italian community during this time.
5 Matic Batič, “‘Mislimo sicer nemško, čutimo nemško, a nikomur ne bomo zamerili njegovega drugačnega mišljenja.’ 
Nemški goriški list Görzer Wochenblatt in njegova politična usmeritev,” Zgodovinski časopis 77, No. 1/2 (2023): 
88–115.
6 Renato Podbersič, Jeruzalem ob Soči: judovska skupnost na Goriškem od 1867 do danes (Ljubljana: Študijski center 
za narodno spravo; Gorica: Goriška Mohorjeva družba; Maribor: Center judovske kulturne dediščine Sinagoga 
Maribor, 2017).
7 Branko Marušič, Sosed o sosedu: prispevki k zgodovini slovensko-italijanskega sožitja (Trst: ZTT, 2012), 9–42. Robert 
Devetak, “Razvoj slovenske prisotnosti v goriškem javnem prostoru pred prvo svetovno vojno,” Zgodovinski časopis 
77, No. 3/4 (2023): 380–404.
51Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
best agricultural conditions were in the lowland, south-western part of the County, 
where, in addition to the favourable geographical location, the climate was suitable 
for developing specialised sectors such as viticulture, fruit-growing, and even rice-
growing in the coastal lagoons.8 Despite the relatively favourable climate, agriculture 
was plagued by a number of structural problems – uncompetitive and poorly educated 
farmers, the slow introduction of technical innovations, indebtedness, poverty, and 
significant land fragmentation.9 All this resulted in a poor standard of living and a 
mass exodus from the County to other centres and abroad.10 In addition, major crafts 
and industry were badly developed and confined to the major centres or urban areas. 
It was only in the beginning of the 20th century that more intensive growth began. The 
capital of the County, Gorizia, had only around 30,000 inhabitants at that time and was 
economically overshadowed by the much larger and more important city of Trieste.11
Main Aspects of the Colonate System  
in Gorizia and Gradisca
The social and economic situation in the flat and hilly part of the County was strongly 
influenced by the presence of the colonate system, which was first mentioned in the 16th 
century12 and remained in Gorizia region until 1947, when the area was partitioned 
between Italy and Yugoslavia.13 Before the First World War, the colonate system was 
present in certain parts of the Slovene territory, specifically the Gorizia Hills (Goriška 
brda, Collio), Istria, parts of the Vipava Valley and Karst.14 It also extended to other ter-
ritories of Austria-Hungary, including parts of Croatian Istria, Dalmatia and Tirol.15 In 
1902, there were more than 400 colonate farms in the territory of Gorizia and Gradisca, 
where the Slovene population lived.16 This form of land dependence originated in Italy17 
and was not covered by the abolition of feudal relations in 1848, because the coloni were 
legally-speaking free, albeit for the most part very poor, without significant assets and 
8 Branko Marušič, “Prispevki k poznavanju gospodarskih razmer na Goriškem v 19. in v začetku 20. stoletja,” in Darja 
Skrt (ed.), Aleksandrinke (Nova Gorica: Goriški muzej, 2014), 59–72.
9 Alberto Luchitta, La Camera di Commercio di Gorizia 1850–2000: uomini e lavoro in 150 anni di storia (Gorizia: 
Libreria Editrice Goriziana, 2001), 49–51. Robert Devetak, “Gospodarska kriza na Goriškem in Gradiškem v letu 
1879 ter ukrepi oblasti in dobrodelnih institucij za njeno reševanje,” in Petra Kolenc et al. (eds.), Marušičev zbornik: 
zgodovinopisec zahodnega roba: prof. dr. Branku Marušiču ob 80-letnici (Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2019), 281–99.
10 Aleksej Kalc, “Migration movements in Goriška in the time of Aleksandrinke,” in Mirjam Milharčič Hladnik (ed.), 
From Slovenia to Egypt: Aleksandrinke‘s Trans-Mediterranean Domestic Workers‘ Migration and National Imagination 
(Göttingen: V&R Unipress, cop. 2015), 49–71.
11 Marušič, “Prispevki k poznavanju,” 68.
12 Vojko Pavlin, “Primer uveljavljanja kupnega prava in kolonata na Goriškem 16. stoletja,” Goriški letnik: zbornik 
Goriškega muzeja, No. 28 (2001): 289–93.
13 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 175.
14 Vilfan, “Izročilo o kolonatu,” 141.
15 Gomiršek, “Vrste zakupnih pogodb,” 165.
16 Vilfan, “Izročilo o kolonatu,” 141.
17 Sergij Vilfan, “Agrarna premoženjska razmerja,” in Pavle Blaznik et al. (eds.), Gospodarska in družbena zgodovina 
Slovencev. Zgodovina agrarnih panog (Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1980), 426, 427.
52 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
contractually tied to wealthy landlord families, who in certain areas owned large swathes 
of arable land. The system resembled serfdom and was often passed down from generation 
to generation between the coloni. The coloni cultivated the farmland. As sharecroppers, 
they were expected to send the landowners payment in the form of crops.18 The con-
tracts, which varied slightly according to time, place and the parties involved, were fixed 
in time, usually for a period of between one and three years, and were renewable, with 
the landowners having the final say.19 This also put the coloni in a distinctly subordinate 
position. Landlords chose to use these types of contracts because they gave them more 
leverage over the coloni than they otherwise would have had if they had hired ordinary 
workers.20 The colonate contracts in force in the 1870s typically required the coloni to 
give the landowners two-thirds of the wine crop, plus a certain amount of fruit (plums, 
cherries, and grapes). Towards the end of the 19th century, rapid technological progress 
and faster transport brought changes, since it made fruit more commercially attractive. 
As a result, its share in contracts increased.21 In addition, part of the obligations was paid 
in cash and part in unpaid work on the owner’s other land (fields, meadows, vineyards, 
forests). Despite clearly-defined terms, landowners would frequently decide to cancel 
contracts.22 The Soča newspaper wrote the following: “If the landlord is not satisfied with 
the colono, he dismisses him at the end of the year and the colono has to hit the road with 
his wife and children. The condition of the coloni is very harsh.”23 The contractual land 
dependency limited mobility and negatively affected the ability of the coloni to access 
complementary sources of income, such as small crafts or transportation. In addition, 
landowners extracted labour from the coloni on their land and protected their interests.24
While such contracts were criticised by the public, no changes were made until 
the end of the 19th century. At the time, newspapers regularly published opinion pieces 
on the subject: 
“The Friulian landlord has a lot of property, but he cannot cultivate it himself, so he rents 
it out to poor people and gets them to work for him. The conditions are bloody. Every year 
the colono must give him more than half of the total produce; he must sell all the wine to 
the master at the lowest price, he must do all of the work, and even cultivate his vineyard, 
which he has kept for his private use.”25 
Landowners resisted changes to the system because it provided them with a high income 
and, in many cases, greater political power. This type of land ownership allowed active 
political participation and, in line with the electoral system of the time, inclusion in the 
18 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 179, 180. Furio Bianco, “‘L‘armonia sociale nelle campagne.’ Economia agricola 
e questione colonica nella. Principesca Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca tra ‚800 e ‚900,” in Furio Bianco et al. (eds.), 
Economia e società nel Goriziano tra ‚800 e ‚900 : il ruolo della Camera di Commercio (1850–1915) (Gorizia: Edizioni 
della Laguna, 1991), 44–66.
19 Vilfan, “Izročilo o kolonatu,” 139.
20 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 178.
21 Gomiršek, “Vrste zakupnih pogodb,” 167.
22 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 179.
23 “Furlanski koloni,” Soča, 24. 7. 1885, 1.
24 Aleksej Kalc, “Selitvena gibanja ob zahodnih mejah slovenskega etničnega prostora: teme in problemi,” Annales 10 
(1997): 199, 200.
25 “Na Furlanskem,” Soča, 16. 4. 1874, 1.
53Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
landlord curia26 at regional level.27 On the other hand, the system pushed colonate fami-
lies to the margins of society and into poverty. An anonymous correspondent in the 
Gorizia newspaper wrote in 1900: 
“If you walk for a long time in Friuli, you can see hundreds upon hundreds of diligent hands, 
working the vast fields. When you enquire: ‘To whom does this vast field belong?’, they will give 
you two or three names, one count and two barons, or vice versa. These are the owners, these 
are the lords, while everyone else are coloni, a kind of tenant farmers, and their subordinates, 
the ‘sottani’28 – the workers, who are, of course, the most numerous. The owner, the baron or 
count, profits the most from the lands, because he has to live like a count or baron (?!); after him 
comes the colono, or tenant, who also prefers to live well rather than poorly – and third comes 
the sottano, or worker, who has only enough to breathe. Most of these workers are married and 
usually have many children. Their daily wage or salary is 50 to 80 pennies a day, and with this 
the worker has to support himself, his wife, and, if necessary, six to eight children.”29
26 Vasilij Melik, Volitve na Slovenskem: 1861–1918 (Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1965), 42–49.
27 Vilfan, “Izročilo o kolonatu,” 140.
28 Ibid., 142. Sottano was the Italian term used to denote the poorest of the coloni.
29 “Pelagra v Furlaniji,” Gorica, 19. 6. 1900, 3.
Figure 1: The distribution of the colonate system in the County of Gorizia and Gradisca 
Author of the map: Miha Brvar
54 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
The Colonate System as a Social Issue
The system put colonate families in a particularly risky position in the event of 
emergencies linked to economic crises, natural disasters, and other social upheavals. 
This was aggravated by poor education and an inability or refusal to adapt to new eco-
nomic and social trends.30 Poor education often affected entire colonates, who, due 
to the lack of resources and time, did not even receive primary education, despite it 
being compulsory by law.31 Landowners were also opposed to any kind of schooling, 
since they saw educated and literate peasants as lazy.32 In 1874, in an article entitled In 
Friuli, Štefan Širok33 pointed out the following: “In the intellectual sense, the peasantry 
is completely neglected, and has not the slightest desire for education and general 
knowledge. This goes so far as to make them hate schools, and not only do they not 
send their sons to the town schools, but they are enemies of the local schools.”34 Poor 
education significantly impacted the farmers’ ability to introduce novel economic 
solutions, tools, varieties and fertilisers, making the environment uncompetitive and 
reducing crop quality.35 The colonate system itself also had a negative impact on the 
development of the area, since the lack of financial resources hindered the uptake of 
new, advanced farming techniques.36 However, the (lack of) motivation of the coloni 
to perform work, which was neither properly valued, appreciated or paid, also had an 
effect on productivity and crop quantity. This type of farming has been regarded as a 
distinct failure in terms of productivity, as the coloni‘s disinterest has often manifested 
as resistance against the landowners, especially when the latter exploited the system.37 
“The Friulian peasant has nothing else on his mind but how to deceive his master and 
how to cheat him in a contract. But these contracts are also outrageous; they leave the 
poor peasant with almost no personal freedom.”38 The rents set by the landlords were 
unreasonably high. At the same time, they themselves set the price of the produce, 
which was considerably lower than the market price.39
Many landowners did not invest in housing and colonate families did not have the 
means to cope with poor and inadequate living conditions. 
30 Peter Štih, “‘Kmečko prebivalstvo v grofijah Goriška in Gradiščanska je sicer delavno, vendar zelo revno ---’: poroči-
lo dvornega vojnega sveta o socialnem in gospodarskem stanju na Goriškem in Gradiščanskem iz leta 1770,” in Petra 
Kolenc (ed.), Marušičev zbornik: zbornik prispevkov v počastitev 70-letnice prof. dr. Branka Marušiča (Nova Gorica: 
Goriški muzej, 2010): 327.
31 Tanja Gomiršek, “Pismenost kmečkega prebivalstva Goriških brd v 19. stoletju,” Kronika 67, No. 1 (2019): 91–104.
32 Vilfan, “Izročilo o kolonatu,” 147.
33 Branko Marušič, “Kaj so Slovenci v 19. stoletju vedeli o Furlanih in kako so Furlane spoznavali?,” Izvestje Raziskovalne 
postaje ZRC SAZU v Novi Gorici, 2015, No. 12, 15, 16.
34 Štefan Širok, “Na Furlanskem,” Soča, 16. 4. 1874, 1.
35 Devetak, “Razvoj osnovnega šolstva in vplivi delovanja učiteljev na gospodarski razvoj sodnega okraja Kanal v obdobju 
Avstro-Ogrske,” Goriški letnik: zbornik Goriškega muzeja, No. 41 (2017): 208–12. Kalc, “Selitvena gibanja,” 200.
36 Tanja Gomiršek, “Spremembe na področju agrarnih panog v jugovzhodnem delu Goriških brd v 19. stoletju,” 
Kronika 59, No. 2 (2011): 280.
37 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 181.
38 Širok, “Na Furlanskem,” Soča, 16. 4. 1874, 2.
39 Gomiršek, “Vrste zakupnih pogodb,” 171.
55Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
“Almost everywhere this system has been introduced, one sees poor, dilapidated brick-
-buildings, whose individual buildings are not only badly positioned, but also low and 
cramped; and, being windowless, they lack even the necessary light and healthy air. /.../ 
Let us look a little more closely at the colono house. It consists almost without exception 
of two rooms. Below is the horribly smoke-stained kitchen, which has no windows. The 
floor resembles the surface of a wavy sea. The house door is wide open in winter and sum-
mer. Here, light comes into the kitchen, but there is also a vent for the dense smoke that 
billows in a torrential cloud through the kitchen. This place is the farmer’s living room, 
dining room, food store, granary and often cellar. Above the kitchen is the so-called attic, a 
dark, almost airless room. There is no sign of windows here either; usually there is a hole in 
the wall through which a cat can barely crawl. But even these holes are usually hermetically 
sealed. Year after year, the colonate – numbering 8–12 heads – sleeps in these suffocating 
rooms. The attic is not only used as a bedroom, but also for storing grain, which is partly 
scattered on the floor or hung from the roof beams. The attic serves as a bedroom and a 
granary at the same time.”40 
This situation negatively impacted health and hygiene conditions, leading to serious 
and chronic diseases (e.g. pneumonia, tuberculosis) and premature death.41
Pellagra, which struck the Friuli plain in the second half of the 19th century, was 
inseparably linked to the colonate system and the farmers’ poor diet. The disease is a 
form of hypovitaminosis, caused by niacin (vitamin B3) deficiency, the result of an 
excessive and monotonous maize-based diet. It typically mainly occurred in spring 
and lasted until the end of summer. It manifested as physical changes to the skin, gas-
trointestinal tract, and brain. The most pronounced initial symptoms of the disease 
were fatigue, loss of appetite, indigestion, insomnia and skin lesions, especially on the 
limbs and around the neck.42 Left untreated, the disease resulted in diarrhoea, der-
matitis, dementia and psychological problems (anxiety, depression, hallucinations),43 
with mortality rates of up to 70%.44 The disease affected the lowest classes in particular, 
including colonate families. Their inadequate dietary habits, stemming from the sys-
tem of outsourcing crops, a lack of financial resources, and poor living conditions, led 
to the frequent and rapid spread of the disease. The climate and geography of Gorizia 
and Gradisca favoured maize as the main crop. At the turn of the 20th century, a third 
of the County’s total arable land was devoted to maize.45 Most of it was grown in the 
flat, lowland part of Friuli, which offered the best growing conditions for this type of 
grain. Landowners and coloni devoted more and more land to maize because of its 
40 “Iz Št. Petra,” Soča, 17. 11. 1882, 2.
41 Rachel Fuchs, Gender and Poverty in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 
177.
42 Monica Ginnaio, “Pellagra in Late Nineteenth Century Italy: Effects of a Deficiency Disease,” Population, No. 3 
(2011): 588.
43 Ibid., 588, 589.
44 Kenneth Kiple (ed.), The Cambridge World History of Human Disease (Cambridge; New York; Melbourne: 
Cambridge University Press, 1999), 918.
45 Vlado Valenčič, “Kulturne rastline,” in Pavle Blaznik et al. (eds.), Gospodarska in družbena zgodovina Slovencev: 
[enciklopedična obravnava po panogah]. Zgodovina agrarnih panog. Zv. 1, Agrarno gospodarstvo (Ljubljana: Državna 
založba Slovenije, 1970), 265–67.
56 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
profitability, since railway connections and steamships made it easier and cheaper to 
transport to more distant parts of the country or abroad.46 The resulting increase in 
maize production altered the diet of the local population, especially the poorer seg-
ments of society. 
“Polenta in the morning, polenta at midday, polenta in the evening; polenta in the 
spring, polenta in the summer, polenta in the autumn, polenta in the winter – in a word: 
polenta – without end or place – this is the only food of the Friulian worker. But if only 
this polenta was made of healthy corn flour!!! In fact, Friuli produces the most maize, 
because it is the most prolific and, consequently, the cheapest food for the local popu-
lation. A colono or tenant gives his workers corn instead of money.”47 
This system further tied the poor to maize, making the pellagra situation even worse. 
Poorly processed maize was particularly problematic, as farmers often sold their best 
crops to make more money, while poorer quality maize, including rotten stock, was 
used at home to make flour.48 The situation was further worsened by poor harvests, as 
natural disasters led to crop failures, which greatly increased dependence on maize.49 
In his book The Noble County of Gorizia and Gradisca (Poknežena grofija Goriška in 
Gradiščanska), the Gorizia historian Simon Rutar states that as much as 25% of the popu-
lation, especially people from the lower classes, were affected by pellagra in some parts of 
the Friulian plain in the early 1890s.50 During this period, up to 90% of the sufferers were 
rural workers or farmers.51 In the 1880s, the disease developed into an endemic outbreak, 
killing hundreds of people, mainly women, children and the elderly, and sending many 
more to psychiatric or ordinary hospitals for long-term treatment.52
Poor living conditions, exploitation by landlords, and pellagra forced the popula-
tion to leave their homes en masse and emigrate to other parts of the country, Europe, 
and to other continents, especially South and later North America.53 In the colonate 
system, home abandonment became widespread as early as the 1870s and only intensi-
fied in the ensuing decades.54 Friulian emigration was also a frequent topic in newspa-
pers: “The rumour has broken out again that many of our Friulian inhabitants want to 
move to America. In Bruma, a suburb of the town of Gradisca, 18 families are prepar-
ing to make the long journey across the Ocean. In the Cormons district, the number of 
people intending to move to the Argentine has risen to 1000, mostly peasants (coloni) 
and their families.”55 In 1887, the Gospodarski list stated: 
46 See: Marušič, “Prispevki k poznavanju,” 59–72.
47 “Pelagra v Furlaniji,” Gorica, 19. 6. 1900, 3.
48 Ibid.
49 “Na Furlanskem,” Edinosti, September 21, 1887, 3.
50 Simon Rutar, Poknežena grofija Goriška in Gradiščanska (Nova Gorica: Jutro, 1997), 70.
51 Martin Cilenšek, Naše škodljive rastline v podobi in besedi (Celovec: Družba sv. Mohorja, 1892–1896), 274.
52 Robert Devetak, “‘Hči glada in mati umobola’: bolezen pelagra in njeno preprečevanje na Goriškem in Gradiškem v 
obdobju Avstro-Ogrske,” Zgodovina za vse 27, No. 1 (2020): 5–15.
53 Aleksej Kalc, “Vidiki razvoja prebivalstva Goriške-Gradiške v 19. stoletju in do prve svetovne vojne,” Acta Histriae 
21, No. 4 (2013): 697, 698.
54 For more on emigration, see: Kalc, “Migration Movements,” 49–71.
55 “Emigracija,” Soča, 29. 8. 1879, 4.
57Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
Figure 2: An example of a peasant house in the Friulian part of Gorizia and Gradisca. At the 
end of the 19th century, dwellings were often still covered with thatch, without flooring, 
separate rooms, proper ventilation, heating and access to light.
Source: Giuseppe Caprin, Pianure friulane: seguito ai libri Marine Istriane - Lagune di 
Grado (Trieste: Stabilimento Artistico G. Caprin, 1892), 249
“Our landlords have lost all hope for a better future, that they are all dejected and have 
neither the means nor the courage to rise from their helplessness, and that the coloni – to 
escape the poverty and the terrible torments of the pellagra – are preparing to migrate 
in whole crowds to the other side of the Ocean; and this would deprive our County of 
hundreds of able hands, who desire nothing more earnestly than to be able to keep them-
selves strong, and to continue to cultivate their native soil, and, if need be, to defend it 
faithfully.”56 
Before the First World War, thousands of people left the areas where the colonate 
system operated to find a better life elsewhere.57
56 “Naša reva,” Gospodarski list, October 14, 1887, 74.
57 Kalc, “Selitvena gibanja,” 199–201.
58 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
The Colonate System as a Political Issue
Before the First World War, the most widespread mass medium was the newspa-
per, which actively monitored and highlighted the poor conditions of the coloni in 
the County.58 From the very start (the 1860s), reports started appearing in various 
newspapers. Later on, coverage and warnings intensified and gradually became politi-
cised. This was mainly due to the gradual democratisation and extension of voting 
rights. This brought the issue of the colonate system into the public arena, followed by 
increasing calls for action by the political authorities. Until the end of the 19th century, 
warnings about the poor situation were relatively rare, although there are examples 
58 On the development of newspapers, see: Smilja Amon and Karmen Erjavec, Slovensko časopisno izročilo 1: od začet-
ka do 1918 (Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede, Založba FDV, 2011), 71, 72.
Figure 3: The traditional clothing of the rural population in the Furlan part of Gorizia  
and Gradisca
Source: Caprin, Pianure friulane, 9
59Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
of attempts to address the situation through political action. An anonymous author, 
writing in the Glas newspaper, pointed this out and presented the system as one of the 
main reasons for the poor social conditions in the area: 
“The third cause of our poverty is the colonate system, and this cause cannot be helped 
except by some energetic state action, like in Poland and Russia following the 1831 upri-
sing. The inhabitants of Gorizia Hills are thus for the most part the slaves, both in body 
and mind, of the Gorizian and other barons and landowners.”59 
The provincial and state parliamentary political system, which had been developing in 
the Habsburg monarchy since 1859, had not yet shown much interest in solving such 
economic problems in the early years. This was mainly due to the relative exclusivity 
of the right to vote, which until the end of the 19th century was limited to only a small 
percentage of the population.60 It was the political and democratic changes that finally 
brought the issue of tackling the colonate system to the surface. The main shift came 
with the gradual extension and then introduction of universal suffrage for adult men 
in 1907. This gave the right to vote to a wider section of society, including those from 
the lower classes. Political parties had to become much more proactive and base their 
programmes on different foundations and themes capable of bringing larger masses of 
potential voters to their cause.61 The social problems of the impoverished population, 
who was now able to vote and engage politically, became part of everyday politics. This 
included the colonate system, which became a political issue and a subject of party 
and ideological struggles.62 The shift in political discourse can be identified in the press 
quickly after the change in electoral law.
The Slovene political landscape in the County was shaped at the beginning of the 
20th century mainly by two political camps – a liberal one within the National Progressive 
Party (Narodno napredna stranka – NPP) and a conservative one within Unity (Sloga), 
later the All-Slovene People’s Party (Vseslovenska ljudska stranka – SPP), which was 
founded in 1907.63 Their success in the provincial and state elections between 1907 and 
1913 was mixed. Seeking a better result at the ballot box, they were active in the coun-
tryside, raising various issues related to the state of agriculture and the rural population.64 
On both the Slovene and Italian sides, the Christian Social Group, which was part of 
the conservative camp, was the most active on the issue of the colonate system. Among 
the Italian provincial politicians, the leader of the Christian Socialists, the priest Luigi 
Faidutti, was the most concerned with the status of the colonate families. He based his 
political programme to a large extent on issues relating to social welfare measures and 
the improvement of the living conditions in the Friulian countryside.65 In addition to the 
59 “Iz Brd,” Glas, October 8, 1875, 3.
60 Melik, Volitve na Slovenskem, 5–9.
61 Selišnik, “Zborovanja na Kranjskem v letih 1900–1913 in razmerja moči: ‘Ako hočemo biti zmagovavci moramo 
poučevati ljudstvo po shodih ---’,” Zgodovinski časopis 67, No. 1/2 (2013): 86–109.
62 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 181–201.
63 Melik, Volitve na Slovenskem, 276–80.
64 Robert Devetak, Društveno življenje na Kanalskem v času Avstro-Ogrske (Nova Gorica: Goriški muzej, 2016), 117–28.
65 Marušič, Pregled politične zgodovine, 332, 333.
60 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
Italian Catholic camp, some Slovene politicians also included support for the coloni in 
their political programme after 1907. The most vocal advocate of change on the Slovene 
side was Josip Fon, a lawyer who often called for a solution to the issue in his numerous 
speeches, petitions and legislative proposals. In December 1908, he called on the coun-
try’s leading political decision-makers to take action, stressing, among other things, that 
“our coloni believe that they deserve greater respect for their legitimate wishes and that 
the government, understanding its own interest, should begin a greater auxiliary action 
in their favour.”66 The political mobilisation of the Catholic camp is indicated by the 
increasing number of newspaper articles which have pointed to the importance of politi-
cal action focusing on the colonate system. Thus, as early as the summer of 1907, the 
newspaper Primorski list, which was part of the SPP, published a series of articles calling 
for the organisation and political mobilisation of the coloni.67 An unidentified correspon-
dent from Gorizia Hills also called on political representatives to advocate change and 
improvement of the coloni’ situation: “The first step towards this must be the liberation 
of the coloni. For this reason, we call on all our elected representatives to take a firm stand 
on this issue and not to give up - as we certainly are not giving up - until our rights have 
been granted.”68 From the summer of 1907 onwards, the SPP began to organise a number 
of rallies in the Slovene countryside, where the coloni were present, and addressed the 
issue in its political programme. In this way, it was able to win support among the local 
population and, as a result, a better electoral result. However, support at the top of the 
party fluctuated and often depended on other circumstances and interests.69
While the Slovene catholic political camp actively fought for change and improve-
ment in the social status of colonate families, the Slovene liberal camp addressed the 
issue to a lesser extent, while acknowledging the negative consequences of the colonate 
system.70 It is evident from newspaper reports and public meetings that its political rep-
resentatives tried to play down its significance and minimised its negative consequences 
in the countryside. Above all, they tried to present it as an “Italian” issue that had little 
to do with the Slovene territory and the population living there.71 This view was partly 
the result of an intense cultural and ideological struggle between the Catholic and 
Liberal camps and partly due to the mutual support the NPP and the Slovene landlords 
offered one another. The ideological struggle, which affected political and everyday life, 
extended to the economy and, more specifically, to the colonate question, which took 
on substantial political significance. The rallies, organised by political opponents from 
the Catholic camp, were presented in the liberal press as unsuccessful, with the aim of 
creating a negative atmosphere in the local environment and causing friction with the 
landowners.72 It was precisely the link with the latter that was an important element in 
66 “Govor državnega posl. Fona,” Gorica, December 19, 1908, 2.
67 “Iz Brd,” Primorski list, July 1, 1907, 3.
68 “Iz Brd,” Primorski list, July 25, 1907, 3.
69 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 197.
70 Ibid., 197.
71 “Naši koloni ali: vsakemu svoje!,” Soča, March 17, 1908, 1.
72 “Koloni,” Soča, October 31, 1908, 2.
61Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
the work of the NPP. The party acted as a bulwark for the interests of the landowners, 
who did not want to see changes that would have negatively affected their economic 
status and power.73 This is evident from the newspaper reports, with articles focusing 
on criticising the Catholic camp’s handling of the issue and warning the coloni not to 
unite and resist the landowners. At the same time, they emphasised dialogue between 
landlords and tenants. Examples of this kind can be found in the newspapers of the day. 
“The colonia question must be resolved in a way that is right for the coloni and the lan-
dlords. Or whoever wants to do good for the coloni must not incite them, because by 
doing so he only harms them. We are told that there are many quarrels in Gorizia Hills 
between the coloni and the landlords, which are certainly not in the best interests of the 
coloni. The Slovene clericals are only irritating, but they are not taking any real steps to 
settle the colonate question as soon as possible and for the better.”74 
The attitude of the NPP to the question is particularly telling in a longer article writ-
ten in the Isonzo newspaper by a prominent member of the party, the landlord Franc 
Kocijančič, who first stressed that he was not opposed to the coloni, but at the same 
time presented their dependence on the landlords as a positive thing, describing them 
as incapable of acting independently: 
“When talking about the colonate, the landlord is the head and the coloni are the hands; 
and herein lies the reason why the colono has no autonomy, that he carries on his work in a 
purely mechanical way, falling headlong into idleness, seeking solace and diversion in drink, 
and thus multiplying his misery. If coloni of this kind, and they are in the majority, say, among 
the ‘justified malcontents’, were to be helped by creating overnight conditions favourable to 
them, the result would be that they would become wasteful and would, in time, fall into even 
greater hardship and misery than they are already in.”75
The Social Democratic camp also drew attention to the problem, but since the 
Gorizia Yugoslav Social Democratic Party (Jugoslovanska socialdemokratska stranka) 
had no political representatives in either the Gorizia Regional Assembly or the State 
Parliament, its manoeuvrability to actively address the problem was limited and its action 
was mainly focused on warnings in the newspapers and in the public space, especially at 
rallies. The most active of the Gorizia Social Democrats on the issue of the colonate sys-
tem were the lawyer Henrik Tuma and Jože Srebrnič, who tried to bring the coloni under 
the umbrella of the party through active field work and appeals, but were not very suc-
cessful due to the low interest of the party and other substantive goals. The party focused 
its efforts mainly on urban areas and expanded its network among industrial workers.76
73 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 193–97.
74 “Koloni,” Soča, October 31, 1908, 2.
75 Franc Kocjančič, “Kolonsko vprašanje,” Soča, March 1, 1910, 1.
76 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 201, 202.
62 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
Political Action and Attempts to Change the System
The politicisation of the colonia system has brought with it, albeit slowly, systemic 
regulation and attempts to improve the rural population system. The provincial politi-
cal parties helped the poorest colonate families with (relatively modest) financial sup-
port.77 Political parties, and in particular some individual political representatives, have 
also become active. The most involved Slovene politician was the previously mentioned 
Fon, who also participated in the drafting of legislative solutions. The coloni recognised 
his activities and thanked him in the Primorski list at the beginning of 1908 for all the 
efforts he had made in the National Assembly to solve their social difficulties.78 Faidutti 
was even more active. As early as the summer of 1907, he prepared a special memoran-
dum for the government on the basis of an analysis of the colonate contracts, outlining 
the history and the main features of the system. The memorandum attracted interest 
among the political parties in the National Assembly in Vienna, especially the Social 
Democrats, and the government showed its willingness to regulate and improve the sta-
tus of the coloni.79 This provided the basis for further, more active work in this direction. 
The efforts took two forms – at the local level, where political actors wanted to mobilise 
the coloni and organise them to take collective action, and at national level (within the 
National Assembly and the sectoral ministries). From 1908 onwards, the Slovene and 
Italian Christian Social Groups organised several rallies for the coloni in the Friulian 
Lowlands and in Gorizia Hills, where speakers presented their plans and measures to 
improve the situation. At the same time, the coloni were able to publicly raise their con-
cerns and draw attention to their plight. One of the largest rallies was held in Medana 
in February 1908, attended by around 300 people.80 The coloni participated actively, 
organising their own events and setting up a special association to look after their inter-
ests.81 The first proposal for a united action within the association was mentioned in the 
newspapers as early as 1901, when Primorski list published a series of three articles signed 
by “several coloni from Gorizia Hills.”82 The articles described the socio-economic situ-
ation in Gorizia Hills, focusing on the difficulties of the coloni. As a solution to improve 
the situation, they proposed the creation of an association to fight for their interests: 
“Everything is moving, everything is uniting, everything is progressing! The workers have 
united, the various artisans have united, the craftsmen have united to help each other with 
their common strength. Only the poor coloni (tenants) have not yet united anywhere. /.../ 
It must not and cannot be like this anymore! Get a grip and unite!”83 
The appeal was not supported at that time and it remained until the beginning of 1909, 
when the Union of Slovene Coloni (Zveza slovenskih kolonov) was established. The 
77 “Za slovenske kolone,” Novi čas, May 8, 1914, 5. 
78 “Zahvala veleblagorodnemu gospodu državnemu poslancu Josipu Fonu,” Primorski list, January 28, 1908, 2.
79 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 183.
80 “Shod v Medani,” Gorica, February 25, 1908, 1.
81 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 191.
82 “Iz Brd,” Primorski list, February 7, 1901, 3, 4; Primorski list, February 14, 1901, 3; Primorski list, February 28, 1901, 3.
83 “Iz Brd,” Primorski list, February 7, 1901, 3, 4.
63Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
central points of its programme were: “1. Control of colonate contracts; 2. Interest-free 
loans against amortisation for land purchases; 3. Credit lending in all our municipali-
ties; and 4. Restriction of speculations in land purchases.”84 It was established in col-
laboration with the SPP, with Fon serving as President, and by May 1909 about 300 
coloni had joined. The main purpose of the Union was to provide the membership 
with information about the political activities of the SPP for change, education and 
social assistance to alleviate the living conditions of the coloni.85 The newspapers, the 
main mass media at that time, also played an important role in the mobilisation of 
the coloni. Here again the Catholic camp was the most active, promoting the party 
newsletter Primorski List as the main medium for informing the coloni. This is evident 
in one of the appeals in this newspaper: 
“If you want to advance, dear coloni, you must: 1. Take care of your organisation, which is 
in the County of Gorizia: ‘The Union of Slovene Coloni’. All Slovene coloni to the last sho-
uld join this association! There is strength in unity. 2. Educate yourself. For this purpose, 
it is necessary that every colono subscribes to the Primorski list, which is the newsletter 
of the coloni association. 3. Live according to the teachings of the Holy Faith and educate 
your children in this spirit. Christian righteous living is every man’s greatest asset and 
the best dowry for his children. 4. Beware of drunkenness and extravagance. Thrift is the 
greatest safeguard for a colono in times of distress and persecution. 5. Demand the redress 
of injustice everywhere.”86 
The newspaper’s activities can be understood both in the direction of helping the 
coloni and in the direction of their political mobilisation in support of the SPP. These 
different forms of public action gave the coloni a voice in the society and, with the 
support of some political representatives, have helped them to promote their demands 
for change.
Faidutti’s and Fon’s work in Vienna brought the issue to the state level – to the 
National Assembly and to the government, where the colonate system was discussed 
on several occasions. The government side responded to the appeals and information 
presented in Vienna and sent a special envoy, Hermann Schulleren,87 to Gorizia and 
Gradisca. In early April 1908, he visited several places in Friuli and the Gorizia Hills 
and met with local political representatives, landowners and coloni. On the basis of 
the discussions, a review of the colonate contracts and his in situ findings, he drew up 
a memorandum which he submitted to the National Assembly Commission in June 
1908, followed the next year by a text published in his book Das Kolonat in Görz und 
Gradisca, in Istrien in Dalmatien und in Tirol, in which he specifically dealt with the 
Friulian and Slovene parts of the County.88 He pointed to the poor living conditions 
84 “Zveza slovenskih kolonov,” Gorica, January 26, 1909, 2.
85 “Odborove seje ‚Zveze slov. kolonov‘,” Primorski list, October 10, 1912, 3, 4.
86 “Dolžnost slovenskih kolonov,” Primorski list, January 18, 1912, 1.
87 Elisabeth Lebensaft, “Schullern zu Schrattenhofen Hermann von,” in Peter Csendes (ed.), Österreichisches biographi-
sches Lexikon: 1815–1950 (Wien: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1999), 331, 332.
88 Hermann Schullern, Das Kolonat in Görz und Gradisca, in Istrien, in Dalmatien und in Tirol : dargestellt auf Grund 
einer im Auftrage des k. k. Ackerbauministeriums im Frühling 1908 vorgenommenen Bereitung diser Länder (Wien: K. K. 
Hof und Staatsdruckerei, 1908), 4–15.
64 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
the colonate families, especially in the swampy, flat areas of the County, and to the 
frequent mistreatment of tenants by landlords.89 The report was the basis for further 
action on the matter. In early 1909, Faidutti also presented the problem to Emperor 
Franz Joseph at a reception who gave his approval for the issue to be resolved.90 In the 
following years, legislation was gradually drafted with the participation of the provin-
cial and state authorities. The first draft was prepared in mid-1909 by the Ministry of 
Agriculture, with the participation of Gorizia’s members of the National Assembly, 
but the process dragged on for another five years, greatly influenced by the balance 
of political power in Gorizia and Gradisca, where the Italian Liberal camp played a 
dominant role, refusing to change the law because of its collaboration with the land-
lords.91 At the same time, those opposed to the change – especially the landowners, 
who feared that they would lose their privileges and economic power – campaigned, 
lobbied and blocked these efforts.92 The changes were slow, and even in April 1911, 
an unnamed Soča correspondent could only paraphrase authors who had raised the 
issue in previous years. “The worst sign of the agricultural situation in the County of 
Gorizia and Gradisca is the colonia system.”93 The breakthrough only came in 1913, 
when the political cards in Gorizia and Gradisca were reshuffled. After the elections, 
a new provincial government was formed, with the Italian Christian Socialists in the 
strongest position, which accelerated the drafting of the law. It was drafted and adopted 
at the end of May 1914, with the help of the government departments.94 It did not 
abolish the colonate system, but it provided a number of measures to make life easier 
for colonate families. The emphasis was on preventing landowners from abusing the 
system. It regulated the rights and duties of both parties involved. It provided for the 
supervision of colonate contracts, which were fixed at six years (a motion proposing 
nine years was defeated) and had to be in writing. It also provided for greater legal 
protection for coloni, penalties in cases of abuse, and maximum quantities of pro-
duce to be given to landowners in both ordinary and extraordinary circumstances.95 
“After the abolition of slavery, this was one of the most humane acts in our County. A 
colono was in the true sense – a slave of his landlord, who treated him as he pleased. 
This law, however, arranged a decent relationship between the two human beings.”96 
The Slovene newspapers in Gorizia only noted the passing of the law, but did not 
elaborate on its content, which was likely due to the events of the summer months 
leading up to the global conflict.97 The Law was translated into Slovene and printed 
in the form of a booklet, which was distributed among the colonate families by the 
89 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 186.
90 Ibid., 188.
91 Ibid., 197.
92 Ibid., 195, 196.
93 “50 let delovanja našega deželnega zbora,” Soča, April 11, 1911, 1.
94 “Gesetz vom 24. Mai 1914, wirksam für die gefürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca über den Kolonatsvertrag,” 
Gesetze und Verordnungen der Landesbehörden für das österreichisch-illirische Küstenland, No. 21, 195–202.
95 Stres, “Oris kolonata v slovenskem,” 198–201.
96 Andrej Gabršček, Goriški Slovenci: narodne, kulturne, politične in gospodarske črtice: Knj. II: Od leta 1901 do 1924 
(Ljubljana: Tiskarna Slovenija, 1934), 451.
97 “Kolonski zakon,” Goriški list, May 28, 1914, 3.
65Robert Devetak: “The cause of our poverty is colonia.” The Colonate System in the County ...
Union of Slovene Coloni, in order to make it easier for the rural environment to get 
acquainted with the new provisions.98 It was due to enter into force on 12 November 
1915, but its implementation was prevented by the First World War, which began two 
months after the law passed. Colonate families were hit hard by the war soon after it 
started, as they struggled to access the basic living necessities because of the high cost 
and shortages.99 Many men were conscripted and took part in the fighting, leaving 
children, women and the elderly to tend the farmlands. The Union of Slovene Coloni 
also drew attention to the difficult situation in the newspapers, adding appeals for aid 
and measures to ease the conditions among the worst affected.100 The military conflict 
between Austria-Hungary and Italy, which took place in May 1915, finally pushed the 
solution aside. The area where the colonate system was in force became a battlefield, 
with opposing sides fighting for more than two years without any significant shifts in 
the front line. The area was largely destroyed and evacuated.101
Conclusion
The colonate system had a profound impact on the social and economic landscape of 
parts of Gorizia and Gradisca for several centuries. Thousands of people in the Friulian 
part of the region, the Gorizia Hills and parts of the Vipava Valley were dependent on 
various, often wealthy, landowners, who in many cases exploited such practices due to 
poor legislative protection and control. Colonate families were among the poorest peo-
ple in the County, without real estate and significant assets, and were fully dependent 
on the conditions imposed by landowners. As a result, they were particularly exposed to 
economic crises, the lack of education and various diseases. The complexity of such con-
tracts survived the abolition of feudal relations in 1848. As a result of the myriad abuses, 
many coloni saw their only solution in emigrating and seeking a better life abroad. It was 
only gradual democratisation, the establishment of political institutions at different lev-
els, and the social shifts of the second half of the 19th century that spurred both local and 
state political decision-makers to face up to the problem. The road to a solution was ardu-
ous, characterised by pressures, as well as political and ideological tensions. Legislative 
changes, in the form of a special law on the colonate contract, were only adopted just 
before the outbreak of the First World War. Due to the ensuing collapse of the state, they 
did not bring about significant changes in the long term. It should be mentioned that the 
new legislation did not abolish the relations, but merely regulated them. The colonate 
system remained in the Gorizia Hills for more than three decades and was only abolished 
after the Second World War.102
98 “Za kolone,” Goriški list, December 3, 1914, 3.
99 Robert Devetak, “Prehrana in aprovizacija na Goriškem in Gradiškem ob začetku prve svetovne vojne,” Goriški 
letnik: zbornik Goriškega muzeja, No. 39/40 (2016): 134–42. 
100 “Gibanje med kolonskim ljudstvom,” Goriški list, December 24, 1914, 2.
101 Petra Svoljšak, “Gorica, prekleto in sveto mesto med dvema ognjema,” Kronika 60, No. 1 (2012): 79–94.
102 Stres, “Oris kolonata na Goriškem,” 98–106.
66 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
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68 Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino LXIV – 2/2024
Robert Devetak
»VZROK NAŠE REVŠČINE JE KOLONSTVO.«  
KOLONSKI SISTEM NA GORIŠKEM IN GRADIŠKEM  
V OBDOBJU AVSTRO-OGRSKE
POVZETEK
Prispevek obravnava sistem kolonata – eno od posebnih oblik zemljiške odvisno-
sti, ki se je ohranila še skoraj stoletje po odpravi fevdalnih razmerij leta 1848. V okviru 
habsburške države je bil razširjen tudi na območju dežele Goriške in Gradiške, pred-
vsem v zahodnih predelih, ki jih je poseljevalo večinoma furlansko prebivalstvo. Šlo 
je civilnopravno razmerje, za katero je bilo značilno, da so večinoma revne kmečke 
družine, ki niso imele v lasti nepremičnin, na podlagi pogodbe zakupile zemljišče, hišo 
ali celotno kmetijo, najpogosteje od plemiških družin ali bogatih kmečkih velepose-
stnikov. Šlo je za sistem obdelave polj, sadovnjakov in vinogradov v dogovoru med 
zemljiškimi lastniki in koloni. Sistem je spominjal na tlačanskega in je med koloni 
prehajal iz roda v rod. Zemljiški lastniki so v številnih primerih najemnike izkoriščali 
zaradi pomanjkanja zakonodajne zaščite in nadzora. Kolonske družine so bile zaradi 
tega potisnjene na družbeni rob in v revščino – šlo je za eno od socialno najbolj ogro-
ženih skupin prebivalstva. Družine so živele v slabih in neprimernih razmerah, kar 
je povzročalo širjenje nalezljivih bolezni in velikokrat prezgodnje smrti. Posledice 
sistema so pomembno vplivale na lokalne gospodarske in družbene razmere, ki so 
bile zaznamovane z boleznijo pelagra in množičnim izseljevanjem kolonskega prebi-
valstva v druge dele države ter v tujino. S pojavom množičnih medijev (časopisja), z 
demokratizacijo (širitvijo volilne pravice) in vzpostavljanjem dobrodelnih struktur je 
bila problematika deležna pozornosti širše družbe, ki je od konca 19. stoletja dalje vse 
pogosteje pozivala politične oblasti, da bi ukinile kolonski sistem. Pot k ureditvi raz-
mer je bila dolga, pogojena z odporom in pritiski zemljiških lastnikov ter s političnimi 
in ideološkimi trenji. Zakonodajne spremembe – v obliki posebnega zakona o kolonski 
pogodbi – so bile sprejete šele leta 1914, neposredno pred začetkom prve svetovne 
vojne, in zaradi razpada države dolgoročno niso dosegle ključnih sprememb. Pri tem 
lahko poudarimo, da nova zakonodaja ni ukinila razmerja, temveč ga je le regulirala. 
Kolonski sistem je ostal v Goriških brdih prisoten še več kot tri desetletja in je bil 
ukinjen šele po drugi svetovni vojni.