Italian irredentism (in Italian: irredentismo) was an Italian Irredentist movement that (in the late 19th century and early 20th century) aimed at the unification of Italian speaking peoples.
Originally, the movement promoted the annexation to Italy of territories inhabited by an Italian indigenous population but retained by the Austrian Empire after Third Italian War of Independence in 1866 (hence 'unredeemed' Italy). These included Trentino and Trieste, but also multilingual areas with German, Slovene, Croat, Ladin and Istro-Romanian population such as South Tyrol, a part of Istria, Gorizia, and part of Dalmatia. The claims were extended later to the city of Fiume (Rijeka), Corsica, the island of Malta, the County of Nice, and Italian Switzerland.
Read more about Italian Irredentism: Characteristics, Origins, 19th Century, World War I, Fascism and World War II, Dalmatia, Political Figures in Italian Irredentism
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“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)