Moscenice – Moschiena: “An old fishermen’s village”
Venice Republic and Austria were several times at war over their centuries long presence in Istria. In 1508, Venetians occupied Moscenice, and attacked it again in 1600 and during the war with Uskoci in 1612, 1614 and in 1615. It is also known that in 1616 Venetians occupied Moscenice for two years.
After the First World War Moscenice became part of Italy and after the Second World War part of Yugoslavia (Croatia).
During the Italian Fascist period in Istria many Istrian families suffered from the regime or had to leave Istria. Fascism in Istria applied various repressive measures mostly towards Slav populations and this created the Antifascist Movement.
The Second World War was a very painful experience for the Istrian population and many innocent Istrians, both Slav and Latin, died during that war.
After the second World War Moscenice became part of Yugoslavia (Croatia). There were three agreements between Yugoslavia and Italy which established that Istria would become a part of Yugoslavia: Paris Agreement of 1947, London Memorandum of 1954 and the Osimo Agreement reached in 1975. In the first decade after the Second World War many Istrians, especially those living in towns and villages that for centuries were part of the Venice Republic, decided to leave Istria.
In 1991 with the fall of Yugoslavia and the founding of the Republic of Croatia, the internal republic boundaries were recognised as the state boundaries and Moscenice is today part of Croatia.
In 2013 Moscenice became part of the European Union. You can not change the past but you can try to learn from it. The main aim of the European Union founders was to build a system that could avoid future wars and future refugees in Europe as I explain in COSMOPOLITE.