In the context of twentieth century history, Italianization is the process by which the government of Benito Mussolini forced autochthonous Slavic populations, Germans and francophone populations living within the borders of Italy to assume Italian culture.
This program of Italianization, aimed to the suppress native Slovenian and Croatian populations of Istria, Dalmatia and other parts of the former Austrian littoral region, Germans living in South Tyrol and Francoprovençal-speaking peoples living in Valle d'Aosta. Under this program, these ethnic groups were forced to adopt Italian names, attend Italian language schools and churches and speak only the Italian language in public. Slovenian and Croatian institutions, such as the Narodni dom (Slovene National Club) in Trieste, were vandalized and German traditional institutions as well. Slav, German and French toponyms were systematically translated and immigration of Italians from other regions of Italy was also encouraged.
A few Slovenians and Croatians willingly accepted Italianization as a compromise required in order to gain full status as Italian citizens. Most, however, found little reason to change their cultural identity to accommodate the new government in Rome, which they saw as a recent interloper in the affairs of the eastern Adriatic.
In 1939 Hitler and Mussolini reached an agreement on the status of Germans living in South Tyrol: they could emigrate to Germany (or its new territories) or stay in Italy and accept their complete Italianization. As a consequence, South Tyrolen society was deeply riven. Those who wanted to stay ("Dableiber"), were condemned as traitors, those who left ("Optanten") were defamed as Nazis. Because of the outbreak of the World War II, this agreement was never fully accomplished.