Philip,
Thank you for alerting me to I Grandi Spadai Feltrini e Bellunesi by Michele Vello and Fabrizio Tonin which I will try to acquire. I have tried to source something on Northern Italian arms production in English for some time so it was welcome!
Croatia was in a double monarchy with Hungary which was in a double monarchy with Austria, so it was complicated. That’s why the Austro-Hungarian Empire is so fascinating. People traveled around for work, intermarried etc and it became a fascinating meltingpot of diversity which produced great culture.
After the nationalist revolutions of 1848 there was flirtation with pan-Slavism but I think in the former Yugoslavia they realized that sharing a similar language was less important than sharing a common culture, as the different ethnic groups had developed separately under widely different conditions for centuries. The different religions and alphabets are only parts of it (manifestations of the different cultures). After all, the US and Australia share a similar/same language but have quite different cultures.
Many dussägge were produced in Styria as a peasant weapon to counter the threat of Ottoman invasion. They also found their way to Slovenia and Croatia as a useful infantry close quarter weapon. I don’t think you find too many Storta outside Italy and Dalmatia, but their purpose is similar. There is also the German säbel of course, although the Hungarian sabre seems to have been much favoured in E.Europe.
I don’t find huge differences between the Hungarian broad sword and the spada schiavonesca. Could it be that the latter is simply the Italian name for the former from the Italian point of view? I suppose what’s characteristic for the spada schiavonesca is the S-shaped cross guard whereas the typical Hungarian broad sword often has a straight cross guard (frequently tapering towards the hilt) and a square pommel.
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