Still in reverse look-up, I came across irredenta.
Main Entry: ir·re·den·ta

Pronunciation: ir-i-'den-t&
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian Italia irredenta, literally, unredeemed Italy, Italian-speaking territory not incorporated in Italy
: a territory historically or ethnically related to one political unit but under the political control of another
This description made me think of Banda Aceh in Indonesia, though I gather the situation is a bit different...
Anybody know why this term would have originated in Italy in particular? Is it usually applied to other parts of the world?

Somewhat off-topic, but you mentioned San Marino, Jackie, which brings to mind capital cities and nations that have virtually the same names:

San Marino, San Marino
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Andorra la Vella, Andorra
Monaco, Monaco

...can't think of any more offhand. But San Marino is the most fun to think about up in the highlands of Italy, yet not Italy. Didn't Max call them the San Marinians, I think? Something like that...

Correction just sent in to me. Max called the San Marinians the 'sammarinese'--and I have it on good advice that that's what they call themselves.

http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=104985&page=&view=&sb=&vc=1

Hi, Jackie. This might help:

Irredentism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Irredentist)
Irredentism is claiming a right to territories belonging to another state on the grounds of common ethnicity and/or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. The word was coined in Italy from the phrase Italia irredenta ("unredeemed Italy"). This originally referred to Austro-Hungarian rule over mostly or partly Italian-inhabited territories in the northern Adriatic such as Trentino and Trieste during the 19th and early 20th century. An area subjected to an irredentist claim is therefore sometimes called an irredenta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irredentist

Thank you (and Dr. Bill). So, would it have applied (to the appropriate country at whichever time) to Alsace-Lorraine, as control of it seesawed between France and Germany?

Looks like, Jackie:

From Wikpedia:

Other prominent irredentist disputes have included:

Weimar Germany's claims after World War I to Alsace and Lorraine, areas of Poland, Lithuania, Austria and the Czech Sudetenland

Yes, the word brought Hitler to mind immediately. It provided his excuse for marching into Sudetenland on October 1st 1938.