the third and last time in 1870. Croatia had constitutional autonomy within Hungary, but as Hungary's only international port, the city became an independent corpus separatum, governed directly from Budapest by an appointed governor. Austria's Trieste and Hungary's Fiume competed for maritime trade. Fiume also had a significant naval base; and in the mid-19th century it became the site of the (K.u.K. Marine-Akademie), where the Austro-Hungarian Navy trained its officers. Giovanni de Ciotta (mayor from 1872 to 1896, with a brief interruption in 1884) proved to be the preeminent local political leader. Under his leadership, an impressive phase of expansion of the city started, marked by major port development, fueled by the general expansion of international trade and the city's connection (1873) to the Hungarian and Austrian railway networks. Hungarian support proved to be crucial to the development of the port of Fiume, and Ciotta was the key person in assuring it. Following the financial crisis of 1873, which culminated in 1875, the conservative liberal Deák Party faced a crisis from which it survived only by a merger with the more numerous conservative Left Centre of Kálmán Tisza. The "new" Liberal Party of Hungary was to rule Hungary (and Fiume) from 1875 to 1890, marking the golden years of Ciotta, which were later known as the Idyll. Ciotta led the start of an impressive phase of expansion of the city, marked by the completion of the Fiume–Budapest railway, the construction of the modern port, and the establishment of modern industrial and commercial enterprises, such as the Royal Hungarian Sea Navigation Company "Adria", and the Whitehead Torpedo Works. In 1866, Robert Whitehead, manager of Stabilimento Tecnico Fiumano (an Austrian engineering company engaged in providing engines for the Austro-Hungarian Navy), experimented with the first torpedo. Ciotta's contribution was crucial as he financed Whitehead's efforts to produce a viable torpedo. Modern industrial and commercial enterprises – such as the paper mill situated in the Rječina canyon, which produced world renowned cigarette paper – became trademarks of the city. The population grew from 21,000 in 1880 to 50,000 in 1910. A number of major civic buildings went up during that time, including the governor's palace designed by the Hungarian architect Alajos Hauszmann. In 1885, the sumptuous new theatre was finished, modelled on those of Budapest and Vienna, creating a political crisis for Ciotta in 1884, on account of their building costs. While on army