The Adriatic Section of the Iron Curtain: Italy, Yugoslavia, and the Question of Trieste during the Cold War

After World War II, the territorial dispute over the possession of Trst (‘Trieste’) was one of the major issues that divided Italy and socialist Yugoslavia, and made their bilateral relations tense and embittered for decades. It was only during the 1960s that the Italian-Yugoslav rapprochement became possible, leading to the settlement of the Trieste question in 1975. It was the consequence of the global changes, which occurred in the international relations between the two world super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, during the détente years, and of the domestic developments in the Italian and Yugoslav politics. The agreement of 1975 had a positive impact and contributed to great improvement in bilateral relations between Rome and Belgrade. For the first time in the history of their relationship, Italy and Yugoslavia attained a true friendship, built on several important economic, commercial and financial agreements. As a result of the Adriatic détente, the Italian-Yugoslav relations were usually referred to as a model of peaceful cooperation between two countries belonging to the same geographical area, but ruled by divergent political and economic systems. The paper, which is based mainly on primary sources (such as Tito’s Archive in Belgrade and Aldo Moro’s Archive in Rome) as well as on relevant literature, is meant to give a synoptic view on Italian-Yugoslav relations in the Cold War, focusing on the political and diplomatic confrontation for the possession of Trieste.