Dear Readers,
Trieste, the city and seaport on the Adriatic, formerly part of the Austro – Hungarian Empire and later Italy is a place where many soldiers have fatally fallen. In the United States Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, principally the decoration of graves, for soldiers killed in the Civil, Spanish- American and World War I wars.
Unfortunately, when World War I the “World War to end all Wars” didn’t, Memorial Day became the day to pause, honor and remember all soldiers who have been killed in wars all over the world. Since many of us once had fathers and grandfathers in the Italian Army fighting against the Austrians in World War I, on the side of the Allies, I thought I would focus on Trieste and environs to explain in part why they were there…
“Grazie”to longtime subscriber Tony DeVicofor the informative Trieste article written in Italian and to the generous translating talents of Tony Ghezzo, (his father, Simeone, was born in Trieste at the time under Austrian rule. Simeone later left his native Trieste to enroll in “Italy’s West Point”, the Military Academy of Modena and by 1911, as a young officer, he was in Libya fighting against the Ottoman Empire) I can share this bit of Triestino history with you: Trieste, one of the most beautiful Italian cities of the Venetoregion, is located in the most northern part of the Adriatic Sea, on the border with Yugoslavia, one hundred miles east of Venice.
Because of its strategic position, the Romans sent their legions to conquer it (178 B.C.); its name then was Targeste. During the first century Christians were subject to persecution and one of the martyrs was San Giustowho later became patron saint of Trieste. In 1202 the Republic of Venice, under Doge Enrico Dandolo took Trieste and forced the city to swear allegiance to Venice.
After almost two centuries of oppression, in 1382 Trieste placed itself under the protection of Duke Leopold of Austria and began the Austrian domination that lasted 5 centuries. The Italian Risogimento stimulated the growth of irredentism in the city. An important reason for Italy to fight in the First World War was to conquer Trento and Trieste, where thousands of Italian patriots were suffering under the Austrian yoke.
November 3rd, 1918 Trent and Trieste were returned to the Italians, marking the disintegration of the Hapsburg Dynasty and Austro-Hungarian Empire. In May 1945, at the end of the Second World War, Trieste was occupied by Yugoslavian troops that held the city for 40 tragic days. It was declared a Free Territory and for nine years was under English and American military control.
Finally on October 26, 1954 it returned to being Italian again. Some of the most tragic times ever endured by the people of Trieste were the 40 days of Yugoslavian occupation. April 1945 the New Zealander troops attached to the 8thBritish Army were about to liberate the city of Trieste, including the Venezia Giulia region, when the 8th Army received instructions to slow down its advance to enable the Yugoslavian Army to “liberate” the area.
At that time the city of Triestewas officially occupied by German troops that had consolidated themselves in city strongholds such as the Harbor building, the Castel Sant’Angelo and the Justice Palace. Gathered in such bases they were able to wait for the Allies to arrive, then they surrendered without risk.
The city and outskirts were controlled on one side by Communist elements supported by Yugoslavians, on the other side by the Italian Partisans of the CLN (National Liberation Committee) support- ed by soldiers of the Italian Army of Badoglio. On April 30, 1945 Radio Belgrade, operating through Radio London, announced to the world that Trieste had been annexed to the Democratic Federal Government of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavian partisans, the “Titini”, followers of Marshall Tito, occupied Trieste and by proclamation imposed on Italian partisans of the CLN to surrender all weapons. The CLN, assuming that Titini were to be considered “allies” at the same level of British and American troops, immediately obeyed the order.
That day marked the beginning of martyrdom for the inhabitants of the cities of Trieste, Fiume and Istria. (Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, T.V. chef and cookbook author who was born in Pula, Istria, now part of Croatia, has told about how her family fled from Istria and put a face on the tragedy that befell Italians in Istria).
Togliatti, the leader of the PCI (Italian Communist Party), had encouraged the population to welcome all “Titini” as libera- tors. It’s difficult to understand why CLN partisans that had fought the Germans with great bravery, suddenly complied submissively to the humiliating orders of the Titini, allowing them to occupy the city without a fight. The Germans, on the other hand wisely refused to surrender to Tito’s partisans consid- ering them “banditen”, not regular troops.
At that time Josef Broz Titoenjoyed the full support of Churchill and of Palmiro Togliatti, the leader of the PCI. Historians refer to this aggression and illegal engagement as “The Race for Trieste” when Yugoslavian partisans on May 13, 1945 chose to occupy Trieste rather than liberating their own cities of Ljubljana and Zagreb. Incidentally, this “race” recalls another event of WWII, “The Race for Rome”when Mark Clark of the 5thUS Army raced with Gen. Alexander of the 8th British Army on June 4, 1944 to establish the right and the glory of occupying Rome first.
Seven thousand Germans soldiers surrendered to Gen. Freyberg’s New Zealander troops attached to the British 8th Army on May 3, 1945. During the infamous 40 day- occupation of Trieste, Titini managed to massacre several thousand Italian soldiers guilty only to be Italian and to be there at that time.
Several thousands CLN partisans were also butchered by Titini partisans that threw them, many still alive, in the “foibe” of Basovizzaand Monrupino, cracks of the ground hundreds feet deep. Even seven years later, in 1952 a Belgrade newspaper, divulging the Yugoslavian deep dislike for Italians wrote: “There is still lots of room in the “foibe” for Italians”. Yugoslavia today is divided into six sections, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Montenegro and also deeply divided by religion, ethnicity, language and politics.
Tito assumed officially the leadership when Yugoslavia became a Communist Republic in 1945. Tito’s policy of non- alignment caused the Soviet Union to break off diplomatic relations from 1948 to 1955. United States aid from the 1940s to the 1960s encouraged a shift toward Western trade and broadened political and cultural exchanges as well. Tito’s course of independence and interaction with non-aligned nations continued after his death in 1980. One of the most beautiful parts of Yugoslavia is Dalmazia.
The Dalmatian coast and its numerous islands are unbeliev- ably picturesque. Between Fiume, that today is called Rijeka Pola (Pula), Zara (Zadak), Spalato(Split), all the way to Dubrovnik, the coast is absolutely breathtaking. Most of the Dalmatian coast belonged to Italy until the end of WWII, therefore the majority of its inhabitants speak fluent Italian, especially the old generation, but prefer to use other languages, like English or German to avoid getting into trouble if heard by Italian-phobic elements.
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This Memorial Daypray that our world leaders will soon learn that no country every truly wins a war
