Making Trieste Italian, 1918-1954

"With the disappearance of the Habsburg empire after the First World War, the imperial port of Trieste passed into Italian hands. During the Second World War, the Nazis reclaimed the city as part of the Reich. In 1945, Trieste slipped through Tito's fingers and was in internationalised under Allied military government control. In 1954, it returned to Italian sovereignty." "This book examines Trieste's transformation from an imperial commercial centre at the crossroads of the Italian, German and Balkan worlds to an Italian border city on the southern fringe of the iron curtain. Concentrating on local sources, the book shows how Triestines, renowned for their cosmopolitan Central European affiliations, articulated an Italian civic identity after the First World War. Tracing the fitful process of affirming Trieste's Italianness over the course of nearly four decades of liberal, Fascist and international rule, it suggests that Italianisation resulted from complicated interactions with Rome and interference by international powers attempting to strengthen western Europe at the edge of the Balkans." "Essential reading for specialists in modern Italian history, this book offers a crucial perspective on the reshaping of Europe in the twentieth century, during the Cold War period and beyond."--BOOK JACKET.