Following World War II, the city of Trieste and its environs was administered as the Free Territory of Trieste. The area was contested between Italy and Yugoslavia. Trieste was the southern point of the newly-descended Iron Curtain, as Yugoslavia had turned communist, therefore ‘upgrading’ a mere border dispute to a flashpoint with World War III potential.
In 1954, the so-called London Memorandum divided the Free Territory of Trieste in two zones, with Zone A falling under Italian jurisdiction and Zone B to be administered by Yugoslavia.
The memorandum was officialised by the signing of the 1975 Treaty of Osimo. In 1992, the independent state of Slovenia assumed jurisdiction over the former Yugoslav Zone B.
On this map ‘Cona A’ and ‘Cona B’ are easily identifiable. The Slovenian place names Gorica and Trst indicate the now-Italian towns of Gorizia and Trieste. Trzic, Piran and Koper are presently Slovenian, N. Grad, Buje, Miu(e), Porec, Rovinj and Rijeka are Croatian.
This map appeared on a stamp issued in 2004 by Slovenia, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the London Memorandum. The map was found on Dan’s Topical Stams, an excellent philately website which I’m sure to revisit, as it features many interesting maps…
Just a few small corrections from a native Slovenian …
1. ‘Miu(e)’ is really ‘Milje’ and is a Slovenian name for Italian town Muggia.
2. Although there exists a Slovenian town Trzic, the one on the stamp is actually the Italian town of Monfalcone.
Comment by Primoz Gabrijelcic — February 21, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
Hvala, Primoz!
Comment by strangemaps — February 21, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
Thanks for posting this. Shifting borders is a topic that remains interesting, particularly if you live near one. Though most Slovenes I know are resigned unto boredom by the fact that Trieste is now an Italian city, you can still find the occasional graffito claiming, “Trst je naš!” (Trieste is ours!) on the side of the border that now boasts a new town not shown on this stamp: Nova (New) Gorica, a city built in the last 60 years to replace Gorizia, ceded to Italy in 1947.
Comment by sgazzetti — February 21, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
This reminds me of a scene in _The Last Hurrah_ by Edwin O’Connor (no relation).
The main character, a politician running for mayor of an unspecified city in the American Northeast, is explaining to his nephew that he’s worked out his foreign policy.
The nephew finds it odd that such a local politician would need one, but it becomes clear to him why when the uncle declares the following to a group of primarily Irish and Italian dock workers:
“Trieste belongs to Italy and all Ireland must be free!”
Comment by hober — February 21, 2007 @ 5:35 pm
Many thanks for this fascinating and fun blog. I see many possibilities for homeschool lessons here, and I will certainly recommend it to visitors to my blog at howtohomeschool.wordpress.com
Comment by howtohomeschool — February 21, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
A very nice blog – got to you through blog of the minute and liked what I saw, keep up the good finds, hehe.
Comment by Bull3t — February 21, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
Here’s a map for ya!
http://uzar.wordpress.com/2007/02/18/adventures-in-ruritania/
Comment by Raf Uzar — February 22, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
The question of Istria is still an hot issue for some in Italy, and in former Yugoslavia too.
When recently Italian President talked in a speech of “ethnic cleansing” referring to the 200-300 thousand Italians that were forced to leave as that land became Yugoslavia, there were protests in both Croatia and Slovenia.
Comment by StefanoC — February 22, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
Actually, in 1992, the independent states of SLOVENIA & CROATIA assumed jurisdiction over the former Yugoslav Zone B.
Comment by tomekk — February 23, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
you are wrong – both Slovenian Gorica (Nova Gorica) and Italian Gorizia do exist. This is a city divided by the state border, with a lot of fun places created as a result.
http://www.novagorica-turizem.com/index.php?vie=ctl&lng=eng&gr1=dstDzv&gr2=klt&id=2005071915055977
they still have this border line on the place in front of railway station, even though they say it is only symbolical now…
http://www.novagorica-turizem.com/index.php?vie=ctl&lng=eng&gr1=dstDzv&gr2=klt&id=2005072913410250
Comment by kir — February 24, 2007 @ 8:22 am
Hey, that’s where I come from. Thanks, man, for posting that! Anyway, there’s an even oddest map about this border dispute. In 1954, the Free Territory of Trieste was divided: Yugoslavia was given zone B, Italy zone A… That’s what most textbooks say, but it’s not quite right. Actually, Yugoslavia got the whole zone B plus a very small portion of zone A – three villages altogether (and in one of them my grandmother was born). If I manage to get the map of that partition, I’ll send it to you so you.
Comment by luka — February 24, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
…can post it if you find it interesting.
Anyway, it’s not Mui(e), but Buje (or Buie, in Italian)
Comment by luka — February 24, 2007 @ 7:50 pm
B
Trackback by B — July 21, 2007 @ 8:31 am
Excellent Post, thanx for sharing the same.. Will keep on reading the post :D Stumbled your post .. cheers
Comment by Saniya — January 1, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
thanks for this map.
good
luck
Comment by Solomon — May 11, 2009 @ 7:19 am
merci
Comment by aspicco . — May 17, 2009 @ 5:09 am
teşekkür ederim
Comment by yory — June 12, 2009 @ 8:45 pm
Vielen Dank
Comment by moon — July 3, 2009 @ 3:59 am
Muchas gracias
Comment by sun — July 4, 2009 @ 6:48 am