Free Territory of Trieste - History

History

Since 1382, Trieste had been part of the Habsburg monarchy, whilst Istria had been for centuries divided between the Habsburg Monarchy (its central, northern and eastern parts) and the Republic of Venice (its western and southern parts). The population of the FTT has historically been diverse and mixed, with different and often changing ethnic majorities in different parts of the territory. Italians have so been predominant in most urban settlements and in the coast with strong minorities of Slovenes or Croats, especially in Trieste/Trst district where Slovenes represented a third of the population by the end of World War I. The countryside of the territory was mostly Slovene or Croatian in the southernmost portion of the area. However there was also a smaller number of Istro-Romanians and a strong Triestine Jewish community.

In 1921, after World War I, Italy formally annexed Trieste, Istria and part of modern-day western Slovenia, establishing the border region known as the Julian March (Venezia Giulia). In 1924, Italy further annexed the Free State of Fiume, now the city of Rijeka in Croatia.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Slavic population was subjected to forced Italianization and discrimination under the Italian fascist regime. They were also exposed to state sponsored violence by fascist party mobs, including the burning of the Slovene National House in Trieste on July 13, 1920 and also in other towns and villages. Many Slovenes and Croats consequentially emigrated to Yugoslavia, while some joined the TIGR resistance organization, whose methods included more than 100 violent actions mostly against the exponents of the regime in the region (especially in the Provinces of Trieste and Gorizia), considered as acts of terrorism by the Italian state.