Споразуми о Јулијској крајини 1945.
The Agreement on Venezia Giulia 1945

Author(s): Miljan Milkić
Subject(s): International Law, Military history, Political history, International relations/trade, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: Venezia Giulia; Trieste; Yugoslavia; border; agreements; Great Britain; United States of America;
Summary/Abstract: The entry of the Yugoslav Army troops into Trieste on May 1, 1945 escalated the crisis in the relations between Yugoslavia and Western Allies. The bone of contention was the status of the territory of Venezia Giulia and the city of Trieste. The Yugoslav government justified its territorial aspirations by the fact that the region was Slavic-inhabited. Especially powerful argument was the Anti-Fascist Councils that had been set up in the area. On the other hand, the British and the American governments strove by agreement and through military occupation to create the possibility for annexation of Venezia Giulia to Italy after the peace treaty. During the solving of the crisis in May and June 1945 the British and the American governments kept in mind the possible reaction of the Soviet government - which ushered into the first serious misunderstandings within the Anti-Fascist coalition. The difficult matters of Venezia Giulia’s status and of control of the Trieste harbor were the topics of military expert talks, but lack of consensus threatened to lead to an armed conflict between the Yugoslav and the Allied forces. However, the armed attack on the Yugoslav units was discussed only as a matter of principle. The Allied commander in the Mediterranean, filed-marshal Alexander, warned the British government that the Allied soldiers could protest at having to fight the Yugoslav forces. Apart from the reasons of morale and reluctance to fight the recent ally, the British and the American governments also discussed strategic reasons in favor of refraining from war with Yugoslavia. The assumption that the Soviet government would react to an attack on the Yugoslav forces, led to a diplomatic solution in the form of the Belgrade and the Devin agreements. The stipulations of the latter were in force until the Peace Treaty with Italy went into force. The Yugoslav government didn’t fulfill its territorial ambitions, but the pacification of the crisis enabled it to pursue the diplomatic struggle to define the North-Western borders of Yugoslavia.

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