O.P.(I~/P) Do c . 26 6. which f'eJ.l in the struggle against the rule of the German feudal lords and the Venetj. an pa tricia'1S, After the incorporation of the Julian i'L!.!' Ch into It a ly~ thJ..:3 ::/cruggle c ontinued.
A l arge nw11ber of J.Jeopl e 9 fighting fo.r the liberation of t heir country, fell in t he s treets of trieste and in the wh ole of the Julian lvi arch under the bullets of Italian chauvinists
and pol icernen. Signor :;:~ ono:t1i knows all this very vrell 9 for he wa s either member of the Gcveri1ment ~ or Pri me k inis·cer 9 a t the time when this terror started. And yet, he clabns that the Julia :,.l March ts Ita lian . F· or hii:l f:.fty years of Italian irredentism, the hariJ inger of Italian imperialism in spi·ce of some democratic ancl p rogr>es sive traits , is a raox·e iwpor~cant factor in histor y than the age-long struggle of t~e Slav inha!J i ta.nts of the Julian Ma rch against the invaders frma I ·taly and Ge:r•many. And as t he olav inhabita11ts of t hat province were not able to withstand comple t el y the invasion of the aggressors, Signor Bonomi in -::.he na!iW of the new I tc:.:.l ian de.IlOCj_"'a cy pro cl8.L1s t he Julian ' i·:larch : ~ o be ItaU.an. Signor Bonomi said tha t I·co. l y had entered the vra. r in 1915 01.~. C11c o:.:; ~de of th"e Ent e nte on a c count of the 11 ' i :r·res is ~;i/Jle force of I tal ian national feeling" to~ards t he Julian Mar cj. Let me rmnind you, that the 11 irresisti!Jle force of Ik:.lian nationa l feel i ngu at that time wa s not limited ·co t he J'ulia n !., io.rc:1 aJ one, but founcl its expression in the London Pact wh ich gave Italy 11early the whole of Daliimtta on a ccount of thi.s 11 i.rresistiole force of national
- feeling . n On the o·cher hand 9 ·I taly was victorious in 1866 , and d i d not, claim ·.r ri.es·Le .. In April 1915 ~ three weeks before the signing of the Lo~1don Pact 9 · I taly neg oU.ated with Austri a about the reward the latter was to give her for Ital y 's neutrality. Ita l y did not cla~n Tri este on thi s occasion either . Neither d i d she cla i m friest8 in 1917 when she negotiated a separated peac e with Austria. Therefore it is o~vious that the appetites of t he 11 irresistibl e force cf' Italian national feeling"vary in different pe:;,.... iods , and tha+; ·fi•ieste i.s a vel'Y recent cl ain~ . In
spite of t his 9 .-the I ~~a l i.an :represent a tj_ves ,nal\:e out _the · problem of ·rri este and of ·:;he J·ulian i·fi s.rch to lJe the proolem of Ita l y 's v ery exis·cencec Suc:1 an a rtificial 'blowing up of this probl em is c a lculated, on t ~e other hand, to exercise pressure on t his Conferenc e and 9 on the other , to divert t he a.ttention of the Italian people from fundamental -issues and fror:1 tho'Se wl1o are guilty for their catastrophe~ to a question of secondary i mport a nce in order to fall the flaiiWS of nationalisti c f eelings.
Such is Signor Bonomi's fundamental political argumen.. Jc a t.1on.
It seei·as oi:Jvious to L1e 9 that this entire argruaent o. tion has out one
purpose, viz. ·co eonce aJ. the i mperialistic 9 ag;:s:eest:>ive implica tions of Itali's claims to frieste and the Julian ciatch. ' .. As regards the other ar~uments 9 the;y coincide in th~ ;nain with those co ~1 t ; J ined in tlle IcRJinn Go~rsrnment 's Melnor andrull, I
shall therefore 9 de a )_ with ·be th at the same time . 7
S-ignor Bonomi ~ the I tali.:m Hemorandum a nd all t he ma ps &nnexed to this Memor .smdUJ1 7 q-q.~ t e c:.nd refer a l mcs t exclusively to the figur es of the Ital J.an census qf 1 92.1 . The Ita lia n Del e ga t i on d0es this; notwit hstandi ng th:; f act , t h a t t h i s eensu.s gi ves a sys t ematicaJ.ly destorted picture -y f et hn:i. cs.l c onditions in the Julia n March " This atti tude of the Itr~l ic::m D c leg c~tion - i s c..ll the more strange as the Jta.li::.n Guvccnment t wm.:,el.vet.l have bGon compe lled t o disola:i.m tl"~is e;ensus. In the Annsx t o the Memor andum which they s ubmitted to the Council of :B'creign Mtnist ers i n London in Sem t embe:c 1945 7 t hey mc.de tht: · foJ.l owi ng o.dm. i ssion # nwe ca nnl)t g o so far as to vouch for tho ex.ectitrud·:; of t hi.s uens1.wn ,./Rel c, tion sur los groupes ethnique:s d e la Vene t .te Jtll i enne? page 13/"
V!e um bl::sid.'cs q_u:te a rc:c0nt <.:. amJ_ssiun m.:-td~ by the J? :::- ofes s or t'f hj_story C::-rlo Schiffrer, who is at present an expert in the It2l i. &n1 Del egation in Ps ris, in h i O('Ok H)_utour de 'l'riest e "which has just been published in ?<:-:rj_s_, He .says tha t t h is c ensu s c onta ins 1 n1"'10"'e~ ..L. or -. ~;(• e s s gr,·<..:q-- ~~ • -' V ·..lP ,r:· - ··· g•,r"ic•<:!...... _ -""~ ' / p--17, .... . / / J an... -'\,.,.'i.. P_..1..1.,...-,.,. c \~ ,'Y'd~ •i ng t r'"'' ' h ·i- s e.Q...... , tJ.· - mat e 1 the r etuxhs of' this cen3us si ,lw 65,000 Itctli.ans mor e tha n , -tihE::re a r 2 ::Ln fact which · means the- t t l'!o ~ t:U.O. ter , ,f Yug r.s l avs i s CPl rr·asp on di.ngJ.y di.m;! n.i '='ho d.
Wl1y does the Itc:l i a n Dele g c~ ticn tud:1y o11c e mJre resort t 0 t h e s e f orgeries ~ f 1921, nt this 2euce Conference? I t ~ bviou s ly does so boc<=,us e the c t hnic:::J facts r1~J j,tnte agai nst t he p oint r: f v iew f t'Jc Itc.l:Lan Dele-ga tion<
The I t alian Delegat ion, a ft er having madE u se of t hes e £orged returns , even g :: ..-:~ step flli'ther and r.:ri s c;_uote t h u results ·-:: f even t.his 1 921 census. The Italian M:em.:-·randmn maint£dns /III , 3a/that the prop osed f:r,cnti.or 1Jne l e<:!.ves or.!ly some 10 ., 000 Yugosl avs j_n Ita l y. In fact , even according to the: 1921 cen.sus, 50 ,73 9 Yugosla vs would r emrd.n on the Yug o~lav ethnicc:.:.l terri t OY:y , v.h i ch would 9 a c c ordi ng t J thi.~ prop \..' sed lj_ne} be ceded to I tc.ly.
'f{hy does the I t alien Delegation quote on.ly on"e fif th of · this f i gure? Obv:Lous l y the ~ t o.l ian Delegation deems i t .ne cessc.ry .to hide the fact thnt the pr op ::• sed l i n ~ l eav es · n. I t <-"ll y a l ar ge ·compa ct Yugos l av ethni cal csrr i tory 7 o,nd wi s he;s to p:ut f orwo. rd cla ims i n o:r:dcr t "' get more Yug ;.~slav ethnico.l t e r ri tory.
This desi re is 7 besides t h.;; distorting r, :f the truth, the ma in cJ;l.a rncteri sti c of :.1 l l t he Itn.l i c.n documents. To gr e,b the maximuffi cf territ ory, under any p r e t ext , r egardl ess of t he natio n FLlity t.) f the' i nn abita. nts.
The clPi ;rl ')f the I-tnl i c:m rep resent o.ti VGS t hGt Ite.l y s hm.J.l d ge t t he '.·v-:a.olc of tht? Soca Val1sy 1~ f.'h ..0 .r2.ct e.ristic in t his r espect . C.P. (IT/F ) D OC . 26 8 .
No fig-lcr1f her e c once ?"l s t h t;: nudity of the aggressive arguments. It is qu ite obvi ous , bec ause this t erritory bear s a Slovene cha -:- a cte r wh ich has ne ve r be e n questioned.. by a nybody. This it what \i gnor Sch i ffr er wrot e i n his b ook :" To conclude: the whole "f the ·mounta inous basin of the Soc s. Rive r to the gat es of Gori.c a , the Vipav a Valle y , t h e Kc.r s t a nd t he eastern terri t arie s a s far as the 1914 f:rr ontier, hav e to be cons idered as Slovene."
On a noth er ocoa sion 1 writir1.g a bout the s2..I!le t erritory, he s a id:"Polit i. cal feelings s ~ 1 · ) W the s ame precis ion a s t he geographie · distribution. The 1 92 1 elections were , in all the cont inental Slovene· d i s tt'iots a ge nuine n :lti onc:.l pl e biscite aga inst the Italian Sta te. 95% 0f t ho el e ctors t o ok pa rt in this plebiscit e , whioh is the be st procf tha t emi gr a tion to Yugoslavia ha d not b.egun yet . The v ot es of - ~ ' _ .:; Ita lia ns of th8 province, split among uifftlrent pa rties.. • . c oula not r each the nec essa ry quotient, a nd thus four members of the Sl ovenc list were el ected, e.s we l l as one communist. Although the 2 5 year s of t he Ita linn rul e , and a bove all the policy Ctf Fa scis t oppr es s ion; succeeded in spreading the knowledge ~f the Italia n l angu a ge am ong the young people, ·they hardly saw the weak.. ening of the hos t i lit y of the Slove n e ma sses 11 •
Such i s t h E' r egion in questi on.
In orde r to justify cla ims, the Ita lia n Delegation resorts t ~ argument s which a r e sanetime s ridiculous, a nd sometimes so impudent that they c t=;~ n n 4; t but be ccnsider ed revolting by th~se who still have s om•.:. r espe ct f or t h 8 truth.
One of thes e a r guments refers t0 the so-c 2~lcd Predil railway or Scca r a ilway . This is one cf t ho mos 11 CJ. stomding arguments se far put forward by the I talia n Del egGt ion.
Let us s ee wha t t his 8Tguruent coruJis ts in. Itr;.ly must be given the wh ole of the S oca /Isonzo/ Valley, be cause it is along this volley that t he futur E'; railway l ine , linking Trieste with Austria , will h av e to r un . In othe r words, it is v e ry imp~rtant - tha t c. good r a ilway link bet wee n Triest e ·- a n inte rnation.:':l.l city a nd Austr i a - which, a s f ar ~.1 s I know is not a n Italian province should run t hrou gh Italy. It is even of the great e st importance. Jt is so imp orta nt tha t it justi:r'ies an area of 1500 squa re kilo metres with a p opula t •ion of 100 . 000 l being torn away from Yugosla
via . It is s o impor t e.nt 9 i n f a ct, tha.t :it c3llE?. for u new r a ilway line being cons -'.. :c ·ucted in this t erritor y , which is thus t('l be taken a way from Yugosl o.vi8. ov er the Predil Pas s , a lthough at least 30% ~f this lin e , wc· uld hav G to conGist r. f br2.dges a nd tunnels, a nd this d espi t0 the f a ct t ha t thor e already. exists two a bsolutely s atisfa ctory . r ailwo.y lines through Yugoslavia . 9. C.P.(IT/P) Doc. 26 •
• And why all this ? Is it i n order to ensure the welfare of Triest e, an i nternational city ? What CG!. n have happened, whence all this interest in the wel f ar e cf Trieste en the part -:>f Italy ? Were we not the witnesses Rf a quarter of a c entury of Ita lie.n rule in Trieste, and of the f act that Italy neglected its interests ? Did we not wee her invest ing before our v ery eyes, considerable cap itals in order to raise Mestre, to link it to the Contin5nt by means of a double track r ailway ;; to el ectrify the r ailway line linking Mestre with Austria via Udinc-?ont ebba, while Trieste was left to decline? Did we not see her controlling the whole of the Soca/Isonzo/ Va lley 1 which she is claiming today a nd f ailing even to set about the jlb?
Huw ca n we be expected to believe , with all this in Illitldr that Italy is prepared to do for art international Trieste, w.b.~t. she f ailed to do f o ~ Rn Ital i a n Trieste ? How can we f ail to discover behind .this co ncern f or the prosperity of Trieste some thing quite differ ent? Especia lly,when we r ead i n the doc~ e nt tha t Italy should control the Soca /Isonzo/ . Valley ~n a ccount of the elect~ic power stations, which ar e badly needed by Trieste; when we rea d tha t Italy asks to be given mining concessions in Istria for the duration of 99 years; when we r ead, that Ita ly demands that the territory of Trieste should be widened as f E.. r as Pula and Brioni Islands, and even the Islands of Losinj/ Lussin Pic col ;-/, which is S.' Ltu ated to the east of Istria ; that she asks for the creation cf n ·Free State o~ Rijeka/Fiume/, autonomy f er Zadar /Z ar a/, special clauses about the rights of fishing in t he Adriatic , which would be unfavourable to Yugoslavia, and so on, and so forth. Vfuat doos all this r eally mean ? The Yugos l av Del egation co1miders that it is an a ttempt Qn t he part of Italy to get - by devious means - something she had already lost. In other words, it means that Italy is trying to . get no~ only the Soca/Isonzq/ Valley but also the city of Trieste and the whole cf the so-called Fre Territory of Trieste. It means that Italy is already making econflmic reparations for the enslave ment of the Julian ~a rch. I should like to ask the r epresentatives :~ f Italy and the repr esent e.tives of the States supporting the Italia n cla im in this cas e , whether the electric lights in Trieste will burn brighter if the Soca/Isonzo/ power stations are in the hands of Italy, rather than in the hands of Yugoslavia? I should also like to ask what will Trieste do with Istrian bauxite when • C .P • ( IT/P) Doc. 2 6. 10 ther e is not a singlo al urninium or similar f actery in Trieste ? Behind all these claims we discern quite plainly the mentality ~f the aggressor, who cc:tnnot get used ·to the idea tf loosing his booty and wht-- if:? resorting to all kinds of manoeuvora i n order to get back. Therefore, all the Pr.edis schemes are of 11~ importance for the discussion concerning tho question of the Y~oslav-It tui~ n frontier. If they hlv8 any significanco,it is of a strategil' nature. The It8lia,n Government is speaking cf the construction of ntratt:gio r ailways of a purely aggr(;ssive char ucter, even before having put its signature to the Pe2.ce Treaty res ult ing, ~f a wflr that Italy had only quite recently lost. -
Simila~ econemic arguments arc put forth both by the Italian ·Memorandum and Signer Bonomi for the town ~f G"'riea . It is true that the proposed French Line makes the ec onomic p~ition tf Gorica quite absurd.
Gorica is tr e.m~ formed into c. n c:.p pcndicitis, which has nothing to live from and nobody to s erve. From this the Italian representa tives have drawn th(3 conclusion that more Slovene terri tory should be a dded to Gorica/G~Iizia/. The Italian representatives ask for this without wincing and even get the suppcrt of some delegations s t this Conference . Let us examine this logic. When the Yugoslav Delegation claims Trieste and Gorica for Yugoslavia , cities which r are only ethnical islands ~n Slav territory, and when it emphasizes the..t the towns belong to their hinterland, and not vice v ersa , it g8ts the answ~r: It is not true , it is possible to s epar ate the cities, the eitios c1:~n liv.o separated from their hinterland. But, immediately r~.ft er that, they ~1sk that the hinterland should be given to the towns und8r the pretext of water-works, power stations, r c.ilways, mines, industries,employr1ent of workers,economic and geographic gravitation and nll kinds of othe r c:rgu.ments. Whero is . the logic? It is tho logiQ of deception, tho logic of ~thless aggressors, which was good for the Fascint Home-Berlin Axis, but which should not be used by the present day Italy •. From all this, Gentlem0n, we have to draw yet another conclusion. . .
The concc.ssion which the F·rench line makes to Italy pr~vcd to be an insti ~at ion for Itt·.lian a ggressive t end encies against Yugoslavia. Thi~ is hew tho Italian Delegation reasons: If It~ly ~btained Venct,;fl.n Slovenic., 2J. though she ht:.lS ng ethnical r~ght to it, why should she not get the whole of tho Soco/Isonzo/Valley, .vfuich lies to the east of Vun.:; tie. n Slov6nia in spite of the f act that thio v~:J.ley, toQ, is ~t hni o :-D.J.y purely Slov~ne. In this vAlley, within the bordvrs ~f thG district of Tolmin, there were in 1910 • C,.P. (IT/P) Doc. 26 11 • 52.169 Yugoslavs and 143 Italians , a nd a ccording•.-to the Italian census of 1931 47.695 Yugoslav s and 1690 Italians mostly civil serva nts and carabinie ri. The Ita lian Gt;v 'ernruent h as alpeady de clared officially tha t it conside~s this region as a pa rt of the Yugoslav ~~hnical t erritory. But it was i n September 1945. tn tlie Annex Of the Mefuora ndum 6f the I talia n Government, published dt that time , we read that the former Austria n districts of Tolmin, Idrija and Postojna ,(Postumia/,"are inf1a bited aimost exclusively by Slovenes 11 • Wl:~ is the Ita lian Delegation laying cla im today to this t erritory or expressing the wish to get it? There is only one a nswer. The resistance of c ertain powers in the course of the l ast yea rs against tke just claims ofYugoslayia was at the s ame time a help a nd encouragement for the unjust Italian expansionistic tende ncies against Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav-Italia n frontier line cannot be drawn according the ba uxite mines, powe r stations, etc., but orily on ·the basis of clear ethnical fronti er, which exists a ~i1_ vrhj ch ca n be found in report of the 0Jmmiss±on of Experts for the Julia n March. In p3ra graph 51 ~f this r eport dealing with the s ector between the town of Gorica/Gorizia/ and Devin /Duino/ on the Adriatic Sea we read that here " a perfectly well de fined line separates t he Italia n and Slovene popula tion", nnd that tha t line ha s not undergone any cha nge. The a bove-mentioned .Profes sor Carlo Schiffrer, a t present an expert of the Italic."..n Delegation, wrote. in his book "Aut our de Trieste " p.27, that the Italo-Slovene frontier is we ll defined / nette/. · · The Itc.u i an Memorandum, of course , ·ma kes no mention of this ethnica l frontier. It does not exist officiruly for them. But it exists in reality • And th ~ State frontie r has to te ·based on this frontier, a nd on this frontie r alone . Let us exa mine from this point of view the so-ci:.:.lled . "French line". I do n ot i nt end t o expound _h0r e all that oc.m b e s a i d in support of the right of n n c.. tion t o its· ethnic c.l frontier, particula rly when tho n a tion c onc erned is an Allied nation which ha s :oa de such s a c :..:-· i::i· cos in the w::1r for the Allied cause a s h'--'18 Yu goslc:wic:.o
I t is unnec es sary for 1;10 t o do s o boc ,_: mse th'-" :~' r in ci p le ~ tha t the fr ontier be t ween Yugoslc:wiet and Itnly should c oincide ..With the e thnical border l .ine between tho two n e i [sLbouring na ti o ns · ~ has been generally a ccepted ov :r since Soptenbcr of l a st yenr,
ThG dec-ision of the Council of For eign Ministe rs t o whit.~h I an r eferring, is v ery cloD,r on this subject . It runs a s foll ows :
11 tha t thu houndr.,ry be tween It:::ly· a n cl Yu goslavi c. should be the ethnical line l eaving t he ~Il ini iilUJ.:l of inhabitants under a lien rule" ..
Wh a t do t hese words s ignif y, if one appr a ise s the ir uoaning without a ny· rJr e-conc Givcc1 ideas a nd s:l.r:rply on tho basis of c o ;~ u~ on s ense ? They can s i gnify o!liy this ! A frontier should be drawn between t he t wo ne i ghbouring nations which will c oincide a s f c~ r a s possib l e with the dividing - line b etween the conpact othnieal territori es, a n d · it should b e endeavoured t o r cducc th€ corrc~ctions, in t hu s e c tors who r e r eas ons of uaj or i nport::.n c e : ;~:..~ko c crto. in departures fro:: tho pure.: e thnical linG i nevita ble, t o a n inLmn .
If one hacl boon guided by COiili1 C)n sunsc 1 on e would· have drawn a b ounds ry which would hav o l c:ft only t wo kinds of :·.linori ties under alien rulo :
a) Tho inhRbit::tnts of l oca liti,e s situa t ed i n the frontior zone 1 in pl nc cs whor e the ir inclusion into t hc i.r national Sta t es would seriously i :~e ril the ir cconon ic ex i s t e nc e ~
b) Tho i nh nbi t t.1 n ts of l oce.. li tics 1 which a re remo te fror.1 the ethnical b orrer line a nd which could b e included. ini::<:. the natio:rnl Sta t e only by me a ns of a bsurd frontiers 7 whiDh would a rbi -'J .>.: ' c...:t.d~ : · cut throu gh entire pr ovinces , disrupt their ecrmoni ('. lives and creat e numb '--rl e ss r eas ons for, and , -po ints of 7 frict:inn b etween the n e ighbours. - ··
In or der t o carry out the s pirit of the Sept cDbor decision, it woul d thu s he.v e b een nec Gssnr y t o drt:wv a fronti er line whiroh would. have l oft only tho t wo abov e c 8. t <- Gories of inhabi tm'lts outside the ir nation al St:::t t es. Tho n ati onal minorit:Le s w·ould thus hav e been reduced to what thoy 1 in f a ct, ~r e : inhabitants, s peaking a n alien t ongtle, who hav -e for s pe ci :- ~ .. l1j,_ •,t.J. i.C".l r er-J s ~ns .J ~:. t " '"llj~[JPc, t1-(_eT'l.selves inside a c ountry- other than their own .... • C.P. ( IT/P)Doc. 26 1/ . Now, on t he b2-s is of o. just de cisi on~ of a de ~isi on pr oviding f or an ethnical frontier which would have r educed ni norities t o a ni ninun and nQd e nor nal econor::dc life possible on poth sides of the frontier, we ar e being of fered a lin·e , which nowhere coincides, even f or a singl e kilocetre, with ·t he line which divide s the l.ocalities with a Yugosl av r.-.aj ori ty froo the localities wi.th an . Italian ma j ority • .AJ. ong i ts whol e_ :s tre-tch, .it runs through Yugoslav e~c al t er r itory. In ·the frontier zone itself it departs frol!l the dividing line bGtween the two nations as nuch as 15' kil onetres, s o that I taly is given over 60 . 000 Slovenes living i n· the pure and c ontincusttU;ioal territory, and up t o 90.000 Slovenes in the whole frontier zone. On the c ontrary, it is.., an atteopt t o disr:1enber the Julio..n Iv:Ta rch, which c ould ontail disastrous econonic c onsequences. It bakes .the nost surprising. tur ns, cuts· through one of tho l argest t owns of the entire region and then turns ar ound and f ollows the c oast line at a distance of o. few kil oLle tres f or a str e·tch of ovor 70 kilor.:1etras. Why ? What has happened t o the prinqi::-)le of tho ethnical line , of the ni ni uun of inhnbit ~nts under alien rule ? This pri nciple, Gent l enen, has disappear ed. In the interval between Se pt enber 1945 and May 1946, this principle has been quietly bur :L~d . and r eplaced by a nother principle - that of the uethnical equili br:iun11 • Where di d t}lis new principle c one :(ron 1 Who decided t o apply such a principl e ? I do not know • . The decisions of the Council of For eign Ministers do not c ontain a trace of, or even an allusion t o, e decision t o r epl ace the Sept enbor principl e by this new principle. '"· However that nay be , this p~nci ple does exist in f act and it ~ v en f or ns the nasis of the s o o af~ed French line , whose nain - not t o s ay whose only- justi f ic a ti on·i~ s ai d t o bu that it l Gaves an equal nunber of Yugoslavs in Italy t'~d of Italians in Yug o slavi <.~ - . Ther efore , instec.d _0f ni ni r.1un we hrive egual nur.1ber.· . We thus have her e a new p rin c i~e, a principle hitherto unknoWn both t o hist ory and t o in t t: rn L~ ti o nal ''a.q,w, and. which is t o be applied · for the first time in 'the new• fr on t h~ ~ deli::1i t n t i on between Italy and Yugoslavia . .i t
We ar t; , thcrr cf or e 1 obliged, t o dwe ll a t s one littl c l un·:th\.tn t-he i ntri nsic value of this new principl e. C "p" ( IT/P )Doc ., 26 14? t Tho .::..i ~vh o fcrv ov_r thJ s s o C ?. lle d 11 et'rlnic r:::.1 eq_uilibriur:1 11 b a s e their th.... ory on the f a ct t hat t21.Grs i o a ~-: o r e or l ess cons:Lderabl e nu:J-b -o!r of Ita lis.n s · in · 8 or.e of the t ow ~'). sh j_ ~J S on tl:.e o oc.s t of I s tri a , we ca nnot oa.ll them town s~ b G ;,; :;.L,we ~ wi.th t~l o excepti on uf P ola, none of t hen hc-re n or e thqll 1 2. OO t) inhabi t cmts - ::mel ol88whe.re in
Yugos1avia , B~;c nus o uf t ho I talio.:ns l i vi ng i.n Yu.g os1e.v:.a _1 c onpact ethn i.c a1 t e r! - ~L -t o ry shou ld, in t:Cw opi n i..:m of t bo n clv oca t 0s of the s o~c aJ. J. ecl lict.hu·•_c a :L •.:.: q_u l .li br:.un'; be t orn awny fr o~J. -- :~ l-l e Sl ov ene n a t i cn <.:c.l org.:ll:i_s:_l··
Let us cxc.r.:1 .-Lns n c r~ c l oe el y the real c~1a:r ~1 ct\; r of t h e Istri an t nwns~li p s wu hav e j:..;,s -~ nen ·c :L cn e d .
Tl1io eq_Lnll.y 2 ~ pl -:L e s 't·J 'l': ·i cst c? ~ wh :!_rj h is s c .1! .J.;: c:;, t c c.1 f :ron Ital y by t erri t ory ths p opuJ.Dti on of w1nch is (:;.r2ly Yu.go s .:l :::.7 ~
2 - JllK.rc i3 rL c t a si:1~:l.o t mYu wi t h rm I t :::.l:':.0n :po,;?ulatio.:.'1 0:::1 t h G c oast of I s t r i .o. 7 i n whjch ti'le Yu.gosl:-;.v f; do n ot :r.c:Jres ent a n ·m~ · l 0T"+ !
In the c ou.rso c:f its cv ol •rc ::i .. on 'in r · ·der n 1: L:cs 7 i .: e " eve -:: s i::1ce t he firs t ho..J....f of t ?1e Ilinc t c o:::'lth c0ntu.Yy: ~'Ti <..: ste b e cr:.n e : he l ~t r ge s t Slov c:: n e Cl tJ 7 a g re:c,t o:r· Eun~J e r of S1oicnes } i y cd ther e ~ t ho. t :1. 8~ thnn l.n any ot her Sl.oven e t c'''.''."l iLclu.
3 - H ~s t 6 rv t ells u s t ha t t l e t cw~ sb 1~ s of I str1a. whe r e ' 0 -" 8' ; ,"' IY f) 'Y' -,c c•> Tt..L a-1 -:..._,...,A.,.,a..._ .;..,.J . c.:.\l l nl o"' 1· il_._ .., V ....LJ. J. 0 _-;__,1 l ~L\.J1~ .L-"0 · ' ...... L ~Lv ....,. J ('('r.· -~- J.. ..-~ _. l'cl-'... ~.:,::; I~ol'\ln-v ....l. • ...... , l'...' Ul1b C..·:- .J.."-'~ o.i Were f ounded. in t he s :tlJe way as ;:JG.ny o the r t cr-rm 2 on the 1:/lc:.: O. .i t.:;rra nea n and Adrir?:ti.c c o .?,s t - E;uc h t ovms ap:,ec.r .in hist C.•l'Y i_n t ~c f o.rn of r c.i o~ -1 (' d ' 0.,...,,...,0 ~ , ,., ,-, l ··lnd ,_,.1· ., ~ ~- ., rv "' - .,. l or- r· r " + ~ ".r 0 c , 8 bo. "' (::"' 'by· pcwors 1....1 ....._ .L .L....a...o...;U? v .! ....ll....1~ ' L V .J...... L .l. .L ..L ...L v ..... ~ ~ I. (JG-'- ·····'-' -- ~- " \,: _!_ 1.. . • l...:::J I \...... c u u I · , ~ · · · · ;.,. ·~ · t , ~ • ) • · wh ~~ en W8 r c y a:: 2. g l-v\3 n t l i'h'J , :..n c ouur.o.t. l :::l ·;;w .l\·:c CL l. ·ccr rnn e an • T· he~ shores of tho .Me -:li torranc;rm :h.~W {c\1 t hus~ knr:lvvn })heniCEi.fl col oni e s , Greek" Ca rt: t:' ··J_n 1.2.n, B.on:::trJ. <'mrl oth.::; r c oJ.on i c s · I • In I s trin we h:lv .: the col oni es of ::'.. Mec:J. t urr:'lnuc::.n puwt; r of the ' ) .l.o Ml•• ' ddl r>'-" [' ' . ~~ - . / ' \ C. P.( I T/P)Doc. 26 15. . ' •', the ir expans i on, the -Vene tians used t o' engage in nan-hunts the victins of which wer e subs equently s ol d as sl aves in Spain and elsewhere . Venetian doninat i on in !str i a was a period of expl oit ation , s ervitude and galley sJ.avcry f or the Croats and Slovenes ~ of !stria. Such is the histo:ry of thu 11 Italic:m char n. cter" of a f ew c oastal t ownships of !stria. As s oon a s the nowe r of tho Venetian Republic began to decline, it bccmw abundantly-" evident how ethnically isoJ.. at ed, how deracinaia:l and how gener ally i nsj_ cnificcmt we r e t he Italian linguistic islets on the coast of the Modi t orrancan and of t he Adriai:; ic, which had nade t heir c:tppear anco under Vene tic:: n rul e ~ Their cl ucay set in spontan e ou s ly~ Thuir na tur al uxtinctio:n occurred with c onpar a tivel y the greatest ;rapi dity on t he ' Southern coast of the Mediterranean and ::10r e particularly in Asia Mi nor, but D. sinilar f at e also bef ell the islets alon:::.; t bc :Onl r.m tian coast " In the 1 9th and the beginning of the 20th century , Aus tro-Hun gari an rule f nvourG d Italian c o1 onists and es y: (:.cially the Italian l an.guage in ! s t r i a , becaus e :Lt was seeking the su:L:;port of the I talian el enents against t he c ountry's Sl av na j ority. It is easy t o unde r s t and that y after the Pirs t Wor l d V'f:=:t r 1 tho Italian occupation r egi ne artif icially incr eas ed , f or i operialistic c otivcs, the i :c1portanco of thes e I t 11. l i r:m lincuis tic j_s l ets. What is l ess well known , howev er, is tha t not ev -:. n this policy succeeded in hal ting the decline of the c o2stnl t owns of · Istria . While 17 of the t owns of !stria had , ,in 1 910 , a t ot al of 1 37 ., 648 i nhu.bitants, this nunbcr , had in 1 921 f r: llen t o i09. 694, t o 100.557} a ccor ding t o ·the Italian census of 1 93 6, and t o 9 4 .6~ 2, nccor di ng t o the c ensus we ca rried out in 1 945; the populut i on of Pol a , the only l arge t own in Istria , f ell froo 58 . 562 in 1 910 t o 37 . 067 in 1 921, ~ o 34.090 in 1 93 6, and t o· 29. 906 in 1 945 . In the c our se of t he s ane period the p Ol)u1a tion of the rural Slav ar eas of I s tria i ncrea s ed f ran 233. 822 i n 1 910 t o 242.746 in 1 94 5. lJ.J verthel ess, it is t o this i nTJi gr at od, or r a t her col onized, uinority of decaying t ownships t ha t the advocat es of the new princi:tJ l es a ttach f ar gr c?. t er woi ght than t o tho gr owing c onpa ct autochthonous population which sur r ou.nds thes e linguistic islets. For them , the autochthonous rur2l popula tion , the population which has been tilling this s oil f or centuries, i s .withJut any i np ortance . The the ory of t h e "ethnical equili briun. " only t akes into considera t i on the - transpl anted - urban c ol oni sts. It woul d se em , in short, tha t it is the autochthon ous Yugo s l ~1 v popula tion, established in the area f or ov er a. thousand years, which is, in the op inion of the advocat e s of "ethnical equilibriun 'i r es ponsible f or the f act that Ita lian s.c ttlers have , f 0r s onc r enson or other, been t orn away fron their n other c ountry and h:.:v e s ettled i n tile sn 2cll t owns of Is tria , Thes e Yugoslavs r:mst 1 the r ef or e , be punis hed by being t; iven C. P. (IT/P)Doc.26 1 6 • •• t o Ital y . Nor is this all. These Italian islets on the Yugoslav c oas t of the Adri atic also nake it necessary to punish the Yug oslavs in the frontier ar ea, in the pr ovince of Goric'a , in the Kanal Valley and in Venetian Slovenia , by h~n d ing then over to Italy by way of r eprisal, as it we r e , f'or t he Italian ninority which has established itself t oo f ar fron i tc country t o be r easonably possible ~0 incor- ..• por at e i t . We have travelled a long way, i ndeed, fron the decision of t he Council of For ei gn Ministers r;.:;gar ding the mi ni nun of :r.J.i norities. The t heor y of the ''equi l i briun " r equires that, f or every ninority given to a count ry on account of t he geographical position of this ninority , a corresponding ninority should be creat ed in t he f r ontier area. • • .~ • • • • • • • I nstead of a minim:un; ·,l! e hr;;. 'Je e xactly the doub 2..e of a r.1 ininume Wha t docs this 'theor y of so ~ c3:llod ~ 1 equ il :i. b r·ium 11 sie;nify when appl ied t o our f r onti e ~ w i ~l I taly ? l c~ i'he purpose of tho ~ ·;heory of: 11 etlmic:; a1 equi.iibriun 11 :i.. s to justify the di smembon:1ent of co2:1pa0t Yt.J.[osl.av otbnic.al. territory and of t he l ivi n g national o :~' e cm.5 . sr.t of the Sl ove11e an d Croat peo pl e.? on t ho Cl' OU.."'lds tha t thor o ex:l.st in Yut:~oslav i 2. !.' a r f ror.1 nu..":lo I'ous ,, i sol a t ed and ctlmically .ins ignificant Italian linguistic is.l0ts -; 2 ~" Tho t h eo:t·y of 11ot:bli.ca1 oquilibri u:ra11 in i n i t s essence !) whctlw:r' it v1 2. s so intended or not~ a theor.:/ lo.<:t d.inr 0GO ·i:ihe incor ... :';>or a ·~ :'..n n of for eic n t erritories an d to the denat ion aliza tion of the' " 1 "b • II h . .. . ' !- • 3-· The theory of 11 oth..Yli c al eq1..n . 1. . l"'J.tlm .~ 'VI!. J~ t :1.0r ::..nven·vl ona- :Ll :~ , · or not approves and is even basod upcn .~ the viol ence e xe rted in. the past a.[_~ai.ns t tl1o Il f-tt:; i o::t.Etl f rGoclon and i nteGrity of t he Yugoslav pcopl e so nor i s t h is alL, In t he Jt'::.1 1.an o.rgumentat icn; which .lilms to re fe r to t he n ov1 l y lmront.ed princ iple ol. o quil i briuu~ · we f i n d ·:,}H ,t: r~c..; t only tho .Ito.l i ::.u1 spe a k ing inhab i tnnt s of Tr i o s t o ar1 d. Is 'l.: r io. ar c t aken int o a c c ount 5. 0ub also t~"2.ose of ru:.jolm .Fitu:1o ~ ~ of Zadar fli':J.d of t he is1<;nds of t ho E a sto:."'n .A. d.l, i a tic c oa st.; i ce o t b; Ita l i an i sle ts sit u a t e d de ep into Yug oslav t e rritor y, I f wo weJ"'e to r eason on the s ame liness we :::ho"..lld h a'!O t o t ake into a c,c. oun t tho Yugosl a v ~U vi ng in Udir,o , in Hor:1.o or,, f or i nstan ce , in t.l1c throe alnost conpact Croat coEli :-J.unitios s itu a ted i n tho C8r.1bD.s so r oe;ion in Sou thern It a ly ~ , In short ) Yucosl av io. woul d h ave' to t ake i nto account all· tho YugosJ.ays ~:.. i v i n G ins ide I t aly , c:.i spo r seod. L'l. the t.ovms_ a nd o-ren·- i.n t he: v:1.1 l e.go s o.f Ital y') ,i I ' :f. , C.P. (IT/P) Doc.26 lB. ' She would have to com.o to the conclusion, t hat the "French line" would l eave in rtal;r, not Inerel y tho 90.000 Yugoslavs of tho Julian March, but also the remaining 120-150.000, and perhaps even more, But, in that case where is one to call a halt ? Tho People's Republica of Albania c oul d, in order to justify possible terri torial claiLJS against Italy, apply a s i~1 ilar u othod. According to the official Italian census of 1921, there are 80.282 Albanians living in cor.nunities s ituated in the Italian provinces of Avellino, Campobasso, Catanzaro, Cosenza, Fozzia, Leece, pa1err.10, Potenza, Terrano. It is obvious that such conputations would be absurd and ridiculous. May we be allowed to hold the same opinion of sinilar computations indulged in by the advocates of tho so-called 11 ethnical equilibriur.:J.11 and of those referred to by Signor Bonomi at yesterdayr s nc0ting of the Co:rmrrission. · But let us take other exanples. Methods of ethnical arith metics and geome try could be applied to the detrirent of France also. It would be sufficient to count the nuuber of Italians in the towns and villages of France and to demand that an equal number o£ French i n the frontier areas of France and in the colonies should be ceded to Ital~r, together with tho territory on which they 'live. Accordinp, to the "Enc iclope dia Ita.l ian a 11 , there were 962.593 Italians living in France in 1927, 97.000 in Tunis, 28.528 in Al geria and 10o412 in Mb~occ o . Thoro are besides, as we know, Italian.s and Ito.li!l:b.t lincuistic islet~ strewn all along the Mediterranean coast. Ono ~ · inc day, tho advocates of the 11 othnical equilibrium" can, · therefore, demand that Greece, Turkey etc. cede to I~al y part of their compact l fnguistic territory in order to establish "ethnical equilibrium". I . \' } . I I 0 .P o ( IT /P ) ])oo ~ 2 6 L•J t u.G go even fur-thor . 'J:here c:.rc Ital :::Lan emig::ra...Ylts 1 e:md even cQmpa ct o.ggl.omer8.t i cns of ltf.l. -Li.r;.n emigrants ·) f mvr~J or less consider able ~ize, sc:;.ttered t hTou.ghou.t the wor1d J . Ln·~ll;_ding America a nd AW3t:cn:Lia c Cl'ho nEnc i c;1.up(~dia Itali P · '.L E3 not f'1y' :Lnt(.;ntJ_on t ' i!:dL-LLC8 in wittleisr;:>_s , I vri'i.y ~i ·Y ." - . , to 1. 1 lllZt~r n.tc tllG t:r--LlC .1lilpl.ic r~.:t:L011E1 CO~l(.(;C~led . J.-"1 1Yl\tO}VGd ·-t•,,..,_,n-,1'::' 4 '·"'' 1'r' Y) ( ' ''C ""' + ,_ \.- '- • ..S.. JJ. t. '~:; ·~l• ·r-·1 ..J....e"- ·.l: 'J.i' . c-'u·,•J ~,·: rl"\. ... U ...... '~' · ~i ·,...... n i.J>-: · l -- f-i.J..-J<'' '] ''''n"nvv...... +o~lV-- \...:.....!...o --;'1"'~ - !'! \.•...... '-;,. --~} ..t..Ll lJ ·' J·-'11_ o..>·=--t --if- ·.Y·• whnt J s unj1.1.st • .P r actic:;,1J_y 'myt hirJ.f-:_; c:tn lJ(; just_:;__fi\]d ·. •11 th8 ~)asis . - J " " ' - ~~ ... ~ ~ ' ' h t . ..1 • , h 0 f . t ,'}l l 8 :3 0-C-:.U.. .OU p:Ci DCJ,D.lto,. J'Wv ..,.LO_,;-;IJ,.'iDP p- r"-n•''J "!. +·l·un'n 0 l' m Con - '-;.,.•~t..; •.l- .L· ·o·,.-t-oc}t..-\.UV\ -t-n,J_, \. ~'-1!. - ~ ... o ~~',,l...t.. L'- ,. _~. J J:!\A-- 1.. u • . . 'v'--P.J.. -~Lro. J...LL.v_., -,, r-i_ , ....,v<- L).,"' / ".Lv -. ... !.. t, c rr'it:or-- v ,.$-~•e""u t here :tn the n::tn· -~ '::i f this ~rinci pJ.c _t -i:rut c:l.l t he fron tiers ln the world COlJ.ld 'be m<.:d'-: t o 'J.nd:,;rgo f ;-:::.r ·rc~~ching em -~_ts bshalf, even betwoan C'JL.m-trj_ os v,rj_-t;llOLJ:t. nr:tionu.l mi~l <:lrit i c; s . F::-c::mco could; f :~ · r in.s t a nce ) be gj:\""l;n t b,; whol c -~ f the BuJ. gLm C ·-~ · nst 1 pi'O-vidr;d Be ·~~e;i1.:un vvns cede d n. oorrespond:Lng d"' p n. rtmLnt of rr~,:.noo. Pr:wid.cd thel~c is 0 1 it p._., +v h_. ·r_• 'L_ .C P.• l . ~ v · q_~...A....-...J... I' -j 'l -)-- 'hi'~U _ 1''• .1...l.!l1" ;, '" ,'-'-, ,,.('\'-'.- ~ - ·yi·~ '.....h _~ _V'\l.J.(:.) : ;- _-;_ )..;C" _P'_ nt ... ·~m'.l ,.. _-.; -;--t '"~..:.' Q 1: Tho · so--c;:i.lJ.. :.:; d Fr·011':~h .l :l.n·::; 1 whj_ch dcpri ves the pc cpJ.cs o:t Yugo sJo.vin of scvC;Ll.tj ki1cme-i3 I'(JS ,-- ·f thL.- j_r (.> :'.- ns·[-; 1 7vl~:Lch doprives Yugoslavic. _· f hei' cn.ly l e:"I.'G T re p ·3nt Thu 8 q_"Llili'bri wn _pl~j_rrG 5.:;_)1 u couYJ t sne.nces th8 m ~ ~ st a tsurd ~ the most L!,rbi trnry f':-t~J nt ie r s 0:1. the 'bc.tc:is ·--.f this pr·:t nc:i p-:,e 1 thu (.:oonom.i.c l.i.fo C; :f oyr_:; r single nntion cnn bt,; disruyt .d:- '\:.hey' c n.n -IJG dep:c·ivGd. ,;f .'.tlJ. )uSsi bil ity -~:· f :->, no:nnnl cc c;:rwrr..:'.~... dc¥.r...::lomi!'.:m-G :::me. the:j_r 9•Ti..7 J·na_ependence and {reedom cun be b::c ought 1.nt :· j Dop :..:. rdy ,, Such i.~3 tht.: vaJ_uo vf this now •; p:r-j ,; }.pJo :t , ~ ~ -:: ~ cho princi ;:>lc 11 ·-l: f . ethni cal GC'tuilibi.,.J.Llm" And this l s th(:-; . nlv prj_nc:l.p jo wh.i ch ~; ~ • • - ( - ~ ..J 1 .... - can O<.:; n.dd U00d. ·)_ n · ~ ··-··--' 3Yvi.l'T {' yo - 1'1 An.d .t t is Tt ~ ...... • ·.1.. 0 ·- Y' c. '. - .-. J .t 20 C. P. ( IT/P) ]) oc • 2 6. .' the Slov ene part of the Julir:m Mar ch all the towns it possesse d.It deprives the province nf . Gcri0:J. o'f its c o.. pi t e.. l. It deprives. the e ntiru r egi on of its p:ri ncj pal urban centro - Trieste. It deprives the Slovene peop.L e, c.;, seafar ing people , of t h0i,r coast. It deprive s Yug oslavir: of its n <:lt ur £~ 1 s oa·...: out l et. It gives t h e f ormer a ggr essor excello.nt stn~ t eg ic p osition in the Kan al Va lley, a bcve thG Soca . /Is onz o/ Vn. lley on t h8 ])oberdob upl a nds,. ond, with t he GCirica r a ilwdy junction a n d t he Trzic/ Monfalconc/ arme.nent ce.ntre , consi der abl e milita ry a dvnnt ages . While it. d eprives t he victim of aggressiQn Yugoslavia , of e-ny p os sibilit y of organis ing a more 01 l ess sta ble def e nce line becu.use it d eprives her of t he pos sibilit;r ,.,f lea ning on the coast , wh0r e t he t er r itory ~> f :erieste', a kind of gi a nt bridge hea d, drives a d.e ep wedge i nt o t he t erritory und ,~ r Yugoslav soverGign ty ~ That is why t he Yugosl c.v Gov ernme nt have been right · in reject ing it~ an d t h D.t is why al l those who a r e 1 nt er este d i n justice a nd in the right of nE'.. ti or~s t o t h eir libt3 rty c..nd i nd ependenc e , should disc.pp rove of i t • The r Gpr esent a tive of the Yu goslav Gryv ernmont ha v e , for t h e ir p art, submitted to t he Council of For ei gn Mi nisters, a s f a r ba ck a s September of lc~s t ye-:;..r , a l ine which wa s ba sed on the eth nica l line , ev e n bef or e its principle had b~en p r ocl ~ imed i n t he r el ev a nt decision of the Counc il . This line closely f ollowe d the ideal -dividing line bet ween tl.~e t wc c ompact ethnical territories . It dep8.rte d from the l a t te ~ line only s lightly and in a sma ll number of ca s es, s o t hat t h e futur e fronti er sh ould not be ·grievously pre judi ci<:!l t o t he economic life of the frcntier zone . I should hor:e c:,dd i n p ar enthesi s , thr:tt t h e Yugoslav Gove rn me nt ha d a t the t tme pr oposed - f or et h nical a s well as for e ccnomic r ec:.s ons - to mc:t ke Tric s t o t he only impor t a nt ethnical enclav e on the Yugos l av Adrj_e.t i c:: c cast 1 i nto e. Republic within t he · framework of the Yugosl av federal syst em , a Republic whose sta tute would have forme d part of the future Peac e Tr eaty. · Not withs t anding the spi r it of · justice . di s play ed by Yug0sl avia - who ha d been v i ctim of a fln.gr c.nt injustice on the pa rt of liber al Italy a fter the Firs t World War , a nd a victim of Ita liCJ. n aggr ession in the Second World War ·- in putt ing f orvvar d this proposal, they met with the s tubb Qrn opposi t i on of three of t h e mem ber s 0f th8 Council of Forei gn :rt. i ni st er s. Yugos l avi a wr:~s not hcvvev er _, inspired by a spirit of jus tice alone. She al s o sho-wed an extr eme ly concilia tory dispos ition. She C.P a (IT/P) Doc. 26. 21. a ccept e d the internationaliza tion of Trieste , in order to come near er to t he points 0f view which preva ile d within the Council ::f :F·or -:;ig::J. Mi niste rs. It is with the s ame intention t h3.t she is now proposing a new frontier line betwee n herself Gnd Italy. Thi s line involves a heavy s acrifice en the pa rt of Yugo ;~lavi a .. She thereby 1 ea;ves to Ita ly practically he.lf of the Ka nal Valley - which should ;b0long to her, both for stra tegio and for security rea sons , in its entity. She gives up a l arge part of Venet ian Sl ov enia , the whole of which is Yugoslav, both ethnically and as r egards the feelings of' the population .She a bnndons pnrt of -·.: he suburbs ·of Gcrica, a Slove ne tovm a nd the c .?. pit al of a Slovene p rovince . She ce des the control ~f the isla nds of Gra dec [Gr~do/ which form p art of the golf of Trieste. By this line, she leaves L to Italy, at lenst, 45.000 Slovene speaking inha bitants in the fr·ci;:rtier z'one . This line , which i s the ethnic e~ line with alto r ~tions to the detriment of Yugos l avia , obviously differs on seve r al points from the s o-called 11 Fre nch11 line ba sed on v.hut is Cllll0cl - the e quilibrium principle . We underta ke to prov e , 1 n the course of our discussion, Yugoslavia 1 s indisputable right to each one of these sectors, a right ba sed on the d (;~ m ocratic principle s of the ethnica l frontier a nd of the clearly expresse d wishes of thr:: overwhelming ma jority of the pop1..1la tion of the whole of tho Julian Me.rch, which ha s f('Jr a y ear a lready, be on dem anding to be united to Yugoslavia , a na which has, a t the same time, never ceased putting this question to itself - ll 'I'hc me n , who hav e to dec ide our f a te , are they c1oaf of hearing , a nd a r e they endowed with a heart of ston8 , because th<~y neither h arke n to our WJ rds n ot unde rsta nd us ?" It is up to y ou, GentlerH:: n, to give them '1 r eply. Pal a is · Paris 3 september, 1946 @. P. (IT/F) D-0-o ... 2.7 September l+ .; 1946 POLITQAL AND TERRITORIAL .. COMMISSI ON FOR ITlcLY St.'' tcmont I:nde oci:'orc .the Commission ..b y Mr. Jordc.o.n i n the no.mc of the South ! Africo.n Dclego. t i on on September 4, 1 9 46 ~ Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates, I formally moife the arr1endmont . to Article .3 standing in the name of the South African Delegation and which you Will find in document C$P, (IT/P) Doc. 21 Rev. 1. As you will have observed from that document, the effect of the South African amendment will be to internationalize, in addition to t he area proposed by the . Council of Foreign Ministers, also the territory lying to the West of the so-aalled British line in the South of Istriu, I regret that it has not been possible for us to submit this amenchnont before August 20th, but the fuller information we required on the subject was not available at that time. Far from wishing to retard the work of the Commission, tho South African Delegation hopes that this amendment will prove to be accr L"". ~ n .hl e hoth to the Commission and the Council of Foreign Ministr.; rs, and thus in fact servo to expedite our work. ConsiderinG the importance of the subject and in order that delegates may follow my argument more clearly , I should like to r equest at t hi s point, Mr. Chairman, that my remarks be include d in the records of this mooting . Tho reasons I wish to advance in support of our aniondment arc tho following : Tho Counci-l of Foroie;n Ministers during its September session dod rr:.d t hat tho Italo-Yugoslav boundary should be "an ethnic l i.ne leaving tho minimu.ln of population under alien rule". In oro:, ... • t o determine what the ob'hnic line should be a Commission of Exports was sent to Venezia Giulia t o 'investigate the position on tho spot e This Commission ts report~- i . a ,. contains tho following unanimous finding: 11 Tho Italian clement is located in tho towns situated on or near tho coast and also inhabits a considerable number of rural localities of Western Istria, It constitutes the majority and in certain instances almost tho whole population in many towns on or ncar tho coast, while in certa in towns in the interior of WesteJ;n and.. -C:,,_;--i. . · -..:::.~T<_...:;...... it- constij,.:tAt-c.s . :::.n -inipQrtant minority". C. P.(IT/P) Doc . 27 2. Tho Fr ench l ino which has boon adopt ed as t he basis for _. tho new frontier s .follows, as I understand· it , t ho e t hnic bal ance ,I principl e , . i.o . i t proposes t o l oavo appr oxi mat el y as many Italians under Yugoslav sover e i gnty ~ s t hor o will be S1ovonos under Italian sovor oi c;nty , t ho i de a boinc; t hat both countr ies vdll bo equally intor qstod in t ho f a i r troat wont of t he mi noritie s undor ~ thoir . - mv~~J1 i f t ho national mi nori tie s -i n e i ther country ar c about equal in s :Lzo ~ Tho F,r onch line , as dr awn, envi s aGe d cession ·to Yugoslavi a of t ho t erritor y East of t hat l ine while all the t erritory West of that li;no including Triest e and its environs, was t o remain under Ital ian soveno i cnt y . Tho Ame rican and Br i tish exports ende avoured t o draw a t r ue othnic line whe reas t ho Ru ssi an line appar ently t ook i nt o account ' his t orica l and political consi derations as well. However t his may be , t ho fact romains t hat t he Council of Foroi sn Mi ni s t ers was f a ce d w ~th f our differ ent l ines on t ho adoption of any ono of which t hoy could not acr oo . A comprowiso s olution was event ually r oached under which T".ciesto would b& i nt er nationalized and t ho ar ea East of tho French line coded t o Yucosl avia. It seems obvious t hat with the interna tioDalization of Trieste e~ d its surroundi nG s the French line l ost its char a cter and 'no longer confor med t o t he e t hnic bal ance principle, f or with t he clin ina tion of the · i nhabitant s of t he free t erri t or y from Italian s ovor oi cn ty, it would l eave rno.ny mor e Italians under·Yuc;o slav rule t han t here would be Slovenes under I t a l ian r ule . Lot :r.1o say at t hi s poi nt, ~~. Chair man, that t ho South ~fric an Dol ocati on l ooks at t ho probl em from a purely ob j e ctive poi nt of view and t hat what ever t ho de ci sion of t h is Co:mmission, i t sin cerely trus.ts t hat bot h YuGos l avia and I tal y will endeavour t o cot1ply s t ricti:,- with t ho cuarant oos t hey will bo r equired t o give in respect of al ien minorities under t heir sover oi c.;nt y . What thon I r.1ay bo asked is t he South African i nt er e st in t hi s question ? I t is zimpl y t his : t vdce wit h i n ono generation South. Africa had boon dr awn i n t o vvars t hat had t hei r ori gin i n Eur ope·. Thousands of South Africans have di ed or havo boon mai med f or lifo , and it i s probable t hat i n t ho cause of ~orld peace and security thousands mor e may in f uture have t o make similar s a crifices. We cannot, thor o f oro, bo indi f f erent t o anyt hinc.; t hat happens i n .t\.frica , nor, b y t ho s ano t olcon, can wo bo i ndi ffer ent t o conditions alqng t ho .Modi t orro.noan basi n which ma·J c i vo rise to war or t hroats of war., which in t ho ir ul tine. to dovol opmont :may affo ct our nati onal se curi t y . Sou t h Afri ca has a vi tal intorost in t ho r GI:wval of conditions which contai n t ho s oods of int ornation&l f r i ction and· di& cor d . I submi t t hat t ho i nclusi on of a l ar ce I tal ian mi nority in Yucosla v t erritor y will bo such a conditi on. C.P. (I'liP)Doc •. 27 Czoch0slovakia has hc.d no:mo oxporionco · about minorities . Lo t her testify hovr tho presence of tho Sudet en Go rmanG within hor territory l od to invasion and annexation of tho homel and. His-Gory is full of siniln.r examples. Has not t ho inclusion of minorities within nationn.l Stut es in tho Balkans and olsowhoro thr.OU,3hout his t or y boon the cause of frict-ion nnd vrars ? Can v1o honestly and sin - cerely boliovo tha t the case of Yuc;oslavi a and lc.rso Ita lian t1i ner i tics Ydll pr ovo t o bo an excep tion to tho his torico.l rule ? Surely . they will n ot. rrhe di vi dod l oyalty of tho l o.rc o Italian minority, their undorsto.ndablo dissatisfa ct i on, c.nd possible futuro a c i tation may well crc o.t o c ond.i tions which will f or co Yur·:o slo.via to t ake r epressive moo.suros 2. ~ ains t t hoY:1 . Then naturally will f'ollow tho patte rn of reprisals, appeals to Italy, and to UNO with never a solution in si~~ht, for trouble is i nherent in t h o nin o r~· ity problem. Minoritie s have live d under foroi;:;n rule for l one and acquired vested rit:;hts and other interests. Minority problor:lS will thoro foro for mc.ny noro c;oncrc:. tions continuo to be vri th us. But tho. t is no r cason for u s t o c ontinuo to croa t o further l71inorB_..J2F.2J?_loril_S__!.. For us in Hio--2cith~c-ci-rd;ury~JTGnoro fho lo ssons of h istory anC'rto co-do to Yucoslavio. territory t h at conta ins an unduly larco nut1bor of Italians would surely be r.m o. ct of folly which whould be avoided at_ all costs. · South :~ofricc. h a s every sympr.. t hy with Yug osl avia . They hc.vo s uffered criovou s l enses a nd h G.vc s,o. crificod 1:mch . Their .foolinc of bitterness tovmrds Ito.l y is undorstando.blo onouch . But it is clearly not in their lone ro.nco national i n t er est to hol d a tract of t e rritory which c an onl y bo ~ source qf constant friction and irritation botwoon t h e ir own nationals r.md tho c. lion r:lin o r: . · · ~ tos , provontine normal and .friendly I'ela tions botwoon thonsolvos f.lnd Ita l y and hence providi nc cause £ or constant ~nx i o ty to t ho coun tries directly co n c orm~d o. s well as to others r epresented her o vrl1.o oo c ountries n ay a l so have to pay tho price i£ pe n.co is not kop t . Whatovor cla.ims Yu .=;o slc.via may ha.vo to Istria on histor ical grounds, wo must bo realistic and f s. co t h o facts. Tho undis puted and indisputabl e £o.ct is t hat especially a l one tho Western coast of Istrin. thoro is o. larce Itolian populn. tion. It is 1tJ ... ~ r;ntcdJ:U. tl'1Atmany of those entor od t ho torri t ory after tho troo.ty of Rappalo. ,~.\.ft or t ho terri tory was a ssic;no d to Italy sho had a ric;ht to send her colonints thoro, as she had a risht to' assume that her novr frontiers ucro t o bo roc;ardocl a s poriflanent, in t ho sat1o way o.s Yuc;oslavia will have t ho ric.;ht to send ~ nationals into territorie s coded to her under this treat y . That noaition, I sub~it, obtains i n Wes tern Istria. Wo must f a co t ho f~ct · that thoro arc l arc.;o nurabo rs of Italians in t h at area, thoy .havo settled thoro, they own. property and t hey derived their livelihood from t ho s oil anu tho industries and businesses established thoro. · I) r C. P. (I'li:? ) Do c . 27. ) Tho most obvi ous sol uti on of t ho p r ob loli1 1 of c-ourso , i s t o drmv c. fl'onti or on e t hnic line s i n rsuch a way t hat n o , or a s fow o.s pos sib l o , o. lion ninori tio s c,r e l oft i n o i ther Yu cos l o.. vi a or Ita l y . That princi p l e h o. s boon o. cooptod, but tho Council of ForeiGn Mi n i s t ers and t hoir export s havo not s u c coo::lod i n dr mvinc a l ino which f o. irly carries out thi s princip l e . Wo do not believe thc.. t t ho cr eation of o. fre e teri•i t or y will p r ovo t o bo an u l tima t e sol u tion t o t h e probl em. It h a s f a i l e d i n t he pr:ct and there is not ~ ; m c h p r ospe c t of i t s suc ceedinc in f uture . But i nter nationo.lizati on of a t err i t or y under dire c t con trol of t he Urlit ed nati ons with the inter e sts cf' t h e nationAl. c r oups -With in its bor ders adequo.tel ~. s afoc;u r~ r G.ed is an e xperiment we ll vvo r th tr y i nc~ a n d i s r.ru ch t o bo p r eferred t o a s ol u t i on tha t l oave s l a r c;e minori t:r b l o cks u nder a lien r u l e • Th i s t hEm i s t ho s ol ution t ho.. t ou.r r e s olution p:f•oposos i n r e s pe c t of Wes t ornist ria . The Coun cil of Foroic n Mi n i s t e rs wore r i c;ht whon t ho~:- do cidod t hat t he Yuc_;o slo. v-Italian bor der s hou l d bo tt o..n eth nic lino , l o a vinc t he nin i n um of popula t i on unclor a l ien rulo 11 • Wo r o c oc;niso t ho C01.mc ill s cl. iff icu l tio s in c1r aw inc such a l ino , but t ho Council' s sol uti on run s cou n t e r t o t h e i r own or i c i n o.. l decision . I sub11it, r.1r . Chairmo..n, t hat t ho South ~\frico..n o..r,1Cndn ont i'S a r.mch closer appr oximation t o t h o . Cou n c i l s London de cis i on, tho.n tho s ol u tion t hey h a ve p r o sento cl to us . Noithor Yuc osla via nor Ita l y i n t he i r own national intor os t s , or i n t ho i n t or o sts of i nterno.. tiono..l p o o. co s hou l d ob j o ct to t h is . 1r ho ir for me r rtation a l s wi l l bo c orno cit izens of t ho froo t e rritor y o.n d wi l l havo tho ~r inte r e sts and t ho into::.;rity of t ho i r· St ~::c t o c:u c.ro.nt ood by t h o Socur i t y Cou n ci l . Tho v1hol o aroa vr ill bo clenili t o.r i z od and wi l l hol d out a t h r oat t o no ono . J Wo have e:;ood r eason t o oxpo ct t hat if t ho Cor.JLli s s ion and u l til:iat e l y tho Council of Foroi,:::;n I•::i nist ors v10 r o t o a ccept t ho ar:J.o n dmont which vo a r o s pon sor in::.; , t hoy vv ill o sto.b lish con di t ion s u ndor which a t l oo.s t on o mor o poi n t of i ntornc..ti onal frict ion i s ol inina t o d o.n d vlill l ay t ho foUnda tions for f rioncll y r ol :..c tions bo t v/oen no i r·hbours and thu s n r or.1oto t ho . r e t urn t o a c ondition of poaco which ._\vo o. ll s o Emch d~s ir o . It is for thi s r eas on t hat wo pros s it stronc l y on t h o a t ten t i on o..nd c on s i der a tion of tho Con mission. · ~ Cl> ( It/P) Do c o2d Se'flt ember 2 :; l 9 ~.G .. PAR ,CS COH 1 8ftENCb: -~.. ... ·~ ..,' .. : ~ ;_ ::..~ .... -~-- ... : - - ~ ...... ~...... ~- - · ,..._.._...... _._. -.. -~- ~-~- ·- ·- --~-·-· __ ___, ______.... ______~.... - -- ··-- -- ~ -- -- -~ --- - · - - St ate D.e1.t of t he .PoJ..1.sb. De l egate :rv.r:r< Wi.niewi c z on t h <1 n:r:· ciJl eu of Tries-t e ma de be.fo:ee t he -()OltUT.. J. s s i o n ., on S,3 p t ent e!' 6 ·' 19L:.6 M:r ,, Ch.J..:t ~?:' Dfm; :H-ron t hcl '/er y d.:1y wr.ten thi s Co.n:fe l'ence_ ass oub l e d the Pol.i sh :Dele ga:L on has :f.e1 t "!:: h at \:)ach cur:i 'o e:r govcn::r.uent at t h i s c ·) n...f o ~cc n o e sh o-u.l d c o n·~ r ibute : ' "· 5 n vvt~ 3.t ev· e:c wa-.; possible- by i t; s oxpo-r.ien ·~:e _; knvwle dge cmd Lnf o :rnat ion t o t h~ constructive solu t ion of tl10 L1any p~t· o · b'l e r.::s put b c f o ~~ c l...t s ., The B6r:wnt has cou e f or toe I:Jenbe:rs of 'the PoJ :ish De1ega tio:o. to :c.:. s e here and to speak v:n a S ii l)j e c'G wb :,, e:a. ~~ e 't el .·h :v c :LJ not a lien to :1s, It :ts the g_ ue st iou of Trieste ., Po1a:nd has t h e unfor t ;.:mat o p::c::Lvi l::;g e cf h3-vin g 'be en ~.nvolv ed ~Lf:). t he solution of a prD'lJJ.e:::'. wh i ch \Vas v ery si JjJ.lar t o -l::hcrt; t a oi ng ·u.s tode.y " The sol.:crt:i on coYlc er ned the oi.t:y of Danz;t g o PoJ.a nd !> ' '.'O .L'j,) C> b ec ~:,..4.L.lv f'l' .r·.:;..ll. u , ..... Jv ~.J.. 1'•1~q_, V. j·- V-"' ~\...!~ _,.; _1"'1__ ..,.- 1]1-4 b..o. e s ,L,~-·j n·'o ']-a-.1-.._...... , i ~;~o ..Ju Lrj .L_,_• l.J L_ ...... +'.J w, n\ .,. ':>~'a ses Da n z i g a.n.d T r ic st e i.s sc st r.:Lki.r..g th:-tt ·t;he ease of Dnn7ig should be t roato6. as a!}. i nst ru ~lt :.Lve p.rooedent to a l1 t hose who proceed· t o t hs sol;.;. t ton of t he pr obleu of ~:r5.e st e" r:. ··lz ·' aj'r< ·, " r. · ., ·l ~ -l ~- r --. r--· ··,. .•• d.. ..; rr t 11 .1. ."1 -r;r Dc.; ,.i ~ .l 0 J ·Q. ctn b-· k/~ 9 Cl. J. () . !., \,. V.•. l · J j C •..iL.U.J.O,L) .o..J10 - l:j e S 1A lJ. a_ J of t h.e V5 stulc. .r:l.Vei h o.s fo r •::: entur:i.c s bc on s born:. of contention -bei:: vveen t he Gernn.nic o.nd Slav o:.n5 e wo2·J.d , Pol a:nd r s t 5.2s vv! th :Da nzlg we:re o. s n 1.o se o. s :\..i:; s J.. ink wi th the V:Ls i-: 11.:J.JJ. r ou.n d which t he ol? olisL ,.' cat e ba8 ? -:J~ own and d eve1ope d ., I ·!; was t b.erefore Ju st and r ight that when at t he e nd of the f olU>·,y ua:.cs- war , a 1.3pe cJ al IlTi;e:r.·nat :Lo.n[.-11 Conn i ssion of ex per bs w.as a p:p oj nte; d ·by· 'the b :.~ g poweT s of ·that "tir.1e "3o oake J':e coT.JD.andations on t he Po l~·.. sh -Ge r ne:m i':rorJ.t :i.e :-:· 1 i t had no h e s i t at:i.on i n ad v i s ~i. . ng tha t Ds.rJ.z ig be :i.n clnd.ed j_n the Polish flt abe o Unf'o:rt1.J.na te 1y thi. s :ce conn and. ati.on was not folJ¥owed l!.p , and n. spucial · s cb.er.h:? was d.evi s e d :.wJcLng Da nzig into a. F:ree 2ltv ,, I t was no t the work o:l': expe ;:'?i s 'Lc~t · po ;JA.t:.:Ld.a:n.s --· arld i t consti tu t S:J 8 D. WBX1:1 :'.ng to ).). S he:re 0 Thus Dan z i g be :::• ane .o. un.:Lquc oxrerinent :l.n i nternat:v,:·: 'i'la~ reJ,ations, al(j u~ up otent wr .ite r s st2..'t ·:;d_ o:n r.:o~e I . than 04?-v ~ "'CO a s .::lon that :.Lt .s--.:n;-:ru.c t.ure. w'l.s--·{1.Uor w... l.ou .s...c- . 1-r.!. -the w o :.t.,-;.l..S - Ol- t ne .. 'C P ( I T/P) I'or ma nont Court of I n t or na ti,)Il:::ll Jus tice Danz i g ' s stat us wa s ba s e d 11 · o•'l~- t;1. .'. u ~· 3 1'•.v• ....,.. c •1 ~1·...... 1 T''• J l- o• t'Lo_ -nw s L ·co ....k'·1- bc·• ..1. T.c{ 7 • "'r:. _'Iu r.- o r"' .1-~ ra• +·i"'-V ~V.:..:1 ' , h"""v•~ r X'O'"'./ \..."-~" on- of • ·... i cs ·bcd.lli_, ~~ l et cc,d -ut'. '7 t~: 10 ~ > I'll t~,.. c · _· ' l'l o f ·::;h e . L c t:"~r; · · ancl b ~ · r'oason of' t h e guar'a nt ec 6f t l:.c constit u tion, and the spec.lo. l r e lation to Pol and , by r eason of t ho .c onduct of tho for e i gn r e l ations of the Free Ci t y b e in~ i n t ruste d t o t h e Pol i sh Gove r rmont 11 • In other words a dual isn wa s i nh e r e n t in Da nzi gf.s pe rsonality • .And it is e .::m ctly ab ou t the v er y chara cte r of t hat ch ild of the Ve.rsa illes tr0a t y U :!.n t '~N e pr opos o to i s .J u o a warni ng . Wha t arc t h o sin i l a Pit i o s b ot vreen Danzig a nd Trieste ? Thor o a r•o w :my of then .i b ot h o.. x' o oea - ports , b oth a r e e conomically d e p endent· on tho va s t r egi on s l y i ng b ehind t~ em , t h ootlrnogr aphical s tructure of bo t h ~ Tr i e s t e and Da nzi g , b oar witnes s of t h o s ar:1e dis p roportion s and l a st but' n ot l east b oth of t h em ser ved a s out posts of expans ion which t ur n ed out t o b e a g gr essive , In the ca~of Tr i o:J t e i t was t h o f amous a t tack on Phu:10 . . . .1l'll0 uu.in f' ca · ,,_ ~~ ' ' -' , howe ver , is tpo f a c t , tha t Danzig a nd r.r r i c stc d epend for t heir v er y l i v e s on t h o l a r go J,." ogi onls stre tching t o tho s out h a n d to tho no:ct ho Danzi g , 't h i s r ich c ity, onc e out off frou t h o hin t e rland a t t ho en d of tho XVIII c en tury 1 when 1 Pol and ·was d e pr i ve d of h er• i ndopon d on c o , vras sudd enl -y ,f $- c od with hur-:.e; or· ,, Hun ger riot s brok e out in Danz i g i n t h o years \1819, 1821, 1322 o I . I - Af t e r tho r eb i rth of tho P o l ~s h s t a t e in 1918 it b e came clear tha t the o c on omi 0 f u t u r o of Dm1Z i g d epended on tho extent t o- wh i ch Pol a nd woul-d u sc it :;,:; a harbour for h er s hipments . Poland began hor o;I.: :~) o r t of c oc.l t o Scm1d in::.wl<.l. : of rye t o Ho ll·and and . D en;-~,~~ vi-: s egg s and bacon t o Br:t t a i n a nd the Un ite d Sta tos • Exp ort was gr owing flrr.-:3. DC'J.1 Zi g stood o. n excellent chance t o b o the into~ mod:Lar y " But du o t o i ts s peci a l s t r·u ctu pc , t o tho at titude i t has t ake n i t condoiimcd .~··.~ se l f' n o-t t o u sc its f u l l cha n c e . Tho hos tile o.tt i t ud o t a ..:o n by Dm1zig, :I. t s hdni:ni s tr.::ttion and offi c i a l d om· ' t owa r ds Pol and ~ s b ound t o produce d e trimen t a l eff e cts f or bot~ s ide s~ Pol i sh trade p :hJ. i n dus try c ou l cl n ot depend o.l ono on t;'lc mood of t h e burc h ors who triccl t o d o the i r best t o annoy . D:kffi cul t y n:.'t\);:o· c-:.5:.-: :rr.cu:J. :, ;;: :. c·'Y o ~" :'1:" .r..'. ~l o : :-o( ? r·~·- ·- rJ} ;. :P o: .a tions with Danzig. Tho ~nor;1al ou s s i -Guo. t i on f'ina }.1y p:eoclucod . its r• e s u lts • Pol a nd was b ound ta f ind anothox• harbou r uhich -wa s s o on destin e d t o be cor.1e the ce nter of Pol lsJ::>. ~ C 8.. "" -':o: in.c; -r es s oJ ~ · :: • CF (I'l:/P) Do r; 28 3. It was wi..th erea ·c e£fcn·tJs anci g.~ea. ~ .f:; .nJ.n cia·J sacrifices • that Poland b':l Llt GCJ.y:,t.i.a ? l.:.r:: ~-:- :r1vvv b nrbotr:· on fhA spot where a snal l fishj .ng viJ 1at;e and. <.Iot;hi n g 1n·, t s a~'1d c.on 'i.nated tne ..~.--· p;l·J.. ..(;1 [f ·~- l'v' '> C< Cl1 'l' ·Pf·i ('l'l ··j ·t ...... PloneJ,., c;;....u v , Tr'l- e p-.;.."'Q( ,P·"' ~c-.)· s. r,t'·'' ~ .--. "" ·- . \J . .J...... "" f... v ' u ,._. ' .. - ·· - . ·' ""' . ._.... ,,1,.;:1. t l't repaJ.'i the effort s inve ~:;,te c.L .In t:l,J f:J . no. ~ . o. c,cov.:trt :Do..n.?;:Lg was t:p.e :,t.o~ ~ O T , AJ;c1U st :;i;lent ~J ,r;al 1 E: tho ;::;::_,j .: tV,_on of ~:r : te ste o .As long af> Tr~ . s 8"t 0 was the harbou::-:- o:£:' cen!;r a l E'1'l...rope 7 ·the loaO.ing and unloadi.ng .P l:::t ~~ e :f..' or A1L3·v rj_a·:, Ba\rs.Ti.:l 7 ·Hungary; qze c:Q.o s4,ovak.ia, southern Poland o.nc'l. abo ·v~ o.ll SJ.o:rl; nJa and Croatia - ~_rie ete was flou.r i s...~.:i !'l . g c A:U . the '-;1-:: _;:; urto.r-t uco nonJ.o oentres ·of Yougo slav::.. ::;. ar e dj re,:; t J..y OOY1...neo1:;ed with S:'r ie st e b y a no st conveniant r:J.iJ wo,y systeo 'Yougo slavi n o e:L1g the natural _.,.1-nt orlnnd o ·:' +h'• · +v i ·:- r:-n 1 f' ·~ r.·,o· s -1· ,- ~::-J ..., r,et nnt '-'nglo-snxon 1·• { ....U t . U I;_; _..... V ~ ~ - .I ~ ~ ~· -- ~ -·• - U , l. .1 _. J....J ' J V ,::.:_1, - (....1, w:citer a..nd c.uthor ~ r. v.1 .0. . J ~:!? ..IJ.' r"-y.;.C! r ; stated 'Y') Ot J.on:.; ago r 11 Trie ste has :no e conon~ . c n ea:::-11::'}g foJ.: It <.d.y :. -:~ o le ave Trieste :tn _It alian J.la.YJ.QS J. S to CODC.er:1Y·i •T•ri8 f3t E-) ·co d ecay~ to fetter the e0onontc G.eve loy,_ · . o ::. ~ -'r.'i..it:,o s1o.7·) .:.tc. 11 ~·:r ~. est e is geogra pb.icaJ. J.y dest::_ned .!.o ':Je the.: uost jnpo:r:tan-G port of Yugo slr.:w5.o. 1 whi le It.::tly h a s ot her ii :.; po:r · t~ D.nt }J £~rbo urs~ No harbom• c ,_n ezj_o·t ~ f'1our:i sh ~J. nd, d. e:r•re1o:r wj_thou-t a hinterland, The n a\.:iLH'al h] !ltc rla.n T'Yl "'.w·i G' i- 1 1-- :r):-J[~ O f' "l 1 10'() f~ ·: a· .," j " . ' t:> 1 ~ ,., ~ .,· ,"r -:- .-, ,.., 'i._y~ r • ~S ...... / . (_; • ;::> - - .. '...... - - .J. '"" 0 ... _, _._ - ~" l ... ., ... - ( I • CAN '· t ...... Poland :.Ls for IJ :-,, nzid;;; : <:md. ~7J Y (; ~c Ge:::.Laiw , l :f we therefore are arudous t o reo.cb. r.~ pro:;x;r con el.:...1si.o n o.nJ ary~ j n the interest of those ·whose future ct (3 f:;tLr.:lV w"-. o.:., c abQl.:Lt to c1.'2c :Ld e - n.ru:JJ.ely lr. ' ·-' + f' r.: -,,. ·{· Co -" i'''" ~ "< r D '.. '·;..i • .y-, the lXl' •.J.O. O .... t u,,..,.,.1 uS 0 ..... J.: ... J. es ,'-' · '"'' .i.J. a,~ l , O ..,,.-11_,'].{-_ , +h., . e. Cl't y TJ.(Y S t ot;o se1.y ~J.th the ~:dnterJ~and,'l Th,:; e co:Jo:cL!. ri. .interest f3 of the p.tnter.land and. -';;b.R c:l"t;y are t;...'lu..s Ol ' c~un .~c aL4 Ji n.ked with e a::'h ': thP:x' " I t has 'leEm so:1etJne s a::gued t h .::rt f r o .. L a purely ethni:_,nl poi:a.t of wiew ~·:r-jcs ..c c c~~ O lJ. 1 d be l on g to Italy ~ nccordwee w5,th t he pri.:nr::i.l)l.f',; s ,)~ ·t;lJ 8 ' Atlanti.c r;barter.. The clain is based on the :r- e1at .~: o n oi: 1:wc t ::; \one b etween t!l~ Y\l,goslav ·c.nd I ·tal.i.an :popuJ..a~~ . 1.ona of t he c:J.t.,y Jn favour of the I-t aJ.i.. an a HoweveT G. U nn c}.l El.8 thJ.S i'J()C) i.8 Jl:t:Lnc:iple 3,ll0Uld be nd.her:.d to one sh~~: ~~~ - ~o~ _, f~:~ .rr ;·~- ~~~-~t;~_.:/ ts val~dity.is . dependen~· 0:n t hP . -:t. r~ .,t ,1.,.0 t.t t:'. t... 06-'- u.}.D..J.,...,:...~-. a nd P --o .non~ c . uxuts • CP (IT/P) Doc 28 4 . it i s n eant t o ef fect .• It nay well be t h at Italians have • t h e naj ority i n the city of Trie ste , but t his do os not neon, nor i s it a f act indeed, tb.at t hey co:o.mand n r::1aj ority .in t he whol e r eeion with which Trieste is or gnnically linked. · Her e e.gain Dr.mzi g and Triest e offor striking si r.lilarities, D2.nzig populo.tion h ad a Ge r nan najority but it wa s - and it is s we ll est11hlishe d fact - nn i sl 2..nd inside ex clu sively Polish regio nc ~ l\hny points wer e a lready r aised i n t his connection, 3 --tt he r e again we c o..n speak fron ou r own expe r i ence . Ge r :'.lo.ns hav e f or cent:urie s b een t he inhabitcmt s of sono of the europeon citie s. They wer e t h e people who we r e tradi ng cmd i n the · SlE'.v vyorld , pr edo;J.i no.ntly agriculturo..l in t h ose do.y s, they pl e.yed t h e pnr t of i nt ernedinry fron peddl a r s t o whol e s::1le 9 orchcmt s ~ Tho funct ions pe rfo:v·,.o d by t he G c r~:1?.n s i n northern, east ern nnd centra l Europe wG r e porfor :1r!d by t t.e It alicms in t he sout h, Hen ce gr eat Italian centre s which due t o f avourable p oli t ic o~ conditions prese rved the ir char a cter u nt il our days. Bu t i f we E'.pp:j.y conton pora ry l angua ge t o t h e ir novenents of . . t h e se d c>.ys we would call t hen, ordinary i ~ Jnigr ['.Jlt s , And indeed t he.y we r e of t en not only i ::::.1igrants - bu t Rgr o s s.or s , conquoror s , CO:'li ng fro::_;_ t heir native l ands int') r eg±ons wh oso hc.rd COre wa s con plot e ly alien to then . This wa s 10.l so t he case of Trie ste . We a r e t he r c f o 1~ sat i sfie d in our oind s , t hat t h e principle s of t he Atl rmtic Ch?..rter should not 3-nd cannot be u sed as an ar gunent f or t he consolidation of i nperia list conque st·s of the _pa st . Ar f.?;u.Uents to the contrary l ead nowher e . IVJ.ay I be p e n~1 itt e d t o qu ote a hun an eXE1nple ,. We st fron Tri e ste and ev en be yond _Mo nfL'1- lcone, there is on t he c·oast a pl 2.Ce called ~r ad o, Gradesh in Yugoslav, a we ll knowri r e:Sort for children .. J.t was !:lany years ago when one of the nenbe rs of our de l egation still a child spent the r e his holido.ys with his par e nt s . Hi s not h er was surprised by t h e f a ct t hat the young b oy wa s so quick in his shopping expeditions and t he a ss.1 1:1ption was t hat he n nst ered the Italian l rm guage •. Th e secret was, howev e r, t h at he did not speak Italihn at all .. He spoke Polish an d h e wa s u nderstood - the local p~a.pul rrti o·n wa s conposed of SlEws . Th i s was in I907, _Today nobody clai n s t he r eturn of Grndo to Yu coslavic.. The Italian sett·lers h£we got a s sinil2.t e C: t her e • If we do not · do ju:stice t o Yu gos lavia 'B.lld l eav e sone areas i nhabite'd by Slov enes and Croates to Italy or. within a stretch of l an d t hou gh i nter nation['.lised under Italian dor.1ination , we n e..y be f aced · in t he years t o cone with t h o conplet e sev er ance · of that ar e a fron its Slavonic ance stry rvnd past., CP ( It/P) Doc .,28 The Ita lian wave may again swe~ p away a part of {~:tgosJ..av:La 's ethnological r egion., The case of Gr ado may be r e p eated iD bigger d i mensions ,, And lis t oning to this, fellow-d EJ l ega tes .? plea:. se d0 .::-cmo :rnr"Jo r that Yv _-:_J lavias ' when c ompar ed with Italy i s a s maller stc.te a~~d _ do not for go t that she has been a victin of injust :i_ c E:: for long, The South-African D3legat o argu ed that a clear o~hnica~ : i~D should be drawn a s t he inclus ion of an Italian minority jntc ~ugo~ slavia would bo a danger to poa c e ~ Well,. ·. Europeans and those who know Europe rE::G.l iso th9._t ~- n ::.1 me lting pot of nations a nd n o. tionalities like j~ ·ro po a ·cl.e a P 81-"l(~, do:'initopthn:.c a l frontie r is impossible o iu'ld o.:'tcl'' o.U_ o tn::1 i co. j_ cons iderations s .30 vT.-r-;;· i np ol~ t.a nt in themsol vos) ::" '.w And finally one moro point o \iVhor o o.galn Dunz.:.§, 21 ce1 'T.v· i os !.:,c h a ve o. cormnon f oo. t u re? Bo th of them si tuo. ted fa1"' a wo.y frc!r~ , .:i O centres of the countries they o nce formed a po.rt <:) f ,, 1Jo .. :[, .:J,o ')' ' ··::; :,1:. 1 ~ 1. :.: of spoc t fic pollc ios pursued in those do.v s .., And ·.) u t p8 ~Jt s · I dL :::. ::.=.l ·: us o.re awar e of it ·~ are very. eo.sily up to be0o mo c.. o::l "c :':' ·J2 : . .:_ extror:1o nationalismt what r.1ore -- even ._~;: ~ ·_ vin1.sra ,. Dan r:;:~ g "lory S·Y) t: beca n~ tho city of ~it l e rito propaganda, Hitl orito da~~nn~ion 27K was v e r y Oft g o l ' to ou tdis tanco e ven tho Na zis in ~ho cent "3 of Germany ~ Lo n g b e fore thi s i t wD.s s aid the Sono. :ce of \:; ho f;:> c;o J t',' h e.c:. bE;lc or:1o to all i ntents and purpos o s a Go r man p::.·o v ~.n s "'~ o. } c. ,·'lm~.;·· ~. : ation~ a nd l o t us remembe r, Danzi g was me ant t o b o o. f c:'O'.' c; ji<' · But not only tho.t Danzig was ·linked vd.th Eo.s t e:r:.l Pr:,~c:;.s.:."~ .'1 11<", through i t with tho Reich" This territor]_o.l !_i nl:: ~ up he.c f z'. ::n: cons equo~J.cos o Tho Ge·haan i nhabitants of Danzlg l ooked u:)ui.l t~ l0J 'L" solves from a torr itorio.l point of vi ow as if t hoy wo:r.'c c i 1:.~~ :: e;~ _ :.:, ry L tho Hoich ;. though l egally the r e was not t ho sli gr~tost bc. .s::.s l'o .•"' '.J · ~ It was in fuct a political desi8n i ntended for pur ely ~·:c , · ' .:t.t:::··.·:! . purposes ... Tho r o was no obj e ctive basis for . i t o i t hor 0 'I'.t L;_~ ; ·::>c<~ . ;·_~g so irrational c l en:onts had t o bo i nvo l:od a :nd b. ~; w e..-:v.:: y .,_, :\~ '-' b ecome more no. tionalis tic t han tllo p~oplc wi th].n tho . 'f:''ro pcl t e rritory of tho state ? C.P . (IT/P) Do c.28 6 • And this is a great danger indeud. We. had it in Danzis yesterday we mav h ave it in Trie ste t o-morrow. I t is the r efor e that ill sorvi~ o would be r ender ed to tho. p ooplo o~ Tri o st ~ if wo wor e to tempt them to c; o al ons this dangerous path . We sto. t o it her o cy. ito clearl y : by pre s erving a corridor linking-up Trie ste with Itc.. ly and leaving Trie ste a s an Italian outpost, we will creat e such a t emp t atior:t• · Danzig was one of tho .free citius £ r catod after tho f i r s t world w:::tr . ·'rho othor vms .Fiumo . I taly horse lf i:mggo.stcd its crea tion. Hardly, ho ·,~r ovor , did tho f nk dr y on tho Rc..p allo trenty , wh cn d'Annunzio, tho Italian adventurer s e ized Fiumo ~ But ii was _not tho ac tion of an adventurer only . It was backed by tho then Ita lian g ovcrru'tont and Yugo s l via was throat c. n cd vii th war whon she dol~tAnde d nothing r.wro than tho fullf ilmo nt and compliance with a treaty to which Italy volunta rily b oc mno a po.rty . Thus wo ho. vc tht..: oxpEJ rionco of tho t n o free citi e s created after t h G first wo rld wa r . Bot h provide us with very sad l e ssons from whi ch conchi_sions mu s t bo drawn . Smnll wonder tho.t pe.s t experience affects the present attl tudo of tho Yugoslav people . Lot us beware from crea t i ng a noth c ~ danger spot in Europe . We hope thn. t t h o ·now demo cratic Ita ly, wh oso endeavours wo c;r o0 t with sympnthy, would n ot r e s ort t o o.n expansionist policy. We trus t t h o. t fri en dl y r e l ation s will b e ost abl i ·sh od botwcon t hose t wo n c i c;hbour ing countri es. But it is our duty to pave the way to thc~r futuro f riendship a s nmch as -vve can , V'lo should r emove o.l l possible source s of friction and thus enable t hun to start with a clean shoot. We appeal to the now democratic Italy; by agr eeing to a just frontier for Yuc;oslavia they IVillloso the so all area but they vvi ll gain the i r n oic;hbour as n sinc ~ r c friend. · The dr~:.win g of frontiers in, Europe is n. . p ~d.rlf u l task. i ndeed . thor o is hardly a spot on t ho c ontinont ~hich i s not be s et by past j oalousios , prv j udi co and r i valry . Europe is ther ef or e :unable to have, frontiers of tho t ypo di viding Canada from t h e; Unit ed Statu s bub who.t can be dono is to promot e the spi rit of oqui t y and fo l low the lino of cer tain economic o. nd othnogr aphicn. l oh ti tic s. The case of t ho Yugos lnv-Ito.licm f ronth :r i s on6 on vh ich this can be applied . · l . ~., {It/P) Doc ,.28 MraCha irma n ; for va rious r easons which wo don't propose to me ntion h or o 1 it s ooms n ow to bo tho pre dominant opin i on tha t Trios t o will be c ome an i nt urna tionalisod t erritory 0 The r e i s no doubt tha t m:10ng tho r easons responsible for this view i s tho!ni x od p opu l a t ion of this city~ and tho f a ct t ha t h e r h arbou r s ervos not only Yugos l avia but several coun t r i es i n c entra l an d p o.storn Europe. Our 'Yugoslav colle ague s , h av e duly t aken n ot e o1· this f a ct ... Since this is tho pre vailing view t ho o:c:.-::dn isa t ion and tho s t a tuto of tho futuro interna tionalised t ex•r i tor.l oP'-'wh atovor i t will bo cr.J.lod a r o of pa ramount' :1m ... p ortanco . It i s cl e ar t hat wo s hould thoro.forc oxoreiac tho gi>oat ost cur e p oss ::..b l o so a s not to bo tro.ppod in tho mistak e s o f t h f.' pas t . Wo l i::Jt cnod with gr oat inter e st to tho words of s en a tor 0 1Connol y and wo f ully s h are tho spirit of his spooch an d h i s des i r e for a s ottlomont ae;rooablo to all1 but wo c annot agr e e wjth him1 whon ho put forwar ~ tho idea of a now i ndependent stat e of Trie ste . Lot me r o·rn:indyou that Da nzig s t a rte d . .. r~ s a 11 fro i o Sto.dt 11 - 11 froo city" - but soon it boc m:1o a 11 Fro i-13 t aat 11 - Froo Statb .. tho r o ~ults being di s a s t rous for po aco : · That is why t h o Polish De l egation fo ols that tho f u t uro o f Triosto ::'o a l ly dop onds on tho statuto with which wo ar o go ing to bo;3tovo it. Wo shall thor o,foro try to olo.borat o our views on t hat lmb j oct when tho time comes. But alroac:ly now wo wish to mako . it· cl oar tha t Trie ste becoming intornationo. lisod, its tic s with Yugos l avia must bo tho closest possible and t h e t orritoP-y of it as s1nall as poss ible, thus uniting tho l a r s8r r o.g ions with t ho hint orla nd, they form a part of not , only. f rom an e c onomic but als o e thnogr aphical point of viewe li'or t h e r eason s q uoood above .. we f ool that this course will b o in t ho i nt erest of p oaco 1 'in tho inte rest of tho p ooplo of ·Tr i c Dt o whos o f' a t o arid f u t uro should be close to our hearts~ and a lso i n t h o inter e s t of 'Yugoslavia. only then tho wrong dono in tho p a st when tho Yugoslavs ... in tho words of tho ormni n cnt Enc,l ,i sh historian A.~.,P.T~y.lor whom wo quoted aJ ·.-·)ady a bove 11 wor e ''comp e lle d to agr oo to the ir t emp orary dofoats by t h,o tre aty o~ Rappalo11 .... will .. be :made right. • G• P. ( It /P ) D oc • 2 8 We feel t hat t he.- amendmen-t. sub~ l tte d. by t he!· Delegat i on of Bi e lorussia prov i des a useful b e..G i s f or a c orJ.promise t o meet the conf l i ct i ng v i ews d i s pl ay ed a t thi s c onfe::~ cnce o The Bi e lo russi an fl, mendment do (::; s j ust i c e t o t he v e r y . r eat:on a bl8 :p oint s 7 which are al so t he c once rn of the :Polish ]) el•::{,:; at i on ~ 1/ :-:..t t ak es due conside n :; t,ion of t he c ommuni cs t i cm s y s t em :L1 t he upper Is onz o c ons :Lde:ring · t~e n eeds of t h at a r ea. In t he light of t h i s conBiderat i on we urge O'ir Br a z i lian c olleagu.es to look upon t his prob1em als o f r om the point of view o:f Yu g oslavia and not only Ita l yo Th cd .:.r ge ogr a ph ical <:7 Xport:s · w1l 1 - we a r s s ure - prov2de the r·igh t .\r eply, . A d eta jJ_ed map mus t t o c ons ulte d "' We ::."'equest our Br a?, i;Lia:n colleagues t o d o i t " 2/ It t e:ck es into a cc oun t t he n eedr 2.!1d E-:>conc""'lic ·s i t uation of the t o w:~ of :} c::-_~_ z:'" n ~ , It provides for a lj11k""up of tha t town wi t u t ne a ·1·ea of vrhtch i t is t h e c a pitaL This , a r ea i s a pa r t of Yu g osl avia . Thus Gor i :zi.a 'b elongs ther e too. ' 3/ It r e j ects the h a r n:fu.l conc ept :Lon· of a c or r id or which pr ov i des an unnec eusar y link b etwoen Tr ieste and t h e I t a l i an ma inl and c F or ethnica l reao CA'1 S , s o f requent ly h e r e invok ed 7 _o:nly y e:3t erday by .Vu· . V:.t'3b .:!n sl' Y ~ t:L1is pa -ct shoul d be inoJ.ud od. :L."lt o Yug os l avia o •f 4/ It l eav e s vv i t hin t he proposed rcgicn of t he int erna tiona lise d t erritor y only t h; town of Tries t e . It thus fol l ows t h e a r t,llillen t s a r:.v an c ed by u s .A:ce.. o.s ":; o remaL."ldur t h e t er r itory s outh of the t own ?. i t advo c a ~1Gs its inclusion in to Yu g osl avia_, Th i s po.r t of tho c on test ed a r ea sh ould by t he app1ica t :i on of t he princ:LpJe of te rT~Lt or j_a l conti gu lty t) ec ome pa rt of Yugosl av:i.aoThe area sou th r.f Tries -G o :is not h ing l ess , 'bu t a n ot her Ea st Prussi a on the Adriatl c . Th i s a r ea i s indeed a t ypica l cas e wh er e t he principl e of c ontiguity 9 so oft en1 a ppJ..J.ed :.ln .int er n a t iona l arb :L i.~ra t i on in c onne ct.i.on - ~- -tth t e.rtit-or:Lal d.i .s putos should b e fully a dhe r ed t o ,; 1 C ,P. ( It/P ): Doc·. 28 9. I ·" Mr. Cllairman, k, ",'If InVl)king the above el emen ts, pr ecedents and arguments · ~ vve urge the Commiss ion to c ivo t hJm its most -earnest ·c onsidera "t;ion . Through--ut this d i scuss ion we have tried te l~ok upon-:. thi$ issue and t o pass jud g ment ~n it from a completely . il! \tnbiased point (')f -view . We trus t -t-r.at there will be round this t a~le n o divisil"'n, with s~me wh'' :r... ave cordial sentiments f~r italy ~n r-ne s ide , and s c,me who have the same sentiments f~r Y\l.g'oslavia .,n the ether. We have no-t c~ me here to display ·eur sentiments ~r feelings. Our t ask is t ·1 help in the s •lutien of a very o r m:plicated · pro'!'J1em . It is in this spirit that the Polish Delegatien 'ffe~ed its contribu~i 0n, hoping that it will take us on the r•ad t~ a wise and equitable decisic-no I hrrpe that the sense of res- 1' r.::s ir. ility :f ~)I;' cur wnrk h .e.re -will j.us--t .ify the ·lengt,n ~f my speech. · '\ . O.P. (It/P) Doc .2 9 . $opt~Jbor 6, 1946. P l..R:::S C ONFSRENCE . ' ' Political ~nd Te~r:i:;'t o rin.l Corm:4ssicm for Italy Stntencmt r.1acle by Ili. ·-Petrovski G.t t ho raeoti:n,s hold on Scptenbor 7, 1946 , on behalf of t he Ukrainian Del egation. The question of the fronti ers between the Fedcro.tiv c People 1 s Republic of Yugoslavia on the one hand tmd Italy on tho other, t ho.t i s to say, tho question of the J ' uli~Jn Earch an The peace treaty which vro.s c onclude The U,krainian Soviet D0l egati on 8upports the stn.tenent of its Chief Represen tative , DT._. Mn.nuilsky on tho subject of tho Juli:ln March n.nd of Trieste when he expressed his opinions on tho 3 J.ugust i n the c ourse of the p l enary session of the Conference. The Julian March i s an i ntegr a l pn.rt of Yt.l[;oslavia historically, ethnically and econo:Jically. The propos a l Lln.dc by the Counc il of Foreign l\iinis tors cli\riuos this region i nt o three p arts, the Itnlian1 the Yu,gosl c.v and tho i nte r nn.tional sections. OUr De l egati on consid{)r that in deprivins Yugoslavia of o. p orti on of the J'ulj n.n March and of Trieste , a severe blow is being d.en.l t on the historical aspirations of the YU[;oslav people - c. people who ho.vc mo.dc e nor nous sacrifices in this second world war, a people who have i;lalle an i nport ant contribt:1tion to tho ·victory of the Uni t e It was not at !lll by cho..nce whe n, after tho first world vm.r, TriGste foll into Italian hands and vras separated fror.1 '.'rhat is now the Federati vc Peopl e 1 s Rcrl'l ·l:i.c of Y1..l8 oslavia, and t o whi ch it vvas closely l;i.nkeO: economioally, that Trieste undc.:c · werit a severe economi c crisis. The Ukrainian Del egation consi ders that if the pr oblem of Trieste and tho Julia.n March is not solved .in a manner favourable to -tho Federative Peopl e ' ::; Republic of Yugosla'\tin,this woul d constitute an act contra ry to the principl es of true democracy, an act of the gr eat est historical in j~stic e . C.P. (It/P) Doc.29. 2. Several proposals have been submitted to the Conference regarding the future ~boundary line betvreen the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia and Italy: and it can be concluded from the various interventions which have taken place here, that there arc a large number in favour of what is tenned "the French line". It is the belief of the Ukrainian Delegation that a truly equitable frontier is that which allovvs for the incorporation of the Julien lviarch and of Trieste in the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia. The 11 draft" frontier most closely reser.1bling that of the Ukrainian draft is that subr.ri tted during a r.1eeting of this Conunission by I·i . K. V. Kisselev, Head of the Byelorussian Dele.r:;ation, that is to say, the line called the 11 Byclorussi.an line11 • This draft can be regarded as the absolute nlrumun of what could be accepted as a satisfactory be:sis of a cof.lpror.rise solution. \ I will now underline the most important points of the draft subrnitted by the Byclorussian Delegation. This draft incorporates in the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia tho town of Goritza as well as several villages situated to the Yv'C st and to the south of that town. In this matter the Byelorussian Delegation very justly takes into account ethnical principles. It is impossible to sepL~ate Goritza from the town of which it is the economic, cultural, political and ac1ministrative centre. The artificicl separation of Goritza frou that region .promises nothing .::;c od either for that region or for the town of Goritza itself. : oust also underline the fact that the Byelorussian line, leaving as it docs Goritza inside the Yugoslav frontier, does not deprive those places which have remained in Italian possession, of the indispensable means of crn~unication. The Byelorussian line proposes that the Slovene District of Benesch (170 sq. km. - 15,000 inhabitants) be left in Yu,soslo..vio... The r.1ain principle of this proposal is based on ethnic data. ::;:tis commonknowledge that the oldest inhabitants of this t erritory arc exclusively Slovene. It is no loS'S i mp ortnnt t o point out tho.t tho Byolorussian line shortens the :Crontier line of this district f r on 46 to 22 kms. The "French line" creates an artificial corridor betvvcen Trieste and Trgitch (500 sq. km. - 65,000 inhabitants). This corridor deprives Slovenia of its outlet to the sea. Whilst on the contrary, the Byclorussia.n line caopl~~cly cuts out this artificial corridor, which is entirely unjustified, and opens up ·a sea. outlet for Slovenia. I would beg a few more ruoments 'of your kind attention to spcn,k on the amendment proposed by the Delegation of the Union of South l.frioa t,o the ~Aft frontier between the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia and Italy, for that question is linkod to one of equal importance to that of Slovenia's access to the sea. I ~.P. (It/P) Doc . 29 . 3. 1S t or s tudyinG the nap i t i s not diff'icult t o di scer n t o '\vhat the South L..frican Del e r.;ation' ~ a.raendmcnt is l ending. This De l egation, like the-t.- of Brazil, has ventured t o go even f urther than t hat of t he French ,pl an and pr oposes t o cnn pl c t e l y cut Slovenia off fron the sea . These dr aft s i n no way take i nt o account t he i nter est s of t he Popul ar Republic of Sl ovenia . The People ' s Republi c cf Sloveni a is not out a sli1ple afuxLni s trative division i n the whol e of Yu;'osl avi n. a t er r i t ory the extent ·of Yihich ce.n be incr eas ed or r educed f or a&:li ,li strati ve r easons. The Pe ople 1 s Republic l)f' Sl ovcni[:. i s a natione.l stat e ·,d t h a history vvhich bocru:1c a part of t he People ' s Federati ve Republic of Yueosl av:i E'.. of its ovvn free ·,vill, as an independent state. Sl ovenia ho.s her own Parlit>uont (Skoupchtina ) el ecte-d "'oy univer sal ~ u.ffragc gr e at raaj orit y of the population of Slove nia • s 1'urritor y bel on;:;s t u one s ilv::<;l o people, tho Sl ovenes. This peopl e nw:1bc r i ng over a nillion , enj oys all der.10cratic li.Dorties anc1 hru:; its ovm l egi s l ati on • • Slovenia i s a State 1vi th an i ndu stry ivhi ch i s sufficiently deve l oped , e specially i ts heavy and t ext i l e i ndu:::;trics and ·irhose rural e ccnoE1y es pecially vv.i th r egard t o t ho br eedirl[; of s t ock i s pr ocluctiv c . The Slovenes have thei r m~m 1DJ1[~ua:;o , a hi .zhl y devel oped no.ti onal civilisat ion, :'.itoroturo1 , a.rts, sci ences and t hei r own nat ional epi c cycle·• . The first book publit;hed i n Sl ovenia appcc..r cd i n 1551 • Slovene s t::ionce oan boc.st of s ciontiut s Duch as the wc lllmo'.'lTl r.1at hem:,ti c i an aml 2.s t r onomer Tesn. (1 8th century) aft e r . whora a s t ar Ti'<.lS n.'"~no d. . Slovoner:; arc justl y pr oud of poets such a s Fr ant z Pr c chi ren (a c cntonpor nr y of our Pouchk i nc ) Ko·=)i tar , :i.Iiklpchatch . The pc rcent a~';e of t h,; po~J ulation abl e t o rco.G. n.mt wr i t o is 96>~ i n Sloveni a . In tho s truggle against t h1:: J!'asoist Gcn:1ans , :;:t o.l Lm agc;rcssi on of Hitle r and Hussolini, t ho liberty l ovi n,c: Sl ovenes r_::r.wu bro divisi ons t o t he Yugoslav n.my of National Liberation; all t he Uni t ocl }btiuns rrerc proud to ncnt;Lon t he names of "Vre llknovm anti Fasci s t leackr s i n the Gt :r'1.18:s l e for f reeclOj:} o:fl the Slovene peopl e. Today, however, the pr oposal is made to di si nt egr <":te thi s i ndependent state, . t o wc D..kon and undeiui ne itD ocuncimi c f oundO.tion, t o cut off _ii;s outle t t o the sea and ther eby ocver the ceo noJ!"li c ties which link .it to noi :!hbouring Stat es . The French, South .:'... f rlcan, ~md Br azi lian pr oj edt::> The division of the Sloyene Territory as marked out by the French line (supported by the amendrionts of Bra!5il and the Union of Soue1 lu"ricn. ) vvould have equally e;rave effects upon the cultural life of the country. · 1~ ritunber of national cultural institutions are to be found on this territory, n;mely the University. It woulc1 be a gr~_ve blow for Slovenia to be suddenly and artificially cut off from the sea. The Ukrainian Delegation unJ erstands better than anyone, the l c~:,i timate desire of Slovenia and of the People' 5 ]'cclerativc Republic of Yugos~avin to keep their wartime ports and thdir ~·rli!;,c outlet to the sea. Ukrainia, herself a maritime State, r ealises how iEtportant it is for a State touchine the sea to be ;i.n a position to cor;JE. The Ukrainian Pelegation con&ider$ that the les i tirnate clt:.:i.r.ls of the Pcop+c' Republic of SloverP.a, supported by the Federative Republic of Yu,goslavia JilUSt be met. The proposed dirlsion of the People's Republic of Slovenia is in kuorlin(; neit~er with the spirit nor with '\;he substn:nce of the dccln.rations 0f th(J United Nations; it is in contradiction to the dwrter of the United N~tio ns which 3uarantoes to all Nations large or sualJ., tho ri ~ :ht of free c1isposal, Cl.nd cn.sures equ..'llity of rights, and consequently the rir;ht to indc};lcnc1e:-tt i.JOlitical t;lristence, when the mode of this existence has beeu chosen by th~ fl"' -:;)10 itDclf, The positive elom0nts of the proposal of the 13yolorussian :Oclecation conoe:tning tho frontie:rs of Yu13oslavia in o[l.S0 tho Comr:d.ssion c1ocs no-t so~ f'i·t tc meet wholly the claims of Yu._rs oslavia, coul(:. be considered. as I.-dnimurn clains the satisfaction of which would mean that a more or le::;s just solution i\1:1.8 .found for the question of the Yugoslav frontier. 'rhis is the motive which pr·omrtod the Ukrainian Delegation to support the proposal of the heaC! of the Delegation of Byelorussia, M. K.V. Kissilev. Palais du Luxembourg, Pnris. 7 Septembe:c:; 1 946. - ..... ~--~--- I ' • • J C. P.(IT/P) Doc ~ 30 Septei11ber 7 s 19lJ-6 PARIS CONFERENCE POLI'i'ICAL :\~m l 1EHHI TORIAL COMivi iSS!ON ;¥OR ITALY ·---- - ... - ...... -- -~· ··-- ~.. ------~- 2:Q~~.£Q.. .•de liv e r ~d b_y Mr ~~9&±.L§.t the meeti pg Qf_~~tember 7.1. ....~ • ' ( t ext p rovided by t he Yugoslav Delegation) The f irst speaker t o take the floor here in cippd~ition to t he j1X '~ if i ed o.sp irations of Yugoslavia was the d.e.~ egate from SouU1 Af'I·ica. He was speak ing in support of his amendment the lJUr11ose of ·wh i cll was to t ake away from Yugoslavia arid in~lude into ·cbe Pr ee 'tei" r i tory of •rr i es.te ~ in addi t'ion to Northvl'estern. I stria, the southwestei"n pai't of t his province? t he population and ar ea of ·,v:1 i ci1 gl;'e more cons i der able than t hose of which the Pr ench Line deprives Yugo--sl avia. In other words, the South Afr ican Delegat e t ook upon himself to vindicate part of the Italian deinands 9 whi ch have here been voiced by Signor' Bonomi. The se cond part of the I talian cla ims was, as we shall, see laterg sponsored by the Brazilian Delegation. The claims of the Italian aggr e s s or ha ve ~ thus y found here at least two open advocat es . In so doing y t he South African Delegat e not me r ely adopted t he demands of t he Italian D e l eg a t i on~ but also i ts ar gumentat i on, VV e very ilmch regi"e t t hat the Delegate from South Africa thus exp.osed himself to t he risk of repeating an un.truth wh ich someone hacl del i berat ely spoken be:f ore him. If one wishes to defend a p oint of V"i ew, it is essential to acquaint oneself wit h t he ob j e ct iva :f.a..;ts. Otherwi se t he advocate of the point of v i ew i n questi on i s liable to have . the unbiased and unpre judiced nat'ure of hi s intentions -d oubted, he is open to the char ge of ·~ aki ng up a f lippant a t tit ude towards t he question · up on which t he happiness or unhappiness of hundr eds and thousands of people d ep end ~ Thus both Bonomi and the South Afr ican Delegate deemed it necessary to quote from Article 75 of the Report of the Commission.for t he J ulian March, the same sentence regarding the Italian p opulation in_the towns of western Istrial! while t hey neglect ed to q-q,o te t he ~;y n~xt sept ence of th~ same ArtLcl e where refe:rBX l ~ e i s made to the Slovene and Croatian inhabitants of thi s r egion 9 who f orm the enormous major ity of_ the rural populat i on and a cons iderabl e part of t he population of t he tovr.t1s . These are t he words of the Report of the Commissiono • C. P.(IT/P) Doc.30 2 • We have to mention here that, both Signor Bonomi and 1v1r. Jor daan, who quoted one sentence of Article 76, failed to quo·ce the following article~ Article 77, which says that "it is impossible to draw in this region, as it was done in other regions to the north, a clear line of ethnical demarcation between the t vvo elements of the populati6n." Both of them f ailed t o . explain the meaning of the text of the Report~ v;l n,j~J. csl:a."oli shes ·c he faet that the Croatian and Slovene popu lation thrust to·wards the sea "in three main directions", because they •.:v·ould· have been confronted vvi th so many "other directicm.sH 9 all along the coast, that they would have been ob1iged to conclude;; that the I\talians here represent only lsola tee!. :. slets ., Besides, if v:e take the wh ole of the terri tory of VJestern. I stria wi thil1 the boundaries proposed by the South African amendment, the YugL'Slavs are a con:;:;iderable majority. The same .app1.ies to t he northwestern part of Istria as delimited by the French Line. It is hardly necessary to repeat what has already been said about the absurd:ity of such a line from the economic point of view. 'l'he small towns of Western I stria were declining even at the time of I ·ca.l y . l i' the frontier were really to be drawn on ihe basis of the French Line - not to mention the South African amendment - these tovms would be doomed to a rapid extinction. One is a t a loss to d iscern in whose interests the setting up of soi:nething s o artificial would be. It could possibly serve as a convenient springboard for aggression against Yugosl.avi.a, b.ut could neither benefit the population of Is tria~ not promote good relations between Yugoslavia and Italy ., The South African Delegate laid particular emphasize on the necessity of avoiding, in the interest of peace, the creation of a large Italian minority in Yugoslavia. The South African amendment wishes to forestall such a danger, and t herefore simply t ak:es the whole of Istria away from Yugoslavia. r.et . us leave aside the completely untenable assertion of the South African Delegate 9 that all minorities are apt to lead to all kinds of conf..t..icts and even to wars. In our opinion, it is not iri t he minorities that the danger is to be sought? but in the aggressor -who stands behind them. By quoting the case of the 0ud~?t.en~ the SouthAfrican Delegation shows that it has les.:;,'nt nothing from the experience of the Munic.h policy, be ( C.P.(IT/P) Doc.30 The most remar:Kab1e aspect of the matter is, however, that the South African Delegation shows such concern for the Italian minority in Yugoslavia, while it completely overlooks the fact that the French Line leaves a f ar. more considerable Yugoslav minority in Italy. The· South African Delegation, and the other delegations which opyosed the Yugoslav claims, have discovered ever~- single Ital,ian locality in Istria 1 not matter how small and ~solated; they have, moreover, discovered such localities even where they do not and did not exist, while they completely ignore such terr·i tor ies !3-S Venetian Slovenia, or 11 Slavia Italiana", (as t hi s province is called in all Italian text books), with their comp act Slovene population. · - If the Delegate from South Africa had troubled to acquaint himself with the objective facts regarding the life of t he people whose territory is under discussion, he would probably have also been led to ask himself, for which of the two neighbouring nations t his line is a heavier blow - if you prefer - a more cons i der able loss. He would have learnt that the French Li~e deprives Slovenia of 200.000 Slovenes, and that this amounts to 12~-o of the entire Slovene nation. One of these st a t~nents of the South African Delegate throws a strange light on his general attitude. He said that the :tract that the Italians had settled i n Yugoslav territory after the Treaty of Rapallo, was of no importance. He said t~at the Italians had a r i ght to do so, because they considered that this frontier would be a permanent one. Log ics of this kind can s ervo to justify ever y act of violence in hi story. In Alsace and Lor·r·aine ~ too~ the Germans " settled believing t hat t i1is t erri tory would remain Gerrnan for all time s. Would li' r ance be inclined to take such an act of violence as sufficient evidence of the point of view that she no longer has any right to Alsace ru~d Lorraine? The only pur pose of t~.. io and s Lnilar 11 principles 11 is to serve a s justifica tion for method of violence in interna tional affairs. I do not f eel that tho Peace Confer ence has been convened in order to vindicate violence$ but, am ong other things 1 to put right · at least certain injus ticoc. of 1rhich aggressor and imperialistic Stat es have ~ eo n guilty in recent his tory. One such his torical inju;:;tice is that perpet rat ed by Italian imperialism in the Julian darch 7 and which conGi st ed in a systematic policy of violence and o f forcible dena tionalization d irected. against the Yugoslavs. I cannot believe tha t the South African Delegate never heard of all this ••• What could , gener ally speak ing , have aroused the South African Delegation' s i nterest to the extent of causing it to C.P.(IT/P) Doc.30 4 . • make proposals regarding a terri tor ~r so remote from its own? The ·spokesman of the . Delegation gave t wo r easons: First, a desire to avoid future wars, and second $ concern for good ~elations between Yugoslavia and Italy. It see'ms very strahge to me that a proposal which would result in the establishing of bridgeheads directed against Yugoslav~a - could mean an abstacle to war? An how does the South African Delegate show his concern for good relations between Yugoslavia and Italy? B~ giving Italy what she asks for, and by taking awal_from Yugoslavia what belongs to h~, We can only thank him for such a . 11 conciliatory11 role. It is obvious that no trace is here to be found of the sympathies for Yugoslavia, of which the South African Delegate ~oke. One thing, is certain: This is not a basis for the improving of relations between Italy and Yugoslavia. It is ·dif ficult, at first sight, to discover any kind of logic in the attitude adopted here some days ago by the Brazilian Delegation. On several points, the Brazilian rep resentative is in agreement with us. While he does not refute our argumentation in any single concrete instance, he agrees with our criticism of the Rapallo Treaty, shares our reserves regarding ethnical equilibrium, arunits the possibility that a comprehensive analysis might show that the Yugoslav argumenta tion is correet, agrees that the pure ethnical line would. con sti tut·e the most satisfactory frontier. He th.us, accepts the main points of our argmnentation. At the very moment however, when he was express ing these views, maps were being distributed, • showing the line proposed by none other than the Brazilian Delegation, and t his line modified the French Line , not in accordance with the Yugoslav proposals but in conformity with Italy's most extreme claims. The Brazilian line is sufficiently character ized by the fact that it gives Italy, in addition to what she gets on the basis of the French line, 600 square kilometres of Slovene territory, which, according to the Austrian census of 1910; had a population of 40.645 Yugoslavs and only 150 Italians, and even according to the 1921 census, to which the Italian Delegation is wont to refer, there are 35.938 Yugoslavs and only 1.149 Italians. It is precisely this Brazilian line which shows the real purpose underlying its first proposal, i.e. that the question of the Julian March should ·oe postponed for another year. What the Brazilian Delegation wishes to achieve , is the fulfillment of the Italian claims. This is what the role of the Brazilian Delegation boils down to. \ C.P.(IT/P) Doc.30 5. • It is, of cours e ~ not easy for the Brazilian Delegate to find justifica tion f o~ the proposal that Italy should be given a terri tory whe1•e t i1 ere are 40. 000 Yugoslavs and practically no Italians. In his speech~ the Brazilian Delegate expressed~ runong other t hings, the thought that it would be a fine thing to take the defense of defeated Italy, but th~t ~ r~ zil i? 1 nevertheless not the advocate of Italy. This sentence conta ins two inexactitudes. 'rhere is nothing noble in taking up the defence of a defeated aggressor, who is endeavouring to rise again as such, and the Brazilian Delegation is~ nonetheless~ appear·ing here in the role of hi"s advocate; as his conscious or unconcious spokesman. To all this the Yugoslav Delegation can give but one reply. The peoples of Yugoslavia did not reconcile themselves to the Italian and German yol{e, even at the 'time' when the Italian and German conquerors, were at the height of their power. They will not reconcile themselves to such a yoke now, when the advocates of the defeated aggressor wish to impose it upon them. Besides, the proposal of the Brazilian Delegation is such, that not even the Brazilian Delegate has so far had the courage to speak a singl e word in its defense. The Brazilian Delegation simply slipped t his map into our hands, a map which could have been invented only be enemies of the peoples of Yugoslavia, and not possibly by a State which says itself to be Yugoslavia's Ally. One cannot help feeling that the whole attitude of the Brazilian Delegation denotes an obvious lack of enthusiasm for the unglorious part which it is playing. The fact remains, however, that the Brazilian Delegation has accepted t his part. On the other hand the Brazilian proposal for the postpone ment of the conclusion of a final peace with Italy, means that the conditions in whici1 the population of the Julian March is living is to last another year, it means that a question? which, while unsettled, constitutes an obstacle to the· pacification of part of Europe. The representative of the United States Mr. Connally warned us against making territorial claims. Territori~l claims, he sai ~ , lead to war. We agree with Mr. Connally, that the claiming of foreign territories is apt, in many cases to lead to war. But what is the _value of this principle with which we all agree? What are its implications vvhen it is put merely in such general form in this discussion? To whom is Mr. Connally's app eal addressed? We think that it is not necessary for M:r. Connally to direct his appeal to us, who have, throughout our hist~y, and ! . C . 'P . (IT/~) Doc. 30 6 • . also in the course of' the recent Wa r~ been the victims of those who coveted our land, and who have never waged a war of aggression nor conquered foreign territories. We are here to clairn our own laud~ ~'vhich had been· Wl"enched from us by f oreign invad e r ~ and which we lib erated with our own forces in t he course of this 'Nar. Consistency wou:d have required, that i·1ir. Connal ly should have addressed his appeal to Italy. I t is Italy vvhich is demanding our terri tory, L e. which is trying t o keep the territory she had ob t ained by the dictate of Rapallo. If his appeal is addressed to Yug oslavia~ it has to be considered as a support given to the aggressor, a s j ustification of aggression~ inspite of its attractlve and moderat e l ang~age . 1l'he repi•esentative -of the Uni t ed Kingdom has slightly revised the decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers regarding the criterion 9 which should be taken as the basis for the delimitation of the Italo-Yugoslav frontier. We are all acquainted vvi th the decision of the Council of Ministers which says 9 that the ethnical line must be the basis for the del imitation of the frontierj and that also economic considera tions have to be t aken into account. As against t his, the representative of t he United Kingdom speaks of thr ee g roups of f a ctors, which are to be decisive for the delimitation of the I talo-Yugoslav frontier; ethnical, economic and: pol itical f'ac"Gors . I am not stressing the d i:ff'erence between these two attitudes, i.e. the attitude of the Council of Foreign lviinisters and the attitude of the Delegate of the United Kingdom, on f'ormal grounds. No, I think that t his is the essence of ~he matter t he ethnical and e conomic factors are in favour of the Yugosl av t hesis. Therefore 9 sane pe ople deemed it necessary to ~a obiliz e the political :factor 8.':: ·rro l J. ~ although it had not been foreseen by the decision of the Coun~il of Foreign Ministers. We have not been so ingenuous 9 of course 9 as n ot to have noticed that this factor loomed b ehind the scenes while the question of our frontier was b e ing d iscussed. Now it has appeared before us in all its glory and is &niling con tentedly over its triumph over the ethnical and economic factors, while t he pure ethnical line 9 which had begun its career s o splendidl y in September 1 91L5? i s ~" ~-:-- "' 1 . -· "'l .1 r: wed 9 novv and then, to peep into this "Hall of Lo...:, t Paces;; " There is a passage in Mr. l/i i'.cNeil' s speech, which the Yugoslavs could interpret as follows: If you Yugoslavs do not accept the Fr·ench Line 9 as we wish 9 s omething worse might ' C.P.(IT/P) Doc . 30 befall you. Mr. lVI acNe il will excuse me , if I misunderstood . him. But , if I understood hi m well , I must say, that such w~rds are not completely unknovm to us. Allow me to quote 1 once more, the .t elegram of Novemb er 4th , 1920, in which Imperiali, the Italian Ambassador in London, w::::ote to Sforza: 1 'Lloyd George has told me that he had sent a telegram to Belgrade as we wished it, i ,e , the Government of His Britannic Majesty attaches great importance to the solution of the . Adriatic problem. In the ease of the failure of negotiations, the British Government will , fai-thful to its obligations, hel.J2 the Italian Government if they wish to give effect to the London Pact." Therefore this me thod is already known to us. Nevertheless, I still hope that I have misunderstood . Mr. Ma cNe il. The reason for t his is very simple. The Yugoslav Delegation is convinced, that it will .not be put in front of a 11 fai t accompli" 9 and will not be presented with a decision taken by voting, but .that a compromise solution will be sought. If there was no such intention, the Yugoslav Delegation could not understand the reason~ for which it was invited to attend this Conference. It is characteristic of the speech of the Representative of France 9 that he put on one side of the balance the rights and vital interests of Yugoslavia and, on the other side the historical imperialistic interest s of Italy. He makes no difference betwe-:;n them. Both are essential for him and have the same moral value, He is able to say , on the one hand, that for Yugoslavia Trieste is the natural sea outlet of Slovenia and constitutes only an isl and in the Slav sea, o~ to say, that, by barring Slovenia from .t his outlet, its hinter land is cut off from the sea and the economic and ethnical unity of this territory disrupted. · But the imperialistic positions of .Italy have the same value for him. That is why he says , on the other hand, that for Italy Tri est~ is not mer ely an Italian city, but also a place where Italian economic interests are very much developed, or when he emphasizes 9 that Triest e has been "linked with Italy in the pasta tG rm ch an extent, that it "belongs undoubtedly to, her. 11 Y!e could answer tha t Trieste is in fact one thousand times more linked to Slovenia than to Italy, which possessed it for 25 years only, and claimed it only in the course of the last 70 or 80 years . The statement that · Trieste belongs to Italy is not only doubtful, hut cannot withstand any criticism. I am surprised that the represen tative of France speaks in this manner , because France has probably not yet forgotten 't.he slogan of the Italian aggression against her. This slogan was: "Tunis,_ Corsica, '\ C.P.(IT/P) · Doc.30 s. Nice", and rested upon the same argl:llnents, on which the claims to Trieste, Gorica and Istria are founded today. I want ·to remind the representative of France, that, in the course of her history, France had approached the problem of Trieste differently. This is the reason why Napoleon had united Trieste, not to th~ kingdom of Italy, but t o the Illyrian Provinces of the Southern Slavs, the capital of which was Ljubljana. It would be useful to read again the pages which Stendnl · . ~.. . wrote about this question. We have to make the following remarl\: about the trend of the general debate up to the present: It is time that all the delegations begin the examination of actual facts. We have to know what actual facts, what arguments, such as ethenical, economic, geographic or pertaining to communications, justify this or that line, this. or that amendment. Allied Yugoslavia did not bargain on March 27, 1941, on April 6, 1941 1 or at any t~me during her heroic struggle, with anybody, about the con ditions for her entry into the war against Hitler, because she was convinced that no Ally would overlook the just claims of the peoples of Yugoslavia. Such a Yugoslavia has the right to k~ow, why she is being denied the Kanal Valley, why is there a ,. silence about Venetian Slovenia, why is the town of Gorica cut ' off frow its surroundings, why is Trzi~/Monfalcone/ not given to Yugoslavia, why is Trieste completely separated from · Yugoslavia, why is a corridor .created between Italy and the Free Territory of Trieste, why are the Slovene people deprived of all their coast north and south of Trie~te'? The French Line, for instance, expressly asks from Yugoslavia to sacrifice 20-25.000 Slovenes, who live compactly in the surroundings of Gorica (Gorizia) and in the .town itself, :Cor the sole purpose of giving to Italy an Italian linguistic island of some 10-15.000 souls, who live in the centre of the town. Why? We get the following answer: because Gorica is an Italian town. In the first place, this is ~true. Gorica is predominantly a Slovene town. Even according t o the 1910 census, there were in the centre of Gorica only 3.000 Italians . more than Slovenes. In fact, the Slovenes formed the majority of the population of the town at that time. Besides, all the suburbs of Gorica are purely Slovene. Thus, the population of this territory, which some would like to give to Italy on account of the s o-called Italian character of Gorica, is in its huge majority Slovene. How can such a violation of the ~thnical principle be justified? Nevertheless, all these facts are passed under silence here, and the untruth that Gorica is an Italian town i s being monotonously repeated. Gorica is not an Italian town even to t.he extent to which, say, Trieste a·nd some small tO\rns o.f I.s-tr.ia are. \ .i C.P.(IT/? ) Doc.30 9. I must state empha tic ally ~ tha t there are no Yugoslavs who would ever g ive up Gorica . In' 1 714, in t he town square of Gorica, the German feudal lords beheadecl a nd tore as suncler 11 leaders of the Slovene peasants ~ who had rebelled against them. Ever since 9 the town and province of Gorica have been t he scene of the hardest s t ruggle of the Slovene people for their libera tion. The Slovenes of t his province were tempered in this struggle and became the rnost conscious part of t heir nation. When the first Partisan rifles . opened f ire at the Italians in Slovenia , the whole province of Gorica, and Gorica its~ lf, rose to their feet . This was the centre of the Partisan resistance in the Julian f.'Ia rcho There is no family round Gorica~ and in · the valleys of the Soca /Isonzo/ and Vipava /Vipacco/ which had .not given a son or daughter to the Partisans or, to the Army of Nation&l Liberation of Yug oslavia" 'l' he same is true of a con siderabl e nu:1o er of families in Gor:L ca 9 too. Can anybody imagine that t hese peopl e will accept the fate b e stowed upon them by the French Line? Is it possible to i magine that Yugoslavia would sacrifice her ·brothers on t he Boca /Isonzo/, who made such a con tribution to the struggle for the liberation of all the peoples of Yugoslavia? Is it possible to i magine that Yugoslavia would abandon them t o tr..e ir fat e in the same way as they were abandoned by some Alliet:. ~ who during t he War broadcast them appeals f r om London and New York to take up arms against Niuscolini and fight f or t heir liberation? The Yugoslav Delegation is daily r e ceiving resolutions, letters and t elegrams from the people on the western side of the French Line, who a re i n a statb of despa ir. These letters say tha t t he peasant s will burn down the ir houses , thei r vill ages, destroy their vineyards 9 t ake t he ir rif les , and go again to the woods to fight for the ir freedom. These are the words of des p81'ation and utter disappointn1ent of course. But at the same time they stress t he r esponsib ility of those who are trying to settle frontier c11.1Gstions by ethnical equilibristic me thods, losing sight of 1 i vj_ng men and women, vrhom their ari thrne tic is r educing to a state of despair, Further~ the Prench Li ne demands t hat Yugoslavia renounce to the Kanal Valley in f avour of Italy. Ther e can be no · , question of any right o:C Italy t o the Kanal Valley, if we base ourselves on facts. 'T he se facts are the f ollowing: 1. There were no Italians i n the Kanal Valley till 191 8 , when Italy occup i eJ it. 2. The Italians· began ·the coloni zation of this Valley only in 1 940, i. e . dur-ing the War 9 when after t he Hitler Musso1ini agreement on the exchange of pup olation. 3. The Slovenes 91."3 t he only autochthonous ·inhabitants of the Kanal ·v'::J.lley. J C.P. (IT/P) Doc. 30 4. The east ern part of t he Kanal Valley repr e s ents for Italy a position f or offens ive operations against Yug oslavia , a position from which Italy launched her a tta ck ori_Yugoslavia in April 1941. ·"- Let us t ake t he cart ographic annex to t he IVI emorandlim of the Italian Governme nt and exan)i ne t he map of t he 11 Na t r ual frontier of I tal y ." We s ee that t hi s off icial map of the na tural frontier of Ital y claims nearl y t he whole of the Julian March f or +taly. Yet 9 t hi s map l eaves t he east ern part of the Kanal Valley outs i de t he natural 1boundari es of Italy. I shall quote wha t t he well-known I talian exper t , Pr ofes sor Ferdi nand l>.H1 one 9 professor of Ge ography at Naples U~iver s ity, said a bout t he Kanal Val l e y ~ ' I- ; ' • J. C,P.(IT/? ) D o c~ 30. 11 On :i_J o.c; e s 25-28 of his "bo ok 11 Il c .onf inu oriontr.1 le11 /If The e t:. storn fron t i e r"/, p ublis l1e cl in 1945, he ·wr ote: 11 •• • Tho ens tern n c, tur:J.l frontie r of Itc.. ly extt;ncl. s . fr:;!·a the ride; E: c. t Zo.bnicc.., /804 m., ,, Cnmporosso~ So. ifni tz/, ·:vhich s e~xu• c.tcs the 11n.te r s of the Bola /Fclln/, trib ut.:::. ry of tl1c T'-:.2: l i :::mcntio, fro ~n the waters of the Ziljicn/ Slizzn , GCLil iz/, t i•i1Jutnr ;r of the Zilj::t/Go.il/ in ,',.u strin~ f.l. n c.1 is usuruly considcre c.1 to be the border ".:lctween the C1.rnic Alps in tho north a nd the Juli c.. n ~l p s in tho s outh. In this ~ reo. the political frontior ••••.• cxtends b eyon d t he wnt e rshed, which consti tutcs t he c oogr 'lJ.J hic f r ontie r •••• no c.1 ou!Jt 2.. ;:s a od. reason wr.ls f ound for ::s oinc boyoncl the G C O J r ~:t ~J hic frontj_cr.... I~.l l. these ro:.1sons :-'.rc c; ood ~ but they :-,r e onc sicl ocl . •rhoy f c.. vour tho country~ which wo.n t s to s o.f oc uo. l· =1 he r untr:::me r~ o. te. But they c. :r·o unjust~ they c. r e incol"rcct, 1. t lec..s t fr o!"a tho gco:•p :_'.'Jhic i:l:Jint of view •.•.• I mo. y bE; wr·ong ~ S CLYS Prof. l1:1il one; ' c..nc1 mo.~y voiCGS vrill bo r ::'..i sod o. r; c, ins t me , but I thinl{ thc. t the frontiGr sh-.)ul c.1 lJe -trc.nsfe :c'rcd t o the w·o. t c rshccl ••.•. 11 This i s t he v iew t ~ ken ~ Y ?Pofe s sur Milone. Mc..y I mention, the frontie r line pro)os cd ~J y Yuc osl .:::: vi o. foll ovm this very 'lmt c r s hec1, whic h the Itc.. lio.n p rofo sso ~ Milone pr o~o s c s t o be the frontier. Tl1oso _.~~ r c , in s h or t~ ·t.hc cl ---. t The Frenc h Linlj 9 hmvc vcr, Ct::; c1es t ho K ~::. n o. l Va lley to ItCl.'\y. V1ill · it not enc,JUl" nge o. ll the f orce s of :l[';g r e;s s i on by mo.king them believe th['.t mi c;ht is s till atz>al~Ol" th8. n ric; ht, c~ n rl th:::.t the ~ ~ licy of violen ce c an b e c ~ r ri cd out with success. Further, \Vhy i s I t :J. l y "l( e inc:; given Vene tinn Slovcnio., n ter:c i t ory in -v-1 hicr1 thoro W ~'. s 9 c.c c 'Jr dinz t o tho It::.li:m census of 1911 -34~800 Slovenes nn cl only 601 It::.llio.ns, \7hil0 the r ~ turns of the r , ~~li o. n census of 1921 shovwd 30 .. 904 Slovenes o. n cl only 1. 294 It ~ li nnso ~e hnvc n o t hGrc to.kcn intd a ccount the Slovenes, li vine; to the ·nest of this l ine \·:hich c ::.1 n be t ·;.lccn :··.s the b order line of comp o.. c t Sloven e t erritory. It i s obvious , th['. t we hJ. V(; here o.. n e vid0nt c.. nd brute1l violo. ti Jn of t ~o e thnicnl princ i pl e . ~\ s rcgc. r c1 s Vene tian Slovenia , o.n cl. ~l. S r e :::: ::c rc1s G o ric ::~ o..n c.1 the Ko.n o. l Vnlley, ,re; ho. vo not mo :;: e; ly o. viol r. tion o:C the cthnicnl ~rinci p l G t o the de triment of Yuc os l o.. ~i ~ , b ut o.. l s ~ n violation of t he inte rests of he r s e curity. Th0 qu c s ~i on a rises ns t o Dhy nll t lmo ;:, cr o. te;z ic o..d v~ nt n · w s :::r e lef t t o Ito.l;y, ':lho only ye stcrd o..y Wf-'.3 o.n nggr esc;or nn c.1 -;.;hom ~th0 Pr one h Line g i vcs in her sector ce1ay o.ppronches t o t he f r anti c:;: b y mco.n s · of t he ge ntle Western sloJ:; es, while Yugoslnvi c.. i s d8) ri v cd of similc.r f :;. c ili tic s. 1!/hy is Ito.ly g iven a s tr ~-o.·co c ic wod ;: ~ c which, t rl.I'o ug h nn opening 20 l{m. wide/ C. ? .(IT/P) Doc. 30. 12 Vlidc, come s within o. di s t anc e of onl y o. f'cw k ilome tre s of the Upper! Soc n (Isonzo) V:.."'.. lley - Tol111in - a 'Hodge whi ch h ::-cs c. compo. ct S.:.ove:ne POlJUl ntion? r ~.! c h."'.VC so f ..... r hea rd n ot n singl ,.:; o. r gur.w nto Both Signor Dun uLli c:.nc1 t h0 It::·.lic..n Momornn clmn o. rc silent on this point a.s 1:C th o r~ vvo. s. n o such t ,hincr, . a.s . the s o cc..llcd "Slc.. vio. It n lia.nn'~, ns th~a pr ovlncc lS C:J. lled .Jy Ito. llo. n ceogr r'.p hc rs. " They o. re _obvlou,sly . o.lso nwo.r e why it is c o. llecl J) reci Go l y "§_h"'.. vio. Itr. lio.nn". · Wha.t is the re ~ son ~c hin cl t hese tr.ctics of glos sing f o. cts ove r in silence ? D0sp ite he r unqucsti o r. o.1Jl Gr _ i :~ h t to t he vi hol c of the Venetian Sl:..~veniu, howeve~, Yuc osl.'. Vi c.. ho.s ren ounced such n clnim. She h·.ts done s o in order t o f:'. ci1 ·.:. t ,-:'..tc the ~Jo ss i~ili ty of nn a.grcement. Yugosl a vin is n ow clo. iminc only o. smo. llc r :;_Jo. rt of Venetian Slovenia.., tt lJ o. rt which, ac_c ording t o t [J;.C. . .:J i'f icJ::'· .~-- Ito. lio. n c_ensus of 1.~2 .1, hm1 o. populo. tion O:f11j:.36 7 YucoGlnvs ~.n cl on ly 166 It:;.linns, while she l cc.ve s t o Itnly 20-25 th .:J us .·l nlls Vcne tinn s Slov enes, Who crln deny the. t ·chis c on s ti t utcs n serious s r:,c rifico on the p:::. rt of a small tro.tion of only 1 an (.i. half mill i on souls? I shall n ow c ome to t he s .:m thc r111o s t sector of the Italo-YuG·.J Sla.v fronti0r, t o the a r ea oet w It is the refore e a sy to unde r stand t h ~t the p opulation of the Trzic res ion in its ove ::..' vvhelminc m~ j ori ty, the some o. s the population of tho Vfhole of the Juli::m Ma Pch, - incluc1ing , in nc.1c1i ti on to the Yu [3 oslo. v populc..t i on in its e ntity, t he ma jority of ItD. linns- nsk to be united t o YueoslD. victo I shall only me ntion tha t a dele2ation from Trzic a nd its surrouncli na s h as now ~ rrived in Paris, in orde r to 8. cqi.lnint the c1if f e _cm t c.1c l cG~1 t i u ns ~~ t this Conference with the c1esipcs of the ~' ·:-' :._.., ,J}_ ~ ... ;_ -,.'"' ; -P t he Tr7 j r: "~r e a to come under Yuc osla via . Th0y h r ~ ~ t ol d us t h~ t v ~L ; , ~ ~c e c~ ~ wcl s of people saw them off vv hen . they l Gf"C , vri th t e :tr s i n t hG ir ey.._' c;, ~n cl tolcl them tha t they would hc.ve to l ef'.ve th0ir homes and emi g r .~c t c to Yugos1.t. vin or TriGste, i f' the c.reG WC'.S t o "be incor)or,.Lt e c1 into Itn. ly. The/ ------~~~------ O.P.(IT/P) DO C. 30. The Commi ssion of expert s v-,rh i ch w .:. s in t he J·u li ~~1 M::'. rch unfortun~~e ly, f~ il e d ~a c ons i der t he wi shes of the r eci on which it visited t o bec ome mor e in ·cim~ tE:J l y a c quni n t ecl. wi th its e t hnical struct ure o. nd i ts geo::;r Jphicc.l :'.. n cl. econorai c ch ~.~;_: · ~·, ct er i s tics. The membe:cs of t he . Co,rmi ssi on were 0 i ven t he opportun i ty of olJserving the feelinc; s of t he il!mense m~. j o rit y of t ile ~)Oj) Ul a ti o n vvh i ch wns in fo.vour of l) ein ~~ un i t e cl t o Yu.:.; osl:..'.vi c.. ; the r e::;>o rt of t he Commission• howe ver, cU d no t ;netl{e cmy mention of t hi s o. spGct of t he mo. tter1 ThG r epo~ t docs n ot s~ec..k one word of t he huge crowds wh ich, thr o u ~ h o ut the Juli ~ n MQ rch, f r om p l nce t o pl o. cc 1 s t opped the motorpcc..rs of t he Commi ssi on ~;. n d. vrl1 ich in wor no m::::tter whether they co.ll thcmselv0s Yue;o sl :-:-.. vs, It:-:cl inns or 1Jy some othcP nnme. This is, Mr. McNeil, hmv I unc1 c rst.":mc1 int u rn ~c ti o n- o.lisn tion Yvhich you. nre c ailing to y our rescue • ~hct is how things stand o.s rego.rds the Ito. lo-Yugosl[lV frontier pro ~! · J se d by the Council of Forei:3 n Ministers. Nor nro things any bct·ct:;P \Vhcn we turn to examine the ::~ ro po sed boun<.l::t ry "!Jotvveen Free Trieste o.nd Yugoslavia. · It is o.. f'nct tha t, for an intern ·.tiono.l Trieste; the c orJ.st, stretching from Devin (Duino) to the town itself, nn cl. also t o nortlwwstern. Istric., is d.evoid of any economic ·importance f or Trieste whntscie ve r. This coo.st co.n in no wa y strenGthen the e c on omic ~Jo si ti·Jn of the intern:-'c tiona lisod city of Trieste nor serve t o so.tisfy its needs. It is n f r.~ct, on the other ho.nd , thc. t the establishing of the corridor o.nd by t nk in[~ away the northwestern ~Xl Pt of Istrio. t o n depth, of only o. few kilome tres of the coast, a poo?le who have been li vins ther e, ·,; orkill3' o.. nd s trugg;linG for their frecdmn for 1.300 yco.r s o. lre ~dy, nrc cut off from their c oast o. nd their sen . It is o. fo.ct thnt the :pD~) uln.ti o n of tl1o c oo.st:1l o.rcn betv-wen De vin o. n c1 t he Trie ste suburb ofBo.rkovljo consists of n?proximn:c ... ;ly 13.000 Slovenes o.n c1. some 900 Itcl lians. rlhy is it neccss ~l. ry to · ~ ~ epri Vf.; the Rej)Ublic of Slovenif.l of tfuis pure ly Slovene t e r : i t o1. y a n c.1 t o dG~J ri ve it of n ny uu tlet to the se:J.? •.::e o.re; told th". ·c this is necessm•y for the conne ction between Tric;s t e a nd Itc. ly. Such r. connection is, hoYve vc r$ po e:; s ible evon vri thou t rcsortinc: t o such ~- corridor, by me a n s of a sir.1p ly o.gr eemcnt bctvve e; n Trieste ~-~ n cl Yugosl:,c vio.. Nor is this o.ll. Yugoslr:. vin will l)e a l l t lle: mor• c pPC:lJ:--.recl. to meet the e conomic n eEL"..s of Trie ste, the less th9re is n c'!.~ l'lgt.J r th :-:t t Trieste YV'i'i:;h its corridor may be used o.cc..im;t the interests and tlw security of Yur; oslnvia. It is for these reasons tho. t Yu.::;o slo.vin c :1nnot a s r L·c t o hr.ve this t e rritory t c.ken o.w2y from he r. The Yuc; osl:J.vs e- lso consti tu'Ce n mo.jori ty in Northvves t crn Istri:1, south of Tr·icstc, wi tl1in the F:c"'ench Line. This t E; rri to:;: y1 C'.c c or cUnc to the combined stc.. tistics of .1910 and. 1945, h ::>. s 2.. tot2.. l po1., ul,.... tion of 44.43.3 Slovenes 2n d Croats c.nd 35.134 Itnlians. Tho '.my in which the ~o) ul ~ tion is distributed throuc ho ut this t e rritory is most significant. If we take only the rurnl popul ~ tion which is closely linked t o the soil, we shnll find thJ.. t the Yu c ~o sl o. vs nrc c.. v ~-:t st mo.jori ty; tl1o tota l j.Jopuln tion of 49.243 consist of 39.;~89 Yu ~~:aslnvs o.n c1 only 8637 It '1. li:::ms. The reven small t owns in the s~1e terr itory hnve n population of 26.000 Itr. linns and nearly 5000 Yuc oslavs. This is the most obvious pr0of of the o.bsurc1i ty of se::;nr::'..ting the sr11c..ll coc. stal towns of We stern Is trio. c..ncV 15 C. P.( I T/? ) Doco 30. \ < cm cl f or ming them into s o;;!e k ind of c o o. s t c.l b elt i:. occthcr with Trieste. It is c. rtn c t , fino.lly, t h .'. -G t he northwe stern po.r t of Istrio. , the s::.mc et s t ,e .;hol e of ·c he Julir.n l'finrch, vr 1. s libci·nte L.l b y the Yu~; o sletv .:irmy, et n c1 1 t h .t is n ow ~; ·:" rt of z one B where it is in clo se c onne ction with t he l.~ c ,-; ublillc of Slov un i o. 9 f r e e ly c1evol o)ine in t he culiurnl o.n d e c on omic ~ i e l d . :hose i n t cro ~ t c~n d emo. n cl t ho. t t his econ o1ni c un i t 9 v1 hosu con s truction [l:'.S <.'. lrc :~ c1y st '.r t ed o.nd vvh ich gives t he He :.:;ub lic of Sl ove nio. :;:x:'.r t of the c ons t, t ll ~'. t this unit should. o.go. i n be disru:;_) t cc1 o.n cl the ~Jop ul c. tion c x:po s UL to new econ omic o.nd ) Oliticnl s hocks o.n d misfortunes. Those who wi sh t o destroy this s t nt c of t hings , s h ould b c o. r in minl th ~ ~ they woul d ther-eby b rine :1 t e rri b le c c.l o.mi ty up on t e ns of t hou san ds of :._Jl:Ople in North VJes t Eir" ! Istri o. . The unites of ·c he Nation .'.L l Li b e ration I~rmy of Yw ~ osL·. vi .'.L , which libero.t ccl t h e; se i? ·rts in cl ose c o- ope r tion with t he y opul ::-·. tion i ·csolf 9 · ho.d i n its r nnJ..cs f i ~:, ht ine; mEJ n from t hese ve ry r e ,c i on s . I c nn ho. Pdl y bcliCV'0 9 Gentl emen, t h<..tt t hese is nnyon e :llnonc you who f'nils to unllc r s t c~ ncL t he e x t e nt of t he · tretgc c1y \J hich. ·Houl c1 nrisc i f nn et t t ernpt w:::t s m::. dc t o i mp l em ~._; nt t he JiJc isi on of ·chc Counci l of' Forui J n Minis t e r s L'- S rcg:.->.r cl.s N'..J r thwc s t ern I s trio. , t he h rrac nsc mo.j ori ty of ·wh os e po~Ju l .,_t i on h c;. s ~Je an dr ccunin;J of unity with Yugo slo. vin t hr oughout t he )Criod of servitude under Itnly, ~~st o.s it wn s t l1e c. i m of' t he Nc.. tion :::.. l ,Lib c l, ['. tion up r ising , in vvhic h the l c,r gc mc. j oPit.y of the p op ul ..._ tion of t he se rt:g i ons took pc..rt. It is f or t hese X'Get s on s th:·c t Yu gosl f'. Vi e e c..rm ot etgr ce t o ;:;, e cle) ri v e c1 of t he Slove n e: t urr i t ory s tre t ching t o t he s o uthwest of Trie ste . I shoul d , b efore c onclud i ng , l ike t o s :•.y 2- f ev1 Y/o r c1s c.!Jou t · Trie ste. It i s o. f :o.vs t h:<. t Triest e is et tovm vd t h ~ '- wixc (l e thnicet l p o) uln t ion, c. ct ~ ~ l ly whose c e n tro ho. s ~ ~ixcd p o)u l ~ ti o n, ~ h i~its suburbs c.. ro nlmost ) Ur e l y Sl oven e , c.n cl which is sur rouncl0d ~Y c.. COllld.Jnct Slove ne )O) Ul ~: ti o n~ · It is ~ f f'.ct th o. ~ Tr ies t e wn s , U) t o the t ime of the I t ~ linn ocCUiJ:'.tion i n 19 1[), t ho e c onomi c c 0n tre of t ho Sl ovene p col;l c , thn.'t Trie ste i s et sec. outlet for t he entL·e Yug oslc.. v syst em of c ornmunic CL tion, t l1''. t Triest e c :::m c c.. rry on i-Gs f un ctiun o. s c.. s oc. outle t for the rvho l o of t h E:; Dnnubic:. n b n s i n on l y i f it i s c l ose l y linked u~J ui t h its Yugosl ~, v t inte rlnnd t hi'OU0 h whic h ~ l l its mo. j or line s of commurd c <:. t i. 0r). l e::u1. It i s ·='- f o. ct, t h::. t t ho enti re hi s t oric .'l.l clc vGl OJ.)l.lcnt of Trieste i s e vidence of' t he f :::.. c t t i1.'l. t Tri est e f'ol,lTlS C'. unity with t he Slove ne othnic et l t e r i'i tory ~ nd ~i t h t he wi aur Yugos l c.v hint0rl c..n d , o. nd of' the c ontr i bution of the hi n t erl c.n d t o the c r eat i on of ) r e s ent dny Triest e , 6f' i ts g rcnt ne s s o.n d of its p r oGr0ss. Thc. t/ ,. C. P •. (IT/2 ) Doc • .)0. Th·'.t is vv hy · ·Yu ~~o sl c. v i::.:. h :::~s :;J ut for t h i t s cl c. ii·11 t o Tric; ste in t.he c onvi ction t hat th c~a i 1 . l i es the : only ~ o ss i b ility f or Trie ste t o f ulf il i ts f unction for t he b onef i t _of t he whol e of its hinterl :~md . Ob j e ction s hove, howc v0r, b een r c. isc d t o t hese Yu c;os l o.v cla ims on the ·p::Tt of t :u •c8 of t he Four !viemb ers· of t he Council of For e i gn Mli. ni ~.::: t eJ:lSti - They were s o concerned ab out t he fate of t he ItoJ i o.ns in Triest e t hc. t they c oul d no t pos s i b l e agr ~. g t o Trie s t e bei n ~ ' 0 c iven t o YUJOsl-:;_ via. This ~~· n. s , ''. t l e'c.s t, t he vmy t heil, nr glliue nts r ~1 n, nnc1 vie YJ e i:·o n ot c; i von t o h e ~. r o.ny other of fici C', l nr £,; ume n t s . I n ::L c t ual f i>.. c t s t hci 0 c·u1not be o.ny ot her C'. r g ume nts for tho se who vi8w t he ma t t e r f rom t hi s z t ~ riJpo i nt of Trie s te i t s elf, a l t houg h e vcn t hi s only a r c;ument e n~mot Hi t hs t:~ nc1 criticism. I shall howe ve r n ot t o i nt o t :1i s c rit icism, bec:.use i t ) e rt:.ins t o o. s t :cg u. i n th0 discuss i on ~b J u t Trius t e , Vihi c il h.:.·. s :J.lre .:-:-. c1y b een l oft be hincl. .'/e do no·c deny t lY'. t t vro t hir ds . of ·c he ~)O i) Ul ':'. tion of Trie; ste cons ist of It -~ li an s , .rmd :il1e thii•cl of 3lovencs ::.nd n , c e r t -~ i n nunibcr of ot l10r Yu::;osl o.vs. ·,.Jhile \le Yu :::; os l c.vs ~(1m i t thi s f:::t ct, the1,e is hor ;_U y nnyboely on t he ot her s ir:le wh o \vo ul d vent ur e t o de ny the closene s s of Tr i e ste ' s connec tion wi t h , c. nd clc~o ndanc e on, .the contr·_;_ l EuPopean ::m el D:::mub i c.n h i nt or l ~; n cl . Oi1 the b.':tsi s of t hese t v/0 f a c t s c.ncl i n t he clesi re of f a c i lita ti nr~ 2gr c emc nt , Yuc;osl J.Vi Quite a d i f f el"'cnt con cc y cion hns , howovc; r ,. m:::.c1e its a~Yi_Xn r nnco · , t o our s urpr i se, i n -the Br i t ~_ s h, .t... mc rice>.n c,nd , t o a cc rita i n c x t on t , in the Frvnch pr oJ os nl s f or the s t :::t t utc of Trie s t e , n conce) tion . . whi c h/ / C.?.(IT/P) Doc~ 30. 17. which 'NG c·::mnot p o.ssi bly c c,ll o. c1 emo cr ~ tic one, nn c1 which Yucoslnvin co.nnot o.ccept. 'vi hnt docs this c onception consist in? It consists iri t o.kinc nvVf'..Y Tries to , not only from the Yu.:.;oslet vs o.ncl from tho Centrnl Eur;penn hintcrl nnd , but also from tho populntion of Trieste itself. ;~ccor ding t o t his conception, internc,tiono.l is:ttion does not meo.n tlr<. t the Uni t ec1 Nn tions Orgo.nisntion should cnsuru self- c;ov ernment, clemocr::o,ti:c rights, n et-t, i on:tl eguo.l1ty nncl ponce t o the inhnbi t o.nts of Trieste, but th-':'. t o.licn nuthori ty should be csto.b lishecl i n Trieste for the lJUr:posc of mo.intet inin/1 "clisciplino11 ~one; tho loca l popul n ti on~ The l occ~ l Gove rnment is, nccorcling to this statute, me H:J.y the exccuti vn or c;::1.n of the Governor, y,rhi&o the Assembly is simply o. consul t :-:>. t·i vc 1Jody whoso clocisions c an o.l wnys be nnnullod 1Jy the Governor~ 1Nhn t vwuld 1Je the :eesul·c s of such o. sta tute? The _r esult woulQ be , tha t Trieste would become tho bise of the St ~:.. to which Vloulcl succeed i .n b rinGing the Guv ernor under · its influence. · Who. t hns t hus eme r c~oc1 frof!l the leng thy cU scussion over TPieste is this: o. bnse for one or t ho other grcnt p~wo r in the Adria tic, n b nsc tho like of which we know full well in the history of the s tru:;.z le for infl:uence~ I shoul c1 like to make n few c;en erc:.l remo.rks on the bc.sis of nll th ~ t ho.s lJeen so.i d by tho Yu :::-; oslav Dolcgo.tion. These remo.rks are in the main ns follows: \ 1. The Yugosl nv Delegation most r e solut e ly re jects the proposals of the Sou th- ~: ~f r ican anc1 Brnzilian Dclcgn tion; 2. Tho Yugoslnv D clc g:·~ ti o n c o.nnot ncce~! t the ~Jrppo so.l of the t ' Council of Foreign Mini sters, neithci' et s negards ~he frontiers betvwen Ita l y o.nd Yuc; oslr1 via, nor 8. S regn.rds the f rontiers between Froc Triest e and Yugosl o.Yirl ; t he so cctllod Prench Li ne rneo.ns, on the one hand, n viol 2tion of t he et hnic2l line, whil e on the other it does not e ven romc.. in true · to its o·Nn princip l e of e thnica_l equilibrium beC2.USe it lCO. VO S to the enst 90-000 I ·i:;nlic.ns, i'f 'l'ie include the Ito.linns of Rijekt.:., (Fiume), Zc..da r ( Zo. ro.) nn d tho isl::mds, c. n cl to the VJest ovor 200'. 000 Yuc;osl o. vs, n ot includi ng the Yu2osl c.. vs living in tho int0rioi' of Ita ly. 3• Yuc;osl c.vio. is prc:;_:nre c1 ~ in or der to G.c hieve agr eement, and. for this r eason only , t ' agree to n sp ocin l int e rn~ ti o nn l sta tute for Trieste c. s [l free city , · providcc1 its bowflc.ries include t he terri tory of Trieste a nd of its most i mrnedi :>. te surrounc1ing s , a nd provided thet t a sufficient measure of econ omic unity- 1)etwecn Trieste a nd Yugosletvin :::mel tho other c ountries of the hinte rl·a nd,l which it serves o.s an interllQtiono.l- port, be 3ecured& For/ 0, P. ( Jf.rj?) Doc. JO. 18. For c..l.L these r c~~- s o ns ~ I c1c ~l c.. rc 9 on be hc.. lf of the Yuc oslc..v D0 l eg:--. tion, th:::·. t Yu ;~o s l 2 Vi t:', will not 8.Cce:c;t r!.ny dc;;c isions nn d will not sign t he pco..cc TP'-' ·".ty with It:-:. ly, unless the injustice s, inflictec1 by the French Line UJ.Jo n tho :JCOJ.Jles of Yugosl nvin should be :Jlit ri 13 ht in et,:; r c...,nlcnt Yli t h Yu ~J os l o.. vi n~ the injus tices, thc: t is vvh ich "Ghc Yu e osl;,v Dc lcr;:::don h:::s ~Jo in t ccl out 2nc1 ex1Jl::'. inc c1 b oth i.11 i L.S first ste.tuncnt :'.nc"L 5. . ti1G present sto.te:;ment , vi i t h ~Jorfect c L -c rity. ;rho s:'.mc ~-'-lJJ li c s ·co the Sto. tu·cc of Trit::stc i tsclf'. The Yur:o sl;:::;. v Doloc::. tion h::-.s nc1o~Jt eU. this o.tti tude on t he ques tion~ b uc c.. use it is c.. mc..ttc r wh ich c oncc~ns t he f r e edom of the JCOplcs of Yu c~ osl : :. vL::'.. , b ocC'. use t hey -::cro quGstions of vi t::.l i mj)o Pt:::mce :foP the peoples of Yuc:o::3 l o.. viet , o ccf'.use it involves o.. riGht of the :i)eopl c s. of Yucoslo.vi c. vvhic h these lJCOlJ l cs cGi1not r enounce, Thel'e is c.. lot \ !C c .:::. n ::; i ve up 9 Jut we sh'J. ll n ever g i vo U~) freedom c. n d inde j)Cndcncc. It i s true , ~'- S tho Dc l c c:J. t c of t he Soviet Union, Vyshi~s ri ~ htly r c;;mnrkcd here t h:'.t it i s not :J. lways p ossib l e in p olitics to achieve maximw-11 of jus tice, 2n c1 th:::·G it is t;hercfore n ccess1."'. ry t::omctimes t o reconcil e onesel f t o t vvicc two "Jc inc fi vo :::md n ot four . It is true o. l so, t l1 · t Yu c;o sl ~ vi n docs not wish t o ,:wo'id sho ·vving a conciliatory spirit, nnd she i s )rc~~ rcd t o go t o 8 vary c rea t 1on£?; th in the Neit he;r this Confci'c n ce; , nor our Allies h :..v o c.ny ric ht t o dem.1.n c.1 such S8crif'icc fr om us. Nor h ~~ v c; t he Gov e rnment of Yu c~ osl c.. vi n tho ric; ht t o surron ~lc r n. t the Confcronce t:::-.~J le th::. t for which n ot only Yugosl n v soldicrs p ·b ut the fi c; htin :::; me n from the Juli ~.. n Mr:.r ch i tsol:l, h:J.vc fous; ht .':'.. n d s i v on their lives" l '"" C.P. (IT,/P) Doc. 31. 9 Septel~fuer 1921-6. POLITICii.L b.ND TERRITORIAL C~l\li~ITSSION FOR ITALY Franco-·I tal ian Frontier 1vleL.10randur.1 subr.li tted by the French Delegation Correction to C.P. (IT/P) Doc. 20, 29 Augu8t, 1946. Mont Thabor Replace para e_.raphs 2 and 3 by the :foilovving paragraph. lt,ollowing the ea stern riB of the latter peak, it leaves in French territory Point 2420~ lt then rejoins and follows the road leading to the buildings situated approxir:a tely 200 ru.etres fror.1 Point 22.53. The road and bu.:i,J.dings are left in French +£;rri tory. It then follows th~ thal.weg passing apflroxirm.tely ,300 1:1etres north-ea st of Point 1915~ It then oeets the north we~t extreui ty of the m tural reservoir in the Vallee. Etroi te which supplies the hydro-eledtro station a t SETTE FONT.AJJiJE 1 the reservoir and power-station being left in Italian terri tory. It skirts the reservoir dn the south side and meets the crossroad at Point '1499 c ~r vallee of the Tinee , the Vesubie and the Roya 62.. Replace the existing text by the following. 62. Fro~ the Pegaisol to Mont Mergo ' RE:EERENCES - Staff mps1 scale 20,l000 Pointe de Lugo .5 ..6, San ReLXJ 1 - 2 and ~entone 3- 4 .,. / From Cla PEGi~IROLE, the new bound.s.ry line follovvs the admi:nistra tive bo~ shown on the ~'Lp; leaving CISTERNE to France, ascends to lVIttSDv10NASSO, ' dr~a down to the. p3.ss a nd follows the road to l:flhRGHERL;. SUAN1 which is left :1n: ~- ter:d.,tory whereas the chalets re1~1ain in Italian ierri tory. StUl following this road (left in French terri tory) it passes to the east ot_1'ESTA D'.ALPE, to ·the FONT.AINE DEI DRl~.GHI 1 to the springs at Point 1406, and to ¥-nt 192-7 ~ It skirts COW~ SGORA to the east and takes in Points · , , • l C.P. (IT/P) Doc • .31. 2. 1088,1016 a nd 1026. It clinbs t he rocky ridge ·of lvit. COL0£1JBIN n.nd follows the boundary of' the ca nton U':l.rked on the map, along the CIMA DI REGLIO (846 and 858) which it loaves to the s outh-west and dropping down the riclge SEFJU.\ DELL 1iJTI'E'r'IiL (54.3,474 and 416) runs dovm the thalweg de la ROYJJ. , It crosses the 1.0Y~·· approxim:"'. tely 250 r.1etres north-west of' the Bridge of' Fi'iliGHETTO. The new boundary line then follows the course of' the ROYi. to a point approxir.u tely 450 1:1etres from the Bridge of li';.NGHETTO. Leaving the ROYA a t this point, it runs south-west f'ollovving the tba.lwec. to Point 566. Froo this point) it turns west until it Deets the r avine vvhich r'WlS down t ov-m.rds OLIVETTA in a south-westerly direction. It follows the ravine to ihe road_. the dwellings situated on the road are left in Italian terri tory. It cl.i.mbs the V. DE TRONO f'or about .350 r.J.etres, then turns town.rds Point 1r10 until it oeets the road f'ror.1 OLIVETTi~ to SAN GIROL.iJVIO. i.fter f'ollovd.:ng the road in a south-easterly direction for about 100 r.mtres, it 'turns south-west to Point 403 1 passl.ng the road m.rked on the 1.ap 20 L1(. tres to the south. F+oo Point 403 1 it follows the ridge of' Pte. BECOHE to Point 379. Then, turning south-r,7es t again, it crosses the T., BEVERA following the thalweg towards lVit. MERGO, the sUI:r.:d. t of which ( 0. 686) 1 · left in French terri tory, it skirts at a distance of about 50 lJetres 0 It rejoins the old frontier at a point approxiLJa. tely 100 r.1etres south-'West of the aforesaid sur.11.U. t. · Pla ns ( "Nevache 7 - 8" a nd "1v1enton" 3-4) on which the new Franco Italian boundary line has been drawn in accordance with this m:nJOrandUL11 ·will be distributed as annexes to this oooument. ' ' C.P.(IT/P) Doo. 32. September 9, 1946. PARIS CONFERENCE ;rQLITIC.i\L l.ND TERRITORIAL OOMMISSION FOR I'rhLY Rep:>rt of the Co.ulillission of Experts for the investigation of' the Ita.lo-Yu.t-:oslav Boun:lary (This document has already been presented. to the Council of Foreign -• Ministers, on April .27, 1946, under Document number C.F.M.(46) 5 ) 1. The Task of the Commission. 1. On 19 September 194-5 the Co \.'mil of Foreign Ministers agreed, with respect to the Italo.. Yugoslav boundary, that the Deputies should "report on the line, which will in the main be the ethnic line leaving a minimum under alien rule, on the understanding that appropriate investigations· .. ill be oarried. out on the spot before the final. limitation of the frontier•'. · 2. The Deputies of the Foreir: n Ministers 1 in establi shillf: the Commission of Experts for the Investigation of the Italo-Yugoslav Bound ~;.ry, instructed the Colliilission to pre]?l:l.l"e a report and recol.lllrendations on fixing the boundar.v between Italy and Yugoslavia, in carrying out which task "the Commission of EXperts shall take into consideration· not only the ethnic composition of the areas to ~ investigated but also their special economic and geographical features", 3. With respect to m tters of procedur-e 1 the Deputies ins true ted the Comm:is sion z (a) to study the d.oc'l.lrents concerning the Boumary submitted by the Govern ments of Yugoslavia and Italy 1 and also of those countries who are engaged in draf'ti~ the peace treaty with Italy • a1;5 well as the views submitted by other United Nations Governments in accordance with the invitations which were extended to them by the Council of Foreign l~nisters. (b) to make use of' the statistics of too censuses carried out by Austro• Hungary and Italy; (c) to carry out the necessary investigations on the sp:>t in order to &scerta.in the ethnic composition of tre popula tion of 'the ureas assigned for special investi&,a tion. The Commission was also instrooted to study 'the special economic and geogi?aphical features of those areas, devoting special attention to the changes which might take place in the economic si tua.tion of to'WllS and 'IU.lages in the event of their tra nsfer to Yue.os1avia or retention by Ito.ly. The full. text of' the instructions ias~d to the Cofdllission are set out in Annex A.. 4. TOO Conunission accordingly proceeded 'b:> Venezia Giulia and, M:V II. The Views Submi·G ted b;y Governments!' 5. On invitation from tre Comcil of Fori:~ :Ministers, certa.in gpverrurents have submitted their views concernin& the question of the Ita.lo-Yugoslav boundary. There follows a brief .summary of these vi€;ws. A. YUGOSLAVIA 6. Speaking on behalf of his governnent, M. Edvard K.ardel.j, Vice Prime lti.nister of Yugoslavia., mde a. statement relatirJ£ to the Ite.lo-Yugos).avia boundary before the council of Foreign :Ministers on 18 September 1945. 1945. The Yugosl ~v Government takes the view tha t the 1914 boundary be tween the t-..ustro-HungariP..n Empire ~nd Italy approximates whr'.t should be con sidered the proper line of dem n. rcntion between Yugosl ~.vi r, and Italy. Cer tain departures, which r~e defined in M. Kardelj's statement, are proposed in the 191~ line. In the north, it is proposed that certain territory to the ~~st of the 1914 line extending to th~ line of Resiutta-Gemona Tarcento-Cividnle, and involving 900 squ~re kilometers ·with e. population of 20,000, should bo included in Yugoslavia; nnd, in the south, it is propose~ that certain territory to the east of the 1914 line extending to the lower Isonzo River, and involving 198 square kilometers with a popula tion of 28,000, remain under Italian sovereignty. ~eo C.F.M. (45) 8~ 7. In support of its proposal, the Yugoslav Government l~ys greatest stress on the ethnic argument. It .finds th ~, t the proposed boundary consti tutes an ethnic borderline be~~een Slovenes and Itali ~ns. It points out that to the west of the line there would still rem.rd n rertt:l.in Slovene groups, which, however, ar e not n pa rt of the t erritory ihhnbited by a compact Slo ... vene or Croat, populntion. ilith respect to the It~li ~n elements to tho e~st of the line, the Yugoslav Government takes the position that they are a definite minority ""hie~ does not alter the esscntinl Slovene and Cron.t chs.r. aetor of Venezia Giulia. 8. The Yugoslav Government, in support of its proposed line, also pre sent:s geographic end economic arguments with respect to Tri0ste e.nd other centers of Itnlinn population within Venezia Giulin. It points out that th~ a.re integrally related v.'i th the Slovene ~ nd Cront hinte rh.nd and with Con~rnl Europe. To brenk these n (). tural connections, it is ~. rgu e d, would C'Pl11Re thesp ecnte~s to atrophy. 9. Tho Yugosl ~v Government fin~lly em~hasizes the great contribution which wn s mndo by tho Slovene nnd Cront r e sist~nce movements in tho eommon Allied cause. B• . ITALY 10. Speaking on behalf of his Government, Signor de Gasperi, Minister or Foreign .' ffo.irs or It11ly, made ~ statom.ent r o l t~.ting to the Itc-lo-Yugoslav bound!l.ry bofore the Council of Foreign lUt:tisters on 18 September 1945. The ItE~>linn Govcrnmont t nkes the vie'V'.r thn.t tho Wilson Lih'i) ·with slight mo 11. The Italian GQvcrnmont ngreos thnt the boundnry be t v}"een Italy tUd Yugoslavia should bo moved to th~ r.ost of the prosent boundary in Qrdor to incorporlito ~>. ddi tion~ l Slovenes and Cror. ts in Yugosbv~a.. It ostiln.P.tos th~.t within Vcne2:in Giuli r-~ the re nrc 550,000 It~ it•'lS a.nd 400,000 ·Slovenes o.nd Cronts. It P.rguos thrrt the new boun 12. With respect to Fimne, the Ita linn Government truces the position that it :~hould b o n.u tonomous. U, VIE~ ' S SU JJJI'J,'TED ..__... BY OTHER UNI'lED Ni:..TIONS GOV. "'RNMENTS. 1. :,.USTR.ALIA 13. Dr. H. V. Evatt, Minister or Extcrn~l l ffairs or .Austrl",lin, appenred before -3- before the Council of Foreign ~linist ers on behalf ot his Government en 18 September 1945. The AUstralian Govcrn~ent pl acP.s strong emphasis on the ethnic factor. It believes t hat o ~ the basis of ethnic data the boundary between ItalY and Yugoslavia might properly be placed to the west of the present l~rgan line. It is propos~d that any special economic problems re garding coal or be.uxi te might be clea: t wi t h :i.n a special internati.:.;r.al agreeillen t. l , 14. With respeet to Trieste, the .Australian Government te.kes the view that neither Itali.an nor Yug:::>sJ.a.v sovs re ~. .r;,~. ty s hould be established there, ' '!ut that it shoul C. be demili tE~Ti7>eu and pJ.a ced vn.der the con':rol of· an international body . 15.. Mr. It. M, tsmpbell appeared hefr1re tbe ~unoil ot .Foreign Mini8ters on behalf o~ his C.overn:ment OCJ. 18 Septemh :;: :· 191:5. The New Zealand Governuent takes th~ po::;i b .on that a solution o:t' the rta l c .YugoslAv boundary problem shoul d be b 16. Wi. th respect to Tr:i. este, t he Ne:w 7~al a nd Government wou14 estab lish it un.d~:t> t he control of the Uri. -r.d N3t.;.ons, ~e p a r at e from the sover eigl".t y of e:(. +. her Yt>gos l avi a o :~ I tdy. 17. NJt-, Heaton Nicholls, High CC~nmli ss:i. oner for the Union of South· Afr5.ca, arpe8red before t he Co,md.l of Jfo:-e j gn M.inis~ ers on behalf of his Go v;,T· runen ~ : r.·:'1 18 Septf!mber 1945 . The S0uth .P. ~ ri can Governxnent makes s v :: - ~< . 3 1 :?:l. t- Dj:~:\. on of the i mportance of m.'3 'd.ng Trieste a f ree por t open on e q_ ~ t d. t e ~1~13 - ~ o tl:e c.:-rarnerce C'f the wo:rl d c 18. It also deems it a ma t tAr of importance that the principle ot individual seJf ... det ermination s hould be f r e e.ly a pplied in the case of per sons who C. esi re to transfer t hej.r dor.li 19. In a memorandum or 5 October, the Polish Government submitted Yiews to the CounciJ. of Foreign rv;.i nis t er s with particular bearing on the question of Trieste. The vi ~w -nva s e xpr essed that Trieste should _pass to Yugoslav sovereignty. · 0 20. The Ozeehoslo~ak Government submitted a memorandum ot 20 October tG the Council of Foreign Ministers dealing specifieally V1ith the port or Trieste. The view was expressed that Trieste should pass to Yugo~lav sovereignty under suitable a=:rangeillP-ntB for the f=ee use by the intereatea ~untriea Of the port and eonneetiDg r qi l roaos. - --.Ill. RE:PORl' .QN IiW~TIGATI.Q)i J N _TIB FI~LD. 21. During the period of t Y;enty-eight days from 9 March to 5 ~pt7l., 'th& Coamission in,resti'-'-_aten en the spot each of the seven areas ae~ CM"f;h 'ill tb.e Instructions from the Deputies. In all: the Commission carried cut ita . investigati ons in five cj. ties and t 'l ~ e nty-seven towns and villag6.•-• lrt MditionJ the Subcommittee of Economic Experts visited Fiwne and a r.umber Qf' o.ther places whieh the Commission as a whoJe_i!i_ll not- ..-:i.s..i t - Mon.!al~.tte, Pu.lt~~. 'Ekrn~.. l?t'.renzo...._ Ft'P)<)di.str i a1 1 -4- 22. To saeuro ncccss{'.ry intorm,tion, tho Commission h~ld fifty-two intorvic'Vs, Annex B lists these interviews r~rro . nged n.ccording to the place of meeting; tho n~es of tho organizations whose rcprescntat.ivcs wore hoard ~ro also sot forth. In nddition to tho interviews, the Commission m~dc in formP..l invcstigc.tions··in the villl".ges of Tn.ipnne:. , Stolvizzl'., Cepletischis, f'.nd Tcrcimonto. 23. The ca.mmission received n lnrgo number of requests for interviews t -v• hich it v~ns unnble to g:rrnt. In those inr.tnnces, it sometimes invited tho 9rg::-nizntion mlll 24. Tho Subcommittee of Economic Experts, in ~ddition to preparing tho report on Fi.ume spccificnlly cr>.llcd for by tho Instructions from the Depu ties, propr.rcd reports on the following: Region of Albona; Trieste, C~>po distrin, Isola. d' I stria, ~nd ?irnno; Pol a, Rovigno and Parcnzo; Monf'aleono; Gorizil"., Pulfcro, To.rvision (Railro('l.ds); Te.rvido (Mine of Cr:t~.ro del Pr0dil); Pisino and t ho Bnu::_ite Mines. Ljhcso r eports nre nvnilnblo in the records of tho Commission:/ 25. The Commission received many petitions nnd r~s olutions. Includittg those received c..t LnncflStcr House, those totaled, roughly,. 41 000. About 350 nre pro-It ali~n nnd 3,650 pro-Y~goslavc ' - 5 - A. District of Tarvisio • 26. Census D:>.to.. According to the ·~ustri o.n c onsus of 1910 thur o wor e pra.cti cnlly no It'OII'i'n-spoo.king persons living in the District of Tr.rvisio. Three-quarters of tho popul n.tion wo.s listed ~ s spoo.king Gormc.n and formed b .rgo mo.jori tios in tho towns of To.rvisio 1 Pontn.f ol ( Pontcbbn. 1-Tuovn. ) o.nd ~lborgh o tto. P['rt of tho r emaining population, chiefly in the vill ~gcs of Ugovizzn, So.n Leopolda md Crunporosso,. wore listed r, s spo ~king Slovene. 27. Ethnic Obs crvo.ttons. Scvon.l villo. gcs of tho district speo.k a Co.rinthian did oct or Slovene locn.lly c::.llod tt'l\ indisch ". Spokesmen or this olomcnt sto. ted thr.t people sp c.n.king this dio.lcct n.lso spoo.k Gcrm o.n o. s thoir customo.ry l nngun.go. Tho four loco.l persons interviewed in Ugovizzo. nnd Mo.lborghotto o. lso ·str.tcd thr. t tho n ~-. tivc popul e'..tion of their villa ges considur thems elves Austrinns i n their customs o.nd languo.go. Tho mo. jority of the popu h .tion spoo.king Gcrm0.n or tho o.bovc-montionod dio. lect opted ror Go rmo.ny in 1939 e-s n r esult of tho Hitlcr-Mussolini ':groomont, ::tnd mo.ny l oft during 1940-43 under the prossure of Fhscist o.nd Nnzi ~uthoritics. During this period thoro wo. s o. l o. rgQ influx or It&in. ns, with the r esult tho. t tho district now ho.s an It~i o. n mo. jority. The Ito.linn cl ement ::. r c, thGr cforc, o.lmost all recent settlers in the area. Tho r cm~ining cl ement, consisting of those who spcQk either Gcrmo.n or tho Carinthi ~n dio.loct of Slovene, or both l anguages, have boon long established. In nddition ther e is ~ mnnll soo.sonnl migration of Slovenes to work in. tho mines of Cnvc di Prcdil. 28. Googro.phicnl_ F, ctors. Tho Vnlloy or Cr'..nc.l is r. mount:cin corridor betwccm tho plain of northeastern Ito.ly, Cr.rinthia. o.nd Slovonb. A r nil wo.y nnd nn improved highwo.y run northw::trd from Udino through this mount ::~. in ous o. r on. to Villo. eh in Austrin nnd to northern Yugoslo.vio. . .:mother highwr.y extends southward from T ~ rvisio over tho Prodil Pn.ss into tho ·vr.ll oy of the IsonzG. The populntion for the most pnrt is concontro. t od in villages and towns on tho r nthcr narrow valley floors o.b~v o which rise the forostod slopes of tho Cnrnic Alps~ 29. Economic F ~\ ctors. The principnl economic function of the District of Tnrvisio is b'1. scd on its position :~.s n tr::msport[l.tion center trn tho principal direct r d lro0.d route linking centro.! rmd on stern Austrin with. northoo. stcrn Itl".ly. .'nether route links To.rvisio with Yugosl ~vi t:>.; . 30. In the District of Tarvisio there nr c · zinc ~d l end minos nt C ~vo di Prodil, the ore rrom which before 1914 wo. s used by the Austro-Hungo.rinn Empire ror its intcrno. l industry or for expert. In the period botvrccn the two wnrs the output or those mines w~ s doubled, o.nd they s ~ tisfi c d n con sidorn.blo po.rt of tho r equirements of It ~ly with r egard to zinc, l onving somo surplus ror export. The lend o.nd zinc from tho mines is moved by overhead cable to To.rvisio; the l ead is then cnrriod for r efining to Arnold~ stein, in nearby Pustrio., o.nd r eturned to Italy under o. spcoi ~l customs ~ rr~ngamcnt. Tho l~rgor p ~ rt of the zinc is smelted nonr Venice. 31. A ch~ in f~ ctory loc ~tod nt Fusinc sells its product ~n world m ~rkots. The lumb er which is cut in the district is sold in It ~ly todny Ond wns nlso sent thoro when the district was n part of the Austro Hungo.ric.n Empire. Most of tho agricultural products ar c consumed l~c n lly Qut se~d poto.toos havo a mo.rkct in Friuli. B. Rosiutto.-Gcmono.-Tnreonto Arco. - . 32. , Census Dr-- tn. 'the It~.linrt ·· ~ e n~us of HJ21 showed "the prcs·o'i).e o of a Slovonc-spddklrtg pnpnlnt~on in tho m1ddlo nnd upper r cnchos of the mountain valleys which open wcstw~rd tow~rd tho Follo. nnd Taglimncnte Rivers ~ nd the Friuln. n Friulan Plain te th8 s~uthwest. This element iftbabiterl the eomMu"es ~r ~e~ia, LuseYera ~nd Taipa~a. 3:5 . Eth.nie Ol,servatio:aa • . '.Phe Resian dialeet, in ~ioh !t,.n!l.n.. f:\ennan and Friulan are tr.ixed with an old Slavonie has is, has !",fi'!J"S; s+.~~- t'.S the fa:mi ly lancu~~e ~or.0 tuo lw•~ui lillluts of tn.e vill~~es in the ""t~ :: '. '~ Valley. Fr.rther south the peoplo living in the remoter mountain vill~=:. ges speak a distilletive Slovene dialeot in the home. Both these groups, how ever, use Italian and espeeiallv the Friula.n dialect e.s their eusto:m~. ry : lantunge. The local persons interviewed in Lusevera stated thA.t the native populaUon of their villa~e considered themselves Itulin.n in their culture and ~~y of life. ~ 34. Geograph.icnl Factors. !he ~esia Valley is isolc..ted, except for its single westward outlet. There are high :mountain ranges to the north, east and south. Farther south the mountains decrease in height nnd give way nor~ptly to the Friuln.n Plain.. Althollgh m.any or the villages are l~eated in the narrow valleys, others lie high on the mountain slopes. 35. Economic F~etors. The atrioulture of the area is poor anrl a fair proportion of sta.pl'e foods :must be imported, eusto:me.rily from northern Italy. The popul~tion of the Resia Valley derive their support from the hnnd produots and lumber which e.re sold in northern Ite.ly r.nd from eo.rnings received from their labor in Ite.ly and in countries of 11'·7estern &..trope where they go as. _artisans for n. son.son, n. pa:r5.od of yenrs or perme.nently. The transportation routes fro:m tho Rasia Valley 11nd fron1 the e011\T!'lun es or Lusevere. and Taip~nn oonneet most closely with the Friulan Plein• . C. Faedis-Civid~lo Area. - oonsus ~or n 35. Census Data. In this area tho 1921 showed thet loeel d ide et of Sl'oven'O'""Wns apoken in the following eonmunos s St:. vogM., Sr.n Piotro al Natisone, San Leonardo, Drenehin, Attimis, Pulforo, Grimr~ ceo, nnd Stregna. The census also showed f\ minority cs speE-,king the locd d~. c.l r: et or SlQvene- in the commun0s of Fr.edis, Torre£~.no, :t-Timis, £\.lld Prepotto. 37. Etnnie Obser~ltions. The local Slsv dinleot ns spoken ia this area has 11 Slovene base ena (\ st.rong admixture of !tc,lif'.n nnd Fr;_ulan. This dialect is used in ~ose villr.gos in which the eensus of 1921 showed elements ~t the popqlation ns spenking a local dialect of Slovene. The local persons !ntervieM;>Q stnted tM,t the -ru:.tive populf.tion of the~e vill~ges use botn the looe.l dialec't of Sl..cvo:ae and the Fr$.ule.n dialaot. ).. F ·rt of the populc.tion of this nret\ spew Italian and Fxoiulan only • nnd th& whole populA;tto~ use It$.li!!'.n 1\S ·tlteir cu~tO!!Iary l~gunt.c. 38. Geo,rr.phiof\1 Fll~tors. The valleys in which t})ese vtll~~e$ are l.oea~ed open' to' the• southwest townrd Civide.).o r:.nd tl.re sepe.rP.tod ftom the valley ot the Isonzo by t~ high mountain r nnge wh'l.eh is broke%) only by the lont; e.nd. tlf'._rrow gorge or the Ne.tiseno Rivur throu~h whi ch ~ hit;hwo.y eonneots Qa~r~tto with Civido.lo. 39.. 'Eo~nomio Fae:to~s-. The pooT'le. of this hi~l oountry ~ro drewn ta, t~ · Friulan plf.\.ins £>.na the · oentres of Cividnle and Ud5.ne i.n their oconomi~ relations. This tio extends on the main Cividalo-Caporetto h1gn~ · 1."41C" ... pproxiJne.tely 10 k1.l0J11.e+..aytt ~ve Pulforo:. ft.,..e.,., fj<:r tns P'--~na-. l~lo .. l..u:s t'Mo4t'll b ol1rlda. ry-} • • 40. Oensus 1?.!!!.· In tbia area the 8llSU&es of l9lt and 1921 are consistent in showing the distriQution of Italian'and Slovene majorities. Villages that were shown as having Italian majorities are found i:.-1 the valley of the Iudrio and in an area including and extending southward from Cormons, Capri va, and Lueini eo to the Is onzo. Slovenes were s hovm as predominant in the villaees and tovms to the. north of the above-mentioned corr~unes and in the area$ to tke east of the Isonzo River with the ex~eption of the city of Gorizia. 41. The ~ustrian census of 1900 showed 63 percent of the population of the city of Gorizia as Italian and 19 percent as Slovene. In 1910, the final Austrian census showed the Italians, including the citizens of the Kingdom of Itelly, as 51 pereent an.d the Slovene e~ement as .35 percent; this proportion was arrived at after a revision which reduced the number of Italian-speaking persons by apJill"oximately three thousand, The Italian census of 1921 stated that 75 percent of the population of the city was Itali~and 22 percent Slovene. 4,2. As shown by the census of 1910, the suburbs of Gorizia and other villages in the commune of Gorizia were Slovene except Lueinieo which was 90 percent Italian. The 1921 eensus also showed a small Italian minority in Piedimonte and Saleano. 43. Ethnic pbservations. Investigations in the field show that the distribution ot SlovE)ne and Italion majorities in the ·area, as indicated by the census data, has not ehanged in any substantial respect, in ~pite of shifts in total numbers as a result of illlmigration and emigration. 44. Geogrfphieal Factors. Gori~ia is located at a meeting place of diverse geographical areas. To the wast and southwe3t it is conriectea with the Friulan·Plain with its rieh 48ricultural production and to the northwest it faces the hill countr,y whieh rises northward to a high barren ridge. Opening on to Gorizia from the nor~h is the narrow valley of the Isonzo, and the broad Vipaoeo vall~ extends eastward between the high escarpment of the Se~v~ di Tarnova to the north and the low~r karst plateau to t·he south:• 45.. Economic Factors. Gorizia is an industrial, transportction ancl r.olnn.ereial center tor a large number of surrounding communes. Gorizia 1 ~ indu-s t;;oies are principally textiles, maehin.ery, woodworking, and eon.strueti~n. ~xeept tor wood, whieh. eo~es :tror11 local forests 1 and !rom .Austria aild Yufce:l~via, the raw materialS' £or ~hese industriE;ls al:''e net found i~ neigbbor;i.ng regi-oP.,. In all cades the · products are mai'keted throughout Italy SJld in Balkan IUld Y'J&diterranean countries. Imports and exports of the eity are handled mainly by the Port of Trieste. The l.abor ~~pply cQJiles me.i:~;~.,l.y frCQ th.e c~ ty and its im:.tediate environs; an additional labor toree com.es principally from tb.t:; nearby ~om.nunes of the friulan plain and also in small numbete :trom the hilly eountry to the northwest of the city. 46. Gorizia se~es as a market for the middle and, to some extent, ·tne upper Isonzo Valley, for the Vipaceo Valley, for the hilly country to the northwest and for the southeastern part of the Friulan plain as far as PalmanQva and Oervignano. 'l'ha local exchanges are very active between the mountaino~s region. producing wood and dairy products, the foothills which are rich in vineyards and fruit irees, and the plains producin£, grain, maiz~ and mulberry leaves for silk production. Most Df tbese ·exehanges are ~ied Ol.lt in Gorizia. 47. Because of its e"PQgr'!\phioo. ~ition Go.ri:z:.i.a. ~s j.lJOS t of the %OUt.flA ~ t.b.e regia.n.t To the J - 8 - To . the North~ through the v~lley of the Isonzo, .the road through the pass of Predi~, rejoining the main pass of Tarvisio and the railroad ot Piectieolle-1eaenioe-IQ..age.nturt; 'I'o the !fm, the road IUld railroad along the foot of thG Alps toward Udine and by the Tagliamento Valley to Tarvisio; To the South, the road and railroad of the lower Isonzo . which reaches the sea and .Trieste via ivlorifaleone; ' To the ~. the railroad to Aidussina and the railroad to Trieste .over the Karst {Sea Daniele del Caxso-Opieina), and a road to Ljubljana via Aidussina. 48• The relative importance of these various railroads bas changed according to th<.; period. Befor\:l 1914 the most important was that route which joined Trieste directly to Austria by the Isonzo and Piedicolle; the traffi• reac~ed an average ot 20 trains per day in each direction. Since 1918 one part of this railroad has been under the control of Yugoslavia (Bohinjska Bistrice to Jeseni~e); the custoroo difficulties res ulted in changine over the traffic to the Gorizia-Udine-Tarvisio line, which had been secondary up to that time. In the inter-war period the railroad connecting Gorizia with Udine and Tarvisio and also the double-track railroad connecting Gorizia with Trieste carried the heaviest traffic. The Karst route between Gorizia and Trieste, with its branch ~o .Aidussina, has no general transit eharacter, but priLlarily serves local traffic; it also serves as a relief l~ne for comraunication with Trieste, 49. Gorizia's power comes primarily from the Doblari and Plava hydro-stations on the middle Isonzo, although it also receives a part of its power from the Veneto system, wbieh. is · eonneeted with the Isonzo system. The eity 1s water supply is secured from an underground stream following the course of the Isonzo, which is ta:t)ped at Fontefred.da, and from 1f.onte San Daniele. ~ . Gorizia-Duino -Area 50. Census ~. The censuses of 1900, 1910 and 1921 indicate that the commu)les of Merna, IX>beFdo and Opaechiasella have rer11ained a1.J.;1oa t purely Slovene. T~e same censuses show that the con11nunes of SB,irado, Fo.gliano, Ronchi and M:mfalcone are alri.iOSt purely Italian, as are the communes farther to the west. 51. Ethnic Observations. Investig~tion nas shown thot this sharp line of division between· Italian and Slovene elements remains the same, 5;?. Geosrapnical Factors. In this area is found th.e extreme we:st ward extension of the karst platea'\1 overlooking th.e ~lf. To the south west of this plateau is the plain of t-he lower ·Isonzo on which are located several towns including Fog.l,iano, Ronchi and l:onfalecme. To the north the plat~au overlooks the plain on whieh the city of Gorizia is built. Exeellent highways erQss this area fr~u Trieste to Gorizia an~ also westward to Udine and the Veneto. 53. Econ~,uc Factors! The area is in th~ main agricultural, and . aeuQ.~ its surplus productio~ to Trieste, Gor;izi~ and Monfalcone. The 'town of Monfaleone, however, is of considerable impo.rtance as a sb.ip bu.tlding eentre {pe.ra. 65, below). J;t draws its labor from nearby communes such as Ronchi, Doberdo, Opaeehiosella, Gradisca and San Pietro d'Isonzo, as well as from Trieste. In addition, it serves as a raarket ~entre for a region ex,ending as far as Grado and Sagrado on the west, and £uri Q,.i.n:a, t!..M .. oQ:pe.O(}hl.~ ~ - -~ · aut.,. ~ prt::>du I ~erna ~rna is an industrial village, prin~tpe.lly engbt;;c:d in shoe.maldng a:nd oriented towards Goriz) . ~. Th'9 pe:<;.rlo o:' Gpa.ecb~ ~.1 sella holc1 a certain amount of agricultural lan.d :r.se:r t be Jsor:zo Ri Ye:.:- in the :l!~riu:tan plain. ) 54. Qa.M~ Data. .According to the eensus of 1900, tb.e eomnune or , 'l'rieste bad 116,825 Italian :i.nhe bi ta.nts an.d 25 ~ 130 Slovenes and Croats, out o: a total population of l18~SS9~ 55. The census of 1910 showed a t~tal p~pulation, for the commune ot Trieste • of 229,510, of \7bo::n l:.A, 959 w.erA Italians and 59 ,319 were Slove:"les or Croats. In addition tre C'en'3us sh(lv;Ad 38,597 foreigners in *l'1leste, of whom 29,439 were su l,.) je ~ ~ts of th0 K.ing0cm of Italy, 1066 were'\ from C:r.oat:i a-..,cila"1od.a a r:.d Bo"'D.:i. q-F.erzeg0~r :~ n3., and the reillainder were of ot !:J~:· nA.tionaht;<.es. For ce:J.S ua fU J.'f ~be s the commune was divideQ into three e : ~'('"l. ~- : tb.e city, the sntu:r:'ba c:.nd. t".e perip':.lery. DisrF.:garJi.ng the E'.lbj':l~. t' cf' the I ~f' liA. n I~r.,:;&~!"'. , ~he city ~on.+.aine.l 95 ~ 73() ItaJ i.ans .,nd 22,52':1 3~.c· ver.os anc: Groa ts~ the suburbs eo:n.t a:i.ned :?'2,69:i.. ItaJ.is::1s and 28,!-79 Slt"lvo:n.es and C':'oc>+.s; o_r;rl t\Je :.r;>e;:r:'..J!l'-erel ~_., ~ tlcl'l'.en.ts containe·'l 5.38 Italians and 8,2D Slcve·:ces a.xd C '.:-ne:~s., 56. In 1910 the original r.en r: u.s, tAken by the munieipal authorities, is reported to hn:ve sb.c : ~fiTn 142,E3 ::-~s. J.ie.:'1.s and J8 1 499 Slovenes and Croats. The reviseG. ~ensus, Cl)nd,1c tec:1 by t he "·~t,s ~:cian C8ntral &;J.tho:.d ties in. response to Slo"'Tene comp:'..aints, sl:lov.reJ l.l.F\? ~159 Italid~S and 59.,319 Slov-ene• and Croats, as men · ~io::J.ed above, r.~·!; count: . n.~ the Italian su b j~~ts, who were · grou!)ed under K}!~oreig.n~rs r.. 'I'hr.; O:rurui.ss:i.cn l:8s unable to form an opinion cc1 ·~ 0 ::'ning tho basj.s on v:;hic!:i this re';•isi on was carried out. 57. 'l'he Italian census C'f J921 show,.,d a total population, for tbe eonmune of T:::-ieste, of 238?S.S.S, cf '''h.r::n 202 ;-.::;82 we:r.e It9.Hans and 18,150 S)ovenes .. In addition 8,307 Yuge:s1.a.y .sub jec ·~s were r eco:~cJer1 e.s resident in Trieste. I'or census purposes tlle com.-.1une W3S divided into two areas, the city -together "vi th its sur)u.r:r:.s , ancl the :per; . p~ery. Disregarding the YugC~slc.v su.bjeC"i;s tne city toes t(ler with the su0ur.bs ~ontained 198,886 ItaHa ri.~ and Jl, 694 Slovenes , 'J.Ihe per:.pb.er3.J. S<"'ttler.c.cnts contained 3,496 Italian~ a.T'.d 6 1 456 S:. CI"l0D?3 • 58. Ei1Jmic Q~s~rvatign~. Jnveati'-.>ations i.n th& field broadly ~ firmed the ter~itorial distr · ~but~ on of the Italian and Slovene populatioa in Trieste which is ind:i.c"l.ted by the 0':Jnsus data. The center of Trieste ap:pe~.rs to be almost purely :calie.n. Most of t:1e iiWh3c1iately adjoinillg euburbs appea:r to h~ve U •JVe:::J.e majori tie8 with st,_bstant.ial Italian min.ori ties. 'rhe per5.pheraJ. set ~lements appeal;' to be e.J.most entirelY Slovene. · 59. Both Italian and Slovene apokeamen stated to tbe Commiasioa that sub$tantial shifts in population had takP-n ple.ee durin.!) the war years t but it was impossible to draw any relie..ble c('lnclusions from the ) eonflieting assertions con~erning such Ghangl'ls. The total stable POPll• lation of the colil'l.une o:' T:>:'ie "l te appee::-s to be appro:rimately 260,000. It is difficult to r sa.ch e:cac-:; conclus::ons conc.erniug the precise .figJU~eotV -at the proportion of Italiws and siov er. E~s in T3.~:i.este owing to the different views that n:ay be held coneer~.ing t~. e, true test of eth.L1ic eb.araeter. In tb..i.s connection, Slovene spokesmen stated that e. con.. $iderable part of the Italian-speaking :po:pulatj on, particularly in th.e younger a.g-e grou:Qs • ...oonsider themselves .Slmrene. Italian spokeSLlen maint~d that there had been an increase in the proportion of the I tillan- - 10 - :ttalian-:speaking t>Opulation since 1918,. and that, \7i th fe-:t exee_ptions, eustanary language vras the test or .notio~l feeline,. 6o. Geographical Faetors. Trieste lies at the foot of the high \7est\'7ard-faeine; escartmont of the Triestino karst. It is built on the lo\lcr slopes and in the mouths of short valleys \"lhich ho.vo cut iutc tho escarpment. To the north of the eity the escarpment drops pr~cipitously . to the eoast, uhile to the south the trend of thi.: escarpmont is inland• ' 61. Eeonomie Factors. Tri~eto is an important port ~hieh connects tho noi&1borin~ re(ions and the countries of tho Danubian Basin and of Control Europe \-:ith Moditorranoan and other more distant countries. Tho city is also an industrial and commercial center. 62. In the railroad traffic of th~ port the chief countrie.s in the years 1912-l.J r.ere ~ustria, uith a pradominat share, end Hungary. The chief parts of .:..Ustric partieipctine, in this tradf; -:-tero Bohemia and Moravia, Gorizia-<.rradisco.. Istria., Carniela, Lor:er ~us tria, Styria and Carinthia. In 19.37-38 Austria, Italy, inclusive of Vonezio. Giulio., Czechoslovakia, and Hunbary, in that order, accounted for ~ost o! tho rail traffic of Trieste. In the sea-borne traffic of Trieste th~ chief countries in 1912-13 nero the ~vant, Groat Britain, Ita~ and ~ustria (mainly Dalmatia); in 1937-38 Italy, inclusive of V~nezia Giulia, the Levant, the East I~dies ond Far Ea5t, and thp United States~ in that order, aeeountcd for most of the sea-borne traffic of Trieste. 63. The city and port of Triest~ attained their present level of davelo~cnt as overland communication l~nos uere built to link them uith ~heir trado hinterland and aa the teehnieo.l t'o.cilities of the port were dt:iVC loped fran the middle of the ~notE)enth century. Total trade reached a l'Ook in 1913, uhiel\ level uas lator approached in tho mid-1920's and in 1937·,8, although never equalled. Rail traffic, after rccovorin~ fran the first uorld uo.r, raehed a record voluroe in 1924, but ~ftcr 1929 declined to some•ihat loner levels. Troffic in 19.37 a'Qout ~ quullcd that of 1910. Maritime trade declined for a time fran the volume of the yee;rs before the :first wotld uar, l;>ut in 19.37-.38 that level Yl~s again attained. 64. The fluctuations in rail traffic -;:ero eonnoetcd r:ith tho reduction of the J>art played by the terri tory llhich used Trieste and ~rith the general oeonanie conditions prova~lins in Europe. On tho one hand, t)).o otfoeta of the ostablishmo.nt of ner1 politienl ~nd customs bound~ri·o:& £~.ftor 1918, of the st:rone,l.y no.tionQ.list polieios on both ~li tieai p.nd economic questio!\S ·,-:-hieb t1ore dovoloped at various. tiJie$ py :ttaly and tho .Suecoa:~or States, ~nd ef th~ rivalry of Nortn 5ea and ~l.t;i. e JO;rt" uith ~riil$to must be talc en into Q.-ee.ount. 0n tho bthcr hand, the eeonado tllUruption in Euro-pe after the 1914-18 \Jar ol\d th~ ;;conomi.e depsocssion traa l-929 to 1933 oro ns elearly rctloetod in. the,; trahsit trattic tQJ.-ou&}\ Triosto as they ore in tho trade r~tUl"ns of the eontral E~opea~ eountri~s eoneorncd. 65. 'l'hQ '-ndustriel ara4 of Trieste, '.Thieh e):tonds fra:a Mon!alcono. Ollr tho northvest to l~£s.in on the south, is cone..:rnco '' i th a limited aumber ot industries, tho mo~t important of \1hich is sbipbuildinL. This latter industry s.ra~1 paz(lll.ol rti th the dcvelopncnt of tho port, and ~spe ·eially 1~ the intcr.. r,o.r period produeed lo.rgo ond modern passenger, cargo~ ll.nd ~~vnl vessels for Italy and tor salo to mnny ot~or eOUfttri~s. Tho navnl ~aBel5, nhieh eon$titutod approttmo.toly onc-BiAth of tho ton~ eo»• 'll~'ll~tod, ~rerc :t>u;Ut maialy tor Italy. Tho shi_.Pyords of thd area, under ~ntrQl direction, Jn~vo their lo.bor fran yard t ~ yard as thG: "ork d~man6s end ~~~ t,ht.).bt' )'OX'o®MiJle. .aN\ ell,~ tWJti vitios f:tXm. ll ~e~tll point. '1\"icstc - l.l ... . Trieste has also develo~ed important industries which have grown out of thb processing of go.ods which p~s through th<. port. The ehief among these arc petro).eurn. and vegetable oil refining, jute, wine and tobacco processing, and lumbor milling. Iron and steel are produced in the. Ilva plant which has adapted. some of its furnaces to use Istrian coal. .:~ Solvay processing plant in M:)JU'alcone pre>Quees soda products. 66. Coneomi tant with tho growth of the port \Vas also the developm0nt of ir,~porta11t shipping liil&S. baaed on Trieste and of two insurance busiuesses which are among the largest in Europe. The shippins lin~s and insurancv c6mponios developed lllarkeqly in thu int(;)r-v~ar period.. The former are largely engag~d in int~rnation~l transport and the insurance companies in international insuranc~ o~erationa. 67. ?rieste has four railroad ties: with th~;; Danubian Basia (via Ljubljana), \d th Central Europe (two ;Lines via Villach), with lJorthorn Italy {via Cervignano) and with Istria {two lines, to Pola and Fiume). Tb.e railroad via Ljubljana, on the basis of its transport capacity and of work actua~ly pt::rfonned. holds th<:: first place. Trieste also has excellent highway connections. Modor.Q. highnays lead to the north, o1w branch providing easy cor.m1unieation through Monfalcone with tho Italian b.ighriay system, tht:: other throu~h Gorizia and the Prcdil Pass with tba Austrian system. Another good highway crosses the karst upland tc~ard Postumia; this highway represents th<:: principal route connecting the Trieste region with Yugoslavia and .otb.er Danubian countries. A third highr.ay. also crossing the karst, eonne.ts Trieste. ~ith Fiume. ;while a fourth ~i ghway leads south to Pola. 68. Electric power is supplied from a combined system which L1akes use of a group of bydro-olectric plants located on the I::iddle and Upper Isonzo and at Collina in the Veneto. The tlio systems are connected at Opicina. On the avorase the area depends. about equally on ~ach group, but 'ri th eonsiderable · variations accord~ng to seasc;m.. Wate.r for the city of Trieste como:;~ primarily from tht;: mouth of the Timavo River, whi oh flows into the Adriatic just north ot Duino. ·69• The labor supply tor the various branches of industry of t~c Trieste area is largelY within the city ~d its suburbs; the principDl daily movemonts which take place are fromLruggia into Trieste and frpm 'rrieste to N.onfal•one. 70. The food supplies of tho population o! the city cane mainly · from the adjoining t&rritory (including the Friulan Plain and Nortborn Is tria aJ;~.d tG a certain extont tile ·Venetian l'lail1); before the.. v1ar the bulk of ihe imported \¥he at, flour, meat, ~d sugar came i'rom Hu~~ary, Yugoslavia ~d CzechQslovakia. G. W@storn ~ Southern Istria 71. · C~nsus Da~. J'or weste::tn ancl southt:::rn Istria (the poli tice,J. R.~:riets · oL Capodistria, Paranzo. Pilino and Pola) the .Austrian e~nsus ot 1900 showedJ 118,619 Cronts and Slovenes and 123,523 Italians, and tho C!.el'lAtts of 1910 shoi;od 145,982 Croats and Slovenes and 135,034 Itali~ .. • ,'3afile Itblian of For the area, the eensus 1921 shov;ed 102,825 Croats anQ. Slt.>'lf<-.ne.s. and l?a,-o?o Italiap.s. 72, Within tho saroo tour districts of weste:rn and south~rn Istria, the Austria~ ~&us of 1900 showed 18 communes of Italian ma jority, l6 eamraune& of Croat or Slovene majori ty, and one commune equally divided. For the ~am Iii+'~ ' ~ .. ..AlJ.s.t:ci..rul. ~~ . _of_ _l9l0 .'3hoiof&d. lb oouannnes ·of' Italian - 12 .. Italian majority·, containing e total/ population of 189,224 inhabitants, of whom 121,002 were Italian and 44~560 \/era Croat or s iovone. 'l'hc sarue census showed, within thu same area, 19 co~os of Croat or Slovene majority, containing a total population ot 118,016 inhabitants.., of whom 102,322 were Croat or Slovone and 14.0.32 V~-ere Ite:.lian,. For t h~ same e.roa the Italian eensus ot 1921 shot:ed 20 coiJl!lluncs ot Italian majority, 14 communes of Croat or Slovene majority, and one coLYuune &qually divi4cd~ The Italian .ecnsus of l92l reported a number of sharp I chaiJBes in a few eoLl'Jlunes, which wero, in cow.paris.on ·with tho 1910 census, more trequ~ntly in favor of the Italien clement. 73. Ethnic Observations. While in !stria the Cor,-n 74. Professor Roglich, the organizer of this unofficial census, ~ho r~s intervieweo at some lensth by the Comrliseion, stated that these fiGures were based upon e declaration of each inhabitant concerning his nationality. Professor Roslich ~l~o st~ted that th6 compilers of the ¢epsus had devoted much atteution to the analysis of tho origin of famil.y-llSlUes, but that thQse analytical data T~ere not used for the final det~nation of tho ethnic coQposition except in Pola. Unlike the . censuses of 1910 and 19:21, wbieb noted not the nationuli ty but only the "eusto111ary la~age 11 (lbgangssproehe, lingua d' uso), the 1945 statistics sho~ the n~tionality. Thu Conmussion '~s informed that, in th~ census of 1945, data on "family language" have also bcon collected but infonnation eoneeruing ~family language" has not been presented b,y Professor Ro ~ lich, and therefore it ~as not possible to compare data concerning "fmnily langua&o 11 \1i. tll those ot any prEJvioua ecnsus •. 75. In vi~~ ot the inability ~t the Co~ssion as a ~hole to r9ach un~imcua eone~usions regard~ng the usefulness of tho l945 ecnsus for e~aluating th~ ethnic composition ot the population in !stria, each dele(i;atiJt~ h(ls set ..forth. its obst~rvations on this question in a,n 4pPQndix to P~t IV of t~ Roport. 76. ;f!l li:catorn and so\,tthM'n !stri-a th¢ v.crious ethnic elcLlents are tnt.omi~led. th" ltal:tah eler4ont .i.t located in ~ho to••v .s'). t'uete4 6IJ or ncar tb.(; eo~.st end also inhebi ts a co!)Bidcra&lc uwab~r of rur&l .J.oeali tios in ''estern Is tria. It eons ti tute8. t}l~ majority .end • in eertAi.n iMt~n~es, t,lLlost tho Whole- populc:.tion in many ot iht.i town$ · on or near the coast, while in eorte.in to-rms in tho int<~.ri,or of ..:: estern - ~d soutQbrn Istrio it constitutes an important ~norit,y. The Croat and Sloveno populQtio~ 4wl.ls Wlinly in ru.re.l l,oealj.tics wbieh, in o. ~~naid€erable number ot ee.sos • are si tuatod around the to\ms inb.a~i ted J by ItE4lians. This population, .;uoreovcr, hns extended townrd.s the cocst in thrqo principal directions, nemely, to tn~ north of tho River Dragpg~ on ~oth .sides ot the Canale di Leme, anq at tpe southern tip o~ tn(.) pen insula &~ut~ ot Pole. 77. In genoral• it is not possible tc s~oak in this r~gion as in other ~gions farther to tbh ...north. o.t a ~ IiD.& ,.l)f ~t.Anie d:i;-u~ ~~ the:... t.toltl.. ~l..eJUll't.Q.. - 13- 78. Geographical Factors. A broad bolt of greatly dissected hilly land extends south~astward fr~~ Capodistria and Buio across th~ peninsula to the eastern coast a,t Fianona. The ;pen~nsula southwest of this belt is e low karst plateau deeply cut by the valleys of the Arsa, the Drago and tho Quioto. Although water is sear~e in this region, there aro considerable areas under cultivation, £n improved highuay cxtonding from Capodistria throue;h Buie and Dignano to Pola furnishes th·:... chi'-'f land transportation route of v.est0rn !stria. It is crossed by several high-i;ays extending to the interior from th~ ebast. There is a railroad leading to th<:: interior t~m the ports of Rovigno and Pola. .. 79. EConomic Factors. For tho most part tho econor~ of this region is not highly developed and ties are of a local nature. The population is primarily agri,,eul. tural 1 raj.sing much of its own food; thv surplus pro duction of the area supplies thE".i torm~ ;;i thin Is tria and in the. ~'ricstc region. These exports arc primarily -.inc, fruits and vegetables , a little moat and fish, fresh and canned. 'In the intc.r-•.ar period tho pros ;peri ty of agriculture in !stria suffered. partly as a result of the comp~tition of Italian production of ;;ine and fruit t partly as o. reaul t of the Fascist poliey ot self-sufficiency uhieh led to an uneconomic ovcr-oxt.::nsion of grain production in Istria, and partly as o result of th~ general agricul tural criais in .Europe during this period. The largest t~;n is Pol,a, r:i th a limited port trade of loce.l significance only and '.ii th its industry cqntcring mostly around naval instal~ations. Oth~r to~ns arc cithor coastal fishing and minor port t~;ns. or marketing to~s in the interior. Bo. Tr:o mineral resoureos arc- of considortblc significonco in Istria, nemcly bauXi tc and eoal.. Bauxite • \ihi ch is mined in a belt across from th ~ north~est to tho _southeast at ~lbo~, involves practically no capital eCluii)m'ant -and -i ts- !·e'xploi t£i:tic)n h~s :rG'quired only a· slmplo - organiz~tion. ' ; ~ '• ' '. I ( I < ( • ~ •• • ". • ..... f" .~ I, '. • • ~ • -In the pa-st, th<{ baU:xi te_'moved primarily -by ~ni 1 ·'to Rovignq tmq t h·cnce · to Porto ·:rt.arghern. ' nUring .. thc ·r.ar 'fou'r.!..i'ifthS or · ttle ' producti'on ••·ont to 'Ck:I'llllliiY bY ·r:ail' ' tb:ro~)?;li '~Ljubljana . end uno•:f'±t~h to itnly; :· ·lt '·ts cstimc. ted i'b:a t -t,w ... thirds of :t h.;;;·, bauiito- hos rilra"adt ··been workcl"d·: · ~u t ~ · ··:· · ·· · ~ !) • \-< .. .::~-.. :...~"'/,,~ ' I'; ·~·;''/".~; •!-· ·'"~!I".' .· ·. :·.---. 81. · Tho ·explortati on ·of tho . ~oalzdi ncs ~oga.n i:~r tho ·,s dcond ·pet-~ of ·the nineteenth ecn:tu'r,i and qevoiopM ;prc)grcssfvciy under tho'·:"Aust:J;"o.:. "Hun.garian r'cgin).c (lo5~6oo tbns : p ~r year ~bofor~ ·- the first World ·warY. ·. P'rdm ·1919' to 1945 the t6tal producti'on ··· ~as :fo,doo,ooo · tons. The;; greatest ennuQ.l incrvasc >tas in 1936 Qnd thi':: hi~hes t Q.n:q.ual output ( 1, 08? ~ oc_o ~ons) v:;as in ' 194~. ·Tni·s industtic:.l development drc•~- in labor to thE; o;roa for . ~ - - '' . ) ' ,. ·official pQ.Sts e:na :f'o~ YvOrk ·:r.n thcJ mines. · In ·July ·1943 th<- to~(il nur11bcr 'Of ~i';orkcl"S ' WQ.!;l around' 7 t 000 t ·and in Fe·bruary 194b it :,,:as 0. bOUt 5 t o'00 o ·r I, _82 ~ Exc4pt for ·· purely loeal, arrangdmont~. ~stria 1 s '<>=a t i r supply ~ i~ '.• ., ...... ~ .. ... !,,. ;· . "'' •,') •· . )', :. . "' ..·: .. . . .) - ... t ... • 1 : . 1 J r ' ., . - ' . . H. Fi~. 83. Fium~ r;es visited onlY b,y tnb economic experts. Th~rGforo, in this soetion r.e deal only lii th the ~conor.aie aspects of Fium.::; :.:nd not ui th ethnic considcrc.tions. 84. Before the.; first world '1ar, Fiume t.c.s the principc.l outlet and port of entrance for n lo.rge port of the kingdom of Hungary, which included Croctio. and tho Banet. Fiumc continued to depond on tho scmo territory for its trade when, after tho) first >i'orld \.o.r, this terri tory boerime Yugoslavio.n (northc.rn nnd eentro.l Yugoslo.vi.a), Hungarian and Czechoslovckic.n (Slovakia). Shortly n!torl 85. Eol:evcr, in spite of thw ostnbl.isbmcnt of a free port regime, tho traffie of Fiumo aeclincd aftur it become Italio.n. It is not possible to determine all the complicated •)('· O~l"n>. o.!ld pcli. tical ccuses of this decline. But basically 1 t ,,a·s ~a uc oo ty t i1u e.stn:.1 J.i<: h."D.ont of e political boundary through the port of Fi.l'.::-r:-a.,. b~- Y~~f0E: lcv:i . a ~ s ;.1·eferonce for developing 3usak,, and by the l'i:,.s -:.o Eung::1:cy of her cd.rcct c.eccss to tho sea, c.s wc:;ll us by gonercl ccc:-l u~"' ' .~ .1un~ :t tions in l:.urope durine, the intcr .-:ar peri on. Li ttlc dovolop.:nen · ~ \,us ·) cL·iod out in thu port bctr:ecn the •:ars. Ext ensive dcmoli tion noar the close: o! tho wnr in 1945 hos mc.de mu~h of thL port unusablu ~ithout con~idorablo ropairs. 86. Fiumo's chief ;..ndustri.es bnvo peen ship construction. tobccoo processing, petroleum rofini~ and torpedo mo.nufaeturing. Raw matorio.ls end I!lllrk:ots tor these i!ldu.stries ·nero for the most pert to be found out side the loeal region. 87. EloetJ'ie power tor Fil+JUa ccroos from tho Ison~o-Cc.:l.lina byJiro ... electric network. Vic.tcr is su.ppliod primcrily from local sourec.s, \>hilc the principcl bulk foods eomc either from abrqud by sea or overland from tho Denubo Basin. Fruits, vegetables, fish and \";ino ar~ supl)lied by the nei~b.boring see ~onsts ~nd islnnds. Sa. Ttio r~il lines link Fiume r.1. th its b.intcrlenxd: the connection tt> the north\'jest "1thioh ttca into the main TriQst~ - Lj'J..blja~ rvuto, ao.d 'th~ rail~ 't.o the eo.s.t to Zagreb via the ~rst and ~rlovM. - 15 - AP.P.!NDIX TO !'ART IV OF REPORT There follow the observations referred to in paragraph 75: Observations of. th~ French Delegatio~. (Tranolation) ks pointed out in the Commission's Report, the 1945 census ~as carr)ed out by and on the responsibility of a private body. The powerful.resourees of a State ~ere thus not available for the execution of an operation cf an intrinsically delicate nature, vri th the result that a certain number of defects ~ere apparent - impossibility to hold the census on one single day; impossibility of covering the v:hole of the terri tory involved as the l'lork could only be done in the Yugoela' zcne of occupation, so that, as lTOfessor Roglich himself admits, the data collected merely refer to the zo~ populated by Croats ("!stria as defined by the Rapallo Treaty"), \7hile the other statistical data really constitute an interpretation, apparently based mainly on a study of the names, of the informations contained in the 1921 census. Fu:r-thermore, the staff of this recently created Institute was new, the Director himself, Professor Roglich , having been given a university chair only just before the census ·Has taken, and t,tle chief census offic-ials ~ad apparently not been ~iven any special professional training,. Horrever, semi-official inspiration seems to appear behind the census. Even though it is o private organj.sat.ion, the Adriatic Institute is managed by a Professo:..· at Zagreb; the t:ork on the opot was done in most eases vli th the help of teachers, officials, Tiho couJ.d obviously only b:~.ve given their services with the approval of their superiors. Without detractinb fran the good faith of the or~anisers and the census officials, the motive inspiring them must naturally have been favourable to the vie,-;s of th& state to \7hich they belonged. Professor Roglich himself. told the Com mission that one of the factors nhich had encouraged the Qreanisers and eensus officials to complete in a ver;r short space of time the great effort demanded of them had been 11 their hope that great things would happen". He also mentioned that the purpose of their efforts was to nclarify a very contentious pro'blem and transmit the results to their country". ln these circumstances, takin&, into account the time 'ilhen. the census \785 held- on the mor.ror. of the liberation and just before the elections - 1 t may be questioned 'ilhether the circul'llstances then prevailins, did not . influence the operation, and confer upon it, to some extent, the character ot a kind of plebiscite rather than of a real scientific anr.lysis. Thus the criterion adopted for deciding nationality. was the ui~:.t.freely expreseed by each person. In October, 1945, hor:ever, to declare oneself a Croat \!as at onee to take a stand agair>.st Fascism and join the side of the victors. Thero can be no doubt that for many members of the floating populations uhich the Julian ~mrch necessarily contains, the attraction ot a country ~hose victorious armies were bringing freedom alone, \7i th them must have been pm1'erful. The same phenomenon occurred during the French.' Revolution. The foregoing explains the dif:f'e;rences bet'\'/een the 194.5 statistics and the Italian censu..s of 1921, differences Ylhich sometimes amount to a c~l.Di;e reversal of the ethnic data (namely in some communes in aouth~east !stria, such as Moschienizze). Should one conclude that one of the OJ'e.ratio.ns ~-,as systematieally vitiated? Tho greater probability is that both were vitiated, but possibly not systematically. In 1921 the 'People replied in Italian 1o a ~uostion asked in Italian. In 1945 they 6eclared themselves Croats to ~nsua takers inspired by the Croat ideQ.. In very many cases, no doubt, one and tae ~eme person declared himself Italio!l in 1921 and Cro.at in 1945· It was not poaaihle, unfortunately, to mnke an inv0stigution of this question. The 1945 census is not o document to be accepted unquestioningly, th~ it eortninly constitutes u very interesting piece of work if employed as n kind o! reagent to be judiciously applied, before their acceptnnce, to .the fig\ll"aa conta.inod in tha ra:tl:JGc- too systematic Itnli.an. ~ta.tistiM .of 1921. Appendix to Part IV 16 (Translation) Observations of the U.s.s.R. Cou~issioner. Statistical SOUJ.'ces for Determi.ning the Ethnic Composition of Venezia Giulia: The Cen.sus·es of 19lQ, 1921 and 1945. The basic statistical sources for the study of the n;: ,tiona.l composition of Venezia Giulia are th0 Austro-Hunga~ian census of 1910 and th~ census vihich was carried 0\1t· in 194.5 by the Adriatic Institute. The census of 1910 covered the whole o.f Ve·nezia Giulio. and vro.s co.rric:d out in accordance with a uniform ,.;plan. However, one· a;reat defect of this census, as of all the preceding ~stri~ censuses, was that it recorded, not nationality, but 11 customo.ry latJ.guo.&e". 'l'he principle of 11 custom;;;ry l.O.Il3\l0Se" instead of ~ de:tcrminc:tion of the nationality was introduced in the Austri~ statistics beginning in 1830. In Venezia Giulin, where bilingualism is vTidesproad and where the It<..llia:n language Wns dominant in tro.dc and in official institutions, especi~lly in the towns, tho r ~ cording of 11 custor.mry l.::nguo.gc" created on t.m-true notion of the numbers of the n~tio~lities by giving great advantages to the Italian element to the d c trim~mt of the Slav. To this vre.s added, in places, abuse committed in the census-to.k.ing by the municipe.litiE;ls Hhich were in the h:.mds of the Italians. Iv:tany such abuses vrere brought to light and correetod in the revision of tha results of the census, which w6s carried out as result of tho oo~plaints of the Slav population of the cities of Trit::ste nnd Gorizia. However, this correction was far from restor.ing the correct proportion between the Slav end Italian elvmonts; in a mnjority of ~e places, ~~cre the Sluv element was less v1ell or0 aniz.ed and coul~ , not .Pl:"Otest (esp-Mially in thl;j rural areas of Istriu), there was no rovision or correction of th ~ census at c.ll. The It~liun census of 1921, w~ieh. wus carried out und~r conditions of the political domination of the Italian administration, distorte~ even mor0 the numerical r~lationship between th~ nationalities in favor of the Italians. Th~ Commission recorded numerous campl~ints on the purt of the Slo.v popul~tion, espeeially in Is trio., · against · th(j incorrect mGthods by which the census of 1921 was carried out. This census cnn be utilized only for Venetian Slovenia, because of the absence of other dat~, and al.:Jo beco.use in this .area the Italian authorities did not consider it neces.:;ary greatly to dfu1inish the number of tho Slovene populctio~. Wi t.h respect to the census >7hich was c::.rricd out in 1945 by tn_c Adriatic Institute, this census has undoubted ndvnntnges ovor the pre ceding censuses, although it is not without certnin technical defici0ncics. The deficioncios of the 1945 oensu~ arc; the limited territory cov.;;red, th~ shortened progr,~ of its work, th~, absence of ddnilcd v~tton instructions. In ~dition it must be noted that tp.e :;orking u:p of thv census results h.:ts not yet boon completed. Tho most important li).erit of the 1945 eensus is that it v.ros based on. the prinoiplc, of nationality as determined by th;;; d~claration of th.e person listed or of the head of the family. Because of this very fuct, thu census of 1945 for the first tUnc reflected correctly the nutionnl composition of th.::: popu.bti-on of Istrio.. Tho c0nsus noted "family lillloUcll60,.. (although the final data on this item wer~ not availablti to the Commission), {j,nd also infoi'Il1.:1tion concerning the migration of population. The mn.teri.uls of the oensus have beert worked up on the basis of small sottlcmv:nts. "' ' - 17 ... in th~ conclusion th~ t for all of venezi~ Giulio except Istrio th~ cwnsus of 1910 con be utilizod ns c. basic so\irce for determinine; n.. ti .. '. . :J. l compos ition. How ;.; ver, in using the data. of the 1910 census it is necessary constantly to be<1r it in mind that the numbers of the Italio.n :popuLtion were undoubtedly excggorated. Bccc.use of tho a.pplico.tion of the principle of recording "custo:,1CU"J. language 11 and not nationo.li ty, and also o.s a consvquunce of tho ubusus..· ; For dete11nining tho national composition of Istrio., the Qonsus of 1945 furnishes th0 most correct understo.nding.