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.