Trieste

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Trieste , Serbo-Croatian Trst, city (1991 pop. 231,100), capital of Friuli–Venezia Giulia and of Trieste prov., extreme NE Italy, on the Gulf of Trieste (at the head of the Adriatic Sea). A major seaport with several shipyards, it is also a commercial and industrial center. Manufactures include machinery, metals, and processed food. Trieste is also the terminus of pipelines from Eastern Europe.

An ancient settlement, it was made a Roman colony (2d cent. BC), called Tergeste. It prospered under the Romans, was later held by the Lombards, and was taken by Charlemagne in the late 8th cent. In the 12th cent. it became a free commune. After two centuries of struggle with its rival Venice, Trieste placed itself (1382) under the control of the duke of Austria, although it retained administrative autonomy until the 18th cent. In 1719 it was made a free port. As the sole Austrian port and as a natural outlet for central Europe, Trieste flourished, and in 1867 the crown land of Trieste was made the capital of Küstenland prov.

Despite its Austrian status, Trieste preserved linguistic and cultural ties with Italy. It was a center of irredentism , and after World War I Trieste and its province were annexed (1919) by Italy. However, its prosperity declined under Italian rule. After World War II the area was claimed by Yugoslavia, mainly because the population outside the city of Trieste is predominantly Slovenian. The Western powers opposed Yugoslavia's claim. As a compromise, a new state, the Free Territory of Trieste, was created (1947) under the protection of the UN Security Council. The Free Territory included the city of Trieste and a coastal zone of Istria , running from Duino along the Gulf of Trieste to Cittanova.

When the Security Council was unable to agree on a governor for the territory, Anglo-American forces occupied Zone A, consisting of Italian-speaking Trieste and its environs, while the Yugoslavs occupied Zone B, the remainder of the Free Territory. Tension between Italy and Yugoslavia continued until 1954, when, in a compromise agreement reached under Western auspices, Zone A was placed under Italian administration and Zone B under Yugoslav civil administration (divided between the republics of Slovenia and Croatia). The solution amounted to a partition of the Free Territory, which then ceased to exist; this arrangement was finalized by the Treaty Of Osimo (1975).

Trieste has some Roman ruins, including those of an amphitheater. On a hill commanding a fine view are the Romanesque Cathedral of San Giusto (part of which dates from the 5th cent.) and an imposing castle (14th–17th cent.). On a small promontory northwest of the city is Miramar castle (1854–56), built for Archduke Maximilian of Austria, who sailed from there on his ill-fated Mexican adventure. Trieste has a university, founded in 1924.

Bibliography: See J. Morris, Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere (2001).

Trieste is situated in the north-eastern corner of the Adriatic sea. Until 1918, when its population was nearly two-thirds Italian, it was the Austro-Hungarian empire's principal port. At the end of the First World War it was ceded to Italy; at the end of the Second it was the scene of the first clash of the Cold War, for the region of Venezia Giulia, of which Trieste is a part, was claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia, and in March 1945Tito and the Partisans launched an offensive into the area. After occupying most of it Tito then abrogated an agreement he had made that the western Allies could establish a military government there, and on 2 May demanded that all Allied forces withdraw behind the River Isonzo. On 12 May Churchill, concerned about Soviet intentions, cabled Truman that an ‘Iron Curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what was going on behind. There seems little doubt that the whole of the regions east of the line Lübeck–Trieste–Corfu will soon be completely in their hands . . .’

During the negotiations which followed Tito's forces entered Austria, but on 9 June an agreement was signed in Belgrade and the Partisans withdrew from Austria, and from Trieste and its environs. The peace treaty with Italy signed in Paris in 1947 created the Free Territory of Trieste, but this failed to work and eventually the area was partitioned between the two countries with the port remaining in Italian hands.

Trieste, Friuli‐Venezia Giulia/Italy Tergeste, Triest May be derived from the Illyrian terg ‘market’. As the principal port for the Austro‐Hungarian Empire, it was called Triest. Seized by Germany in 1943, it was liberated by the Yugoslavs in 1945, but two years later it became a Free Territory under Anglo‐American military administration (Zone A which included the city and port) and Yugoslav military administration (Zone B to the south called, locally, Trst). Zone B and part of Zone A became Yugoslav with the remainder of Zone A, which included the city, going to Italy in 1954.

Trieste City on the Gulf of Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic Sea, ne Italy. It was an imperial free port from 1719 to 1891, and became an Austrian crown land in 1867. It was ceded to Italy in 1919, occupied by Yugoslavia in 1945, but was returned to Italy in 1954. It is an important industrial and commercial centre with large shipyards. Industries: steel, textiles and petroleum. Pop. (2000) 215,096.

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