The Race for Trieste, was a battle during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
that took place during early May 1945. It led to a joint allied victory for the
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
and
2nd New Zealand Division
The 2nd New Zealand Division, initially the New Zealand Division, was an infantry Division (military), division of the New Zealand Army, New Zealand Military Forces (New Zealand's army) during the World War II, Second World War. The division was ...
and a joint occupation of
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
, but relations soon deteriorated and led to a
nine-year dispute over the territory of Trieste. This battle is also considered the last battle in which a considerable force of
Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
fought, as 13,000 of the irregular troops under
Momčilo Đujić
Momčilo Đujić ( sh-Cyrl, Момчилo Ђујић, ; 27 February 1907 – 11 September 1999) was a Serbian Orthodox priest and Chetnik . He led a significant proportion of the Chetniks within the northern Dalmatia and western Bosnia r ...
surrendered to the New Zealand forces under
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Sir
Bernard Freyberg
Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952.
Freyb ...
as the battle progressed.
Prelude
Yugoslav Front
The Yugoslavs achieved a breakthrough after a series of hard-fought encounters along the
Syrmian Front
The Syrmian Front ( sh, Srijemski front/Sremski front) was an Axis line of defense during World War II. It was established as part of the Eastern Front in late October 1944 in Syrmia and east Slavonia, northwest of Belgrade.
After the Yugosla ...
in late 1944 and early 1945. Present at the pivotal
Battle of Knin
The battle of Knin ( sh, Kninska operacija) was a major Yugoslav Partisan operation during World War II in Yugoslavia launched by the 8th Dalmatian Corps from 7 November to 9 December 1944 with the purpose of destroying German, Ustaše and Chetni ...
, the
Yugoslav 4th Army then spent most of spring and early summer advancing north through
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
with the intent of taking Trieste without help from Western
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, thereby justifying a claim to the
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
Italian port.
[
The 4th Army was led by ]Petar Drapšin
Petar Drapšin ( sr-Cyrl, Петар Драпшин; 15 November 1914 – 2 November 1945) was a Yugoslav Partisan commander.
Early life and education
Drapšin was born to a family of poor peasant farmers in the village of Turija near Srbobran ...
, who had previously led the incorporated 8th Corps until he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.
Italian Front
On the Italian front, Western Allied forces advanced towards Trieste after breaching the Gothic Line
The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...
in early March 1945. Under Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Sir Bernard Freyberg
Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952.
Freyb ...
, the New Zealand 2nd Division, having captured Faenza
Faenza (, , ; rgn, Fènza or ; la, Faventia) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna.
Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed eart ...
on 14 December 1944, reorganized on the south banks of the Senio River
The Senio is a river of Romagna in Italy, the final right-sided tributary of the river Reno. The source of the river is in the province of Florence in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows northeast into the province of Ravenna ...
on 8 April 1945. There it paused to prepare for what would be the final Allied offensive in Italy. After a brief respite, the division raced on, crossing the Santerno
The Santerno is a river in Romagna in northern Italy. It is a major tributary of the river Reno. In Roman times, it was known as the ''Vatrenus'' (small ''Renus''), although, in the Tabula Peutingeriana, it was already identified as the ''Santer ...
, Gaiana, Idice
The Idice is a river in the Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy. The source of the river is in the province of Florence near Monghidoro in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows north into the province of Bologna near Mon ...
, and the Po rivers. They took Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
on 28 April, crossing the Isonzo on 1 May and reaching Trieste the next day. The division had covered a distance of in less than a week.[
]
Situation inside Trieste
Civil authorities in Trieste, formally part of the Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
although under ''de facto'' German control through the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral
The Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (german: Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland, OZAK; or colloquially: ''Operationszone Adria''; it, Zona d'operazioni del Litorale adriatico; hr, Operativna zona Jadransko primorje; sl, Operacijs ...
, consisted of prefect Bruno Coceani and ''podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
'' (mayor) Cesare Pagnini. The Italian Resistance
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
was active within the city through the local National Liberation Committee
The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against Nazi Germany’s forces during the German occup ...
, led by Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
Carlo Schiffrer, Christian Democrat
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
Edoardo Marzari, Action Party member Ercole Miani and Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
member Antonio Selem. The representatives of the Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...
had instead withdrawn from the local CLN in the summer of 1944, following disagreements on the cooperation with the Yugoslav Resistance
Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to:
* Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name:
** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...
(the Communists favored an alliance, whereas the members of the other parties feared that the Yugoslavs were aiming at annexing Trieste to Yugoslavia).[Marina Cattaruzza, L'Italia e il confine orientale, p. 285][Trieste, 1941-1954. The ethnic, political and ideological struggle, p. 139][Trieste, 1941-1954. The ethnic, political and ideological struggle, p. 139-140-141-142-146][Jack Greene, Alessandro Massignani, The Black Prince and the Sea Devils, pp. 180-181]
In early April 1945 Coceani had proposed to Pagnini and, through the latter, to Carlo Schiffrer to unite all the Italian forces in an anti-Yugoslav function, in an attempt to try to stem the advance of Tito
Tito may refer to:
People Mononyms
* Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman
* Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...
's forces, thus allowing the Western Allies
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...
to precede them in the occupation of Trieste. A few years later Coceani would write that Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
himself had given him the order to act in this sense: "The order given by the Duce was to make contact with the exponents of the liberation committee, with all the Italian parties, even with the Communists, in order to create a bloc of the Italian forces against the annexationist designs of the Slavs." On April 4, 1945, Coceani had asked Mussolini for support in the defense of Trieste, and for the same purpose he had sent emissaries to Rome in order to contact the royalist government in the south in an attempt to obtain help for the defense of the eastern border. Admiral Raffaele de Courten
Raffaele de Courten (Milan, 23 September 1888 – Frascati, 23 August 1978) was an Italian admiral. He was the last Chief of Staff of the Regia Marina.
Life
Raffaele de Courten was born in Milan in 1888. He joined the Naval Academy of Leghorn ...
, Chief of Staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Navy
The Italian Co-Belligerent Navy (''Marina Cobelligerante Italiana''), or Navy of the South (''Marina del Sud'') or Royal Navy (''Regia Marina''), was the navy of the Italian royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies in southern Italy after ...
, had answered positively, and a landing by forces of the Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
, with the support of the ''Decima Flottiglia MAS
The ''Decima Flottiglia MAS'' (''Decima Flottiglia Motoscafi Armati Siluranti'', also known as ''La Decima'' or Xª MAS) (Italian for "10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla") was an Italian flotilla, with commando frogman unit, of the ''Regia Marina'' ...
'' and of other RSI troops, had been planned, with or without Allied intervention; the plan however failed due to British opposition made this plan fail. On 10 April the mayor Pagnini held an organizational meeting of five hundred Italians in the town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, with the aim of uniting all Italian forces, avoiding attacks on the Germans – who as long as they defended the city against the Yugoslavs were to be considered allies – and transfer all powers to the CLN when the Germans left. It was decided that the 1,800 men of the Civic Guard (Trieste's municipal police
Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...
, raised by Coceani in 1944) would have also passed under the command of the CLN.
On 28 April Bruno Sambo, head of the local PFR, handed over the arms of the fascist party to Coceani's public health committee, and agreed to replace the party insignia with tricolor ribbons; that same evening some Italian police units came out on the streets with the tricolor ribbons, but were quickly disarmed by the Germans. In the meantime, however, after lengthy discussions, the local CLN decided to reject Coceani's proposals to join forces against the Yugoslavs, and decided to act against the Germans. On the night between 29 and 30 April all German troops in Trieste received the order from Odilo Globočnik to withdraw towards Tolmezzo
Tolmezzo ( fur, Tumieç; sl, Tolmeč; archaic german: Tolmein or ''Schönfeld'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, part of the autonomous Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy.
Geography
Tolmezzo is located at the ...
; Coceani informed CLN representative Ercole Miani of this, and on the next morning the National Liberation Committee proclaimed a general insurrection against the Germans. Carabinieri
The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...
and Guardia di Finanza
The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...
troops defected to the Resistance, Coceani resigned and the CLN assumed all powers after clashes against the remaining German and Fascist troops.
Battle
By 30 April, the Partisans had surrounded the port city entirely.[ They began moving on 1 May in with the help of fighters that had infiltrated the city before the arrival of the main force.][ By 30 April elements of the Yugoslav force had taken multiple strategic locations from Globočnik's force such as the ]university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, courthouse, and military hospital. On the morning of 1 May, parts of the eastern force broke through at Ricmanje and Botač and entered the city. According to Yugoslav reports, resistance had been overcome save a few isolated pockets of Germans, focused around Opčine and the harbor
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
. By the evening of 1 May, Partisans had taken the Elba battery factory and Sabo park, where they were joined by about 50 armed Triestino antifascists. There the 4th Brigade of the 9th Dalmatian Division met and attacked a force of about a thousand German and Chetnik
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
soldiers. On the morning of 2 May this culminated in a two hour firefight followed by the surrender of the enemy force.[:281–283,429
By the end of 2 May, with the arrival of the New Zealand force, most of the 13,000 Chetnik irregulars assisting the German defenders surrendered.] Fighting lasted into the next day. The remaining German pockets on the north side of the city, the largest of which being the Opčine pocket, surrendered by the end of 3 May.[:282–283
]
Aftermath
The city was jointly occupied by the New Zealanders and Partisans until June 1945, when it came under rule of a UN-mandated military provisional government as a provision of the Treaty of Peace with Italy. It would remain a de facto free state until it was partitioned between its two neighbors in October 1954. This was later reaffirmed in the Treaty of Osimo
The Treaty of Osimo was signed on 10 November 1975 by Italy and Yugoslavia in Osimo, Italy, to definitively divide the Free Territory of Trieste between the two states: the port city of Trieste with a narrow coastal strip to the north-west (Zone ...
, where it was split de jure between Italy and Yugoslavia.[
]
See also
* Mostar Operation
The Mostar Operation was a series of Yugoslav Partisan military operations in Herzegovina from February 6–15, 1945.
The Battle
Most of central Herzegovina was part of the District of Hum in the Independent State of Croatia. Mostar was also ...
Notes
{{coord missing, Italy
History of Trieste
Free Territory of Trieste
New Zealand in World War II
Yugoslav Partisans
Battles of World War II involving Chetniks
Battles of World War II involving Germany
Battles of World War II involving Italy