Pregledni rad
Vojmir Kljaković
Sažetak
During the period preceding the insurrection of the Yugoslav peoples in 1941, the leaders of the National Liberation Movement had made clear their position favoring a revision of the Rapallo border between Yugoslavia and Italy. They announced that one goal of the Yugoslav people's armed struggle was the reintegration of Istria and the Slovenian Littoral, which were inhabited by Croatians and Slovenes, into the structure of Yugoslavia. Attainment of this goal involved two stages. In the first stage, which lasted from 1941 until the capitulation of Italy in September, 1943, the emphasis was domestic: winning popular support in these areas for unification with Yugoslavia, engaging people for active participation in the armed struggle and in creation of organs of the popular government in that area. Until the end of this stage, the populace in Istria and the Slovenian Littoral formed both small and larger units of the National Liberation Army and Yugoslav Partisan detachments, as well as a network of new government organs. Through the general rebellion which took place in both of these areas after the capitulation of Italy, the people expressed their support for New Yugoslavia. This period concluded with the formal inclusion of these areas into Yugoslavia on the part of the highest responsible bodies in the people's government.
The second period began when the inclusion of Istria and the Slovenian Littoral was brought to the International stage. The British were inclined not to accept this position. When the Red Army approached the Balkans in the middle of 1944, the British deemed it necessary to steal the march and enter the lower Danube area first. The shortest route lay across Istria and the Slovenian Littoral. This move added a new dimension to this regional issue. Since the British were aware of the position taken by the National Liberation Movement's leadership regarding Istria and the Slovenian Littoral, they should have known how Yugoslavia would react if Allied forces entered the area. At the meeting between Tito and Churchill in August, 1944, Churchill became convinced that Yugoslavia would not relinquish its demands and rights to Istria and the Slovenian Littoral. For his part, Tito deduced that on this issue the British worked against Yugoslav interests. The Italian government stepped up its campaign against Yugoslavia's demands, which meant increased pressure on the leaders of the National Liberation Movement with regard to the issue of Istria and the Slovenian Littoral. In September Tito decided that this question should no longer remain closed, so later that month he publicly announced his desire to include these areas in Yugoslavia. The events which followed led to the resolution of the issue, so that the desires of the populace in Istria and the Slovenian Littoral were satisfied and the demands by New Yugoslavia that they return to their homeland were justified.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
216335
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.4.1975.
Posjeta: 719 *