The June 1948 Yugoslav-Soviet Crisis: The Italian and American Political Perception and its Consequences over the Trieste’s Dispute

The paper intends to offer a systematic and well-rounded insight into the consequences of the Yugoslav-Soviet diplomatic crisis in relation to the territorial dispute between Rome and Belgrade for the control of Trieste and its immediate hinterland. Via a comparative analysis of both the relevant Italian and Anglo-Saxon historiographies, integrated with a study of the memoirs of the most prominent political figures involved, the research seeks to thoroughly stress the realist rather than ideological reasons which triggered the breakdown of the socialist bloc. Such a preparatory result precedes the reconstruction of the different approaches used by the Italian and American foreign policies in order to manage the developments affecting the international, regional and local strategic scenarios following the isolation of Tito’s regime. Lastly, the work seeks to give a solution to the queries in the title comparing and evaluating the effects over Trieste’s political fate which stemmed from the political responses adopted by the Western and Eastern governments during the specific historical circumstances.