Bucarelli, Massimo / Micheletta, Luca / Monzali, Luciano / Riccardi, Luca (eds.)
Italy and Tito’s Yugoslavia in the Age of International Détente
World War II and East-West confrontation redefined borders between Italy and Yugoslavia, reshaped national frontiers and adversely affected political relations. As a result, major quarrels and disputes arose over territorial claims, demarcation of State boundaries, expulsion of national minorities, and diverging visions on international and domestic politics. It was only in the 1960s and 1970s, during the years of Détente, that rapprochement between Rome and Belgrade became possible and normalization of bilateral relations was attained. Long-lasting territorial disputes, such as the Trieste question, were solved and bilateral relationship greatly improved, so much so that Belgrade became an important asset in Italy’s Balkan and Adriatic strategy, while Rome was a sort of bridge between Socialist Yugoslavia and Western Europe.
This book is intended to shed light on the process of Italian-Yugoslav normalization and rapprochement, which ultimately brought to the Adriatic Détente. Based on a wide collection of primary sources and documentary materials, it aims to contribute to a better understanding of the history of the Adriatic region, a conflicted European space that had been affected by territorial disputes and ethnic strife for decades during the 20th century.
Content: Ivan Laković: From London to Osimo. American Attitude to Yugoslav-Italian Settlement of the Trieste Question – Aleksandar Životić: The Soviet Union and Yugoslav-Italian Détente (1968-1973) – Stanislav Sretenović: French Diplomacy and the Road to the Osimo Agreements – Gorazd Bajc: Great Britain and the Italian-Yugoslav Relations in the 1970s – Alberto Basciani: Romania and the Rapprochement between Italy and Yugoslavia – Luca Micheletta: Italy and Albania in the Era of Détente. A Tacit Alliance – Raoul Pupo: A Mistaken History? A Survey of the Short Century of Italian-Yugoslav Relations – Luca Riccardi: Italian Foreign Policy in the Years of Détente. Ideas and Actions of Amintore Fanfani and Aldo Moro – Luciano Monzali: Aldo Moro, Italian Ostpolitik and Relations with Yugoslavia – Massimo Bucarelli: Détente in the Adriatic. Italian Foreign Policy and the Road to the Osimo Treaty – Saša Mišić: A Difficult Reconciliation on the Adriatic. The Yugoslav Road to the Osimo Agreements of 1975 – Viljenka Škorjanec: The Contribution of Slovenia to the Osimo Treaty – Darko Dukovski: Croatia and Italian-Yugoslav Relations. The Issues of Demarcation Line, Minority and Property Rights (1943-1983) – Patrick Karlsen: The Italian Communist Party’s Policy on Trieste as Viewed by Vittorio Vidali (1954-1975) – Diego D’Amelio: Imperfect Normalization. The Political Repercussions of the Treaty of Osimo – Fabio Capano: Resisting Détente. The Associative Network and the Osimo Treaty.
