Fiume question
An element of the Adriatic question, the dispute arose from competing claims by the Kingdom of Italy and the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs carved out in the process of dissolution of Austria-Hungary.
In response, he proclaimed an independent Italian Regency of Carnaro in Rijeka and declared war on Italy, only to be driven from the city in an armed intervention by the Regia Marina.
In agreement with the Allies of World War II, authorities of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia provisionally administered Rijeka and its surrunding areas until 1947.
[1] Following the 3 November 1918 Armistice of Villa Giusti, the Austro-Hungarian surrender,[2] Italian troops moved to occupy parts of the Eastern Adriatic shore promised to Italy under the Treaty of London, ahead of the Paris Peace Conference.
[6] Since at least 18th century, Croatia and Hungary, both realms of the Habsburg monarchy at the time, laid competing claims on the city of Rijeka (Italian: Fiume) – as a part of the national territory and an important Adriatic port.
The Croatian Sabor and the Parliament of Hungary were to determine the specific conditions of the city's status, but they failed to reach an agreement for two years.
[10] In the final phase of the World War I, in an effort to prevent dissolution of Austria-Hungary, emperor Charles I of Austria declared an intention to transform the monarchy into a federal state, indicating that Rijeka would be a part of the Croatia-Slavonia or a newly established South Slavic kingdom.
[15] In mid-October, Andrea Ossoinack speaking in the Parliament of Hungary as the representative of the Corpus Separatum objected to the emperor's idea and stated that the city should be handed over to Italy.
He had under his command eight battalions of the 79th Infantry Regiment of the former Austro-Hungarian Common Army normally based in Otočac and National Guard volunteers, largely consisting of high school students.
[33] On 3 November, the day the armistice was signed, Italian armed forces gained control of much of nearby Istria peninsula to the West.
[25] The initial group consisted of battleship Emanuele Filiberto, destroyers Francesco Stocco, Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, and Giuseppe Sirtori.
[36] A battalion, 700-strong,[37] of the First Yugoslav Volunteer Division led by Lieutenant Colonel Vojin Maksimović [sl] arrived from Zagreb on 15 November.
[38] Some sources indicate that Maksimović's withdrawal from the city was negotiated and made in exchange for the promise that the San Marzano's troops would not enter Rijeka,[36] but remain in nearby Opatija (Italian: Abbazia) instead.
[39] Even though neither Rijeka nor Sušak were awarded to Italy under the Treaty of London, Italian authorities justified the deployment by referring to provisions of the armistice allowing occupation of additional territories required for strategic purposes.
[43] Between January and August 1919, the Italian National Council took steps to ensure independence of the city from the systems previously put in place by Austria-Hungary.
The commission recommended disbanding Legione "Fiumana" and reduction of Italian troops in the area to a single battalion as quickly as possible, leaving law enforcement to the British and the US forces.
[42] The problem of establishing the border between Italy and the Yugoslavia—referred to as the Adriatic question—including the Fiume question became major points of dispute at the Paris Peace Conference.
[49] The British and French did not support enforcement of the treaty, as they thought Italy deserved relatively little due to its neutrality early in the war.
In that respect, foreign minister Tommaso Tittoni was inclined to agree with the British and the French that Rijeka should be a free city under the League of Nations and that the entire Dalmatia should belong to Yugoslavia.
[50] In order to preempt an unfavourable settlement of the issue, Gabriele D'Annunzio set out with approximately two hundred veterans to Rijeka in the evening of 11 September.
The government felt it was losing control over army and military governor of Julian March General Pietro Badoglio reported he could not prevent officers and soldiers from defecting to D’Annunzio.
Pašić's and Trumbić's refusal to agree to the plan provoked the French and British to threaten that the Treaty of London would be enforced unless they supported the allied proposal.
[58] Disorder in the territories occupied after the war, contributed to the rise of fascism through discrediting of parliamentarianism and fostering aspirations to become a strong authoritarian state.
Italian historian Roberto Vivarelli [it] pointed out the events related to the Fiume question as the source of opposition to traditional processes of the state.
[64] Following the 1920 presidential election, US support for Wilson's ideas appeared to have ended,[65] compelling Vesnić and Trumbić into bilateral negotiations with Sforza.
[68] The treaty gave Italy Istria, Julian March, a portion of the Kvarner Gulf just to the west of Rijeka as well as the city of Zadar (Italian: Zara) and a number of islands.
[72] Negotiations on the Italian pullout continued until an agreement was reached in Santa Margherita Ligure on 1 August 1922 confirming Yugoslav sovereignty over Sušak.
[77] Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić and his followers were equipped by Italy and permitted to drive from Pistoia via Trieste to Zagreb only after publicly endorsing Italian territorial expansion along the eastern Adriatic shore.
[79] There, the border was drawn to give Italy the cities of Kastav, Sušak, Fužine (Italian: Fusine), Čabar, Bakar and a part of the Delnice district.
