Cold War Trieste: Nationalism, Diplomacy, and “Italianità” in a Contested Borderland

At the edge of the Iron Curtain stood a city caught between worlds.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Trieste became far more than a disputed territory. It was a symbol, a political battleground, and a powerful test of national identity. Claimed by competing visions of Italy and Yugoslavia, the city found itself at the volatile intersection of nationalism, Cold War diplomacy, communism, local politics, and competing memories of the past.

In Cold War Trieste, Fabio Capano takes readers inside this turbulent borderland from 1945 to the 1975 Osimo Accords, revealing how the struggle over Trieste was fought not only across diplomatic tables, but also through political movements, émigré organisations, public debate, and the memories of the people who called the city home.

As the Cold War reshaped Europe, Trieste occupied a unique position: simultaneously a western outpost, a contested Italian city, a bridge to the Socialist Bloc, and a place where the meaning of Italianità—Italian identity and belonging—was constantly being challenged and redefined.

Drawing on extensive primary research, Capano brings together local voices and international forces to uncover the tangled relationship between nationalism and foreign policy. The result is a vivid account of a city where borders were never simply lines on a map, but questions of identity, loyalty, history, and power.

From the aftermath of war to the uneasy settlement of the Osimo Accords, Trieste reveals a forgotten truth about the Cold War: some of its fiercest battles were fought not for territory alone, but for the right to decide who belonged.