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Report of the Administration
of the British - United States
Zone of the Free Territory of Trieste

1 July to 30 September 1949

by
Major General T. S. Airey CB. CBE.
Commander British - United States Zone
Free Territory of Trieste

Report Number 8

Section 1.
Introduction

This, the eighth report of my administration of the British - United States Zone of the Free Territory of Trieste, deals with the period from 1st July to 30th September 1949.

During the month of July the recently elected administrations of the six communes of the zone took office and I am now able to report that they are working smoothly. The large commune of Trieste, consisting of some 278,000 inhabitants, is being administered with zeal and efficiency.

In order to encourage the flow of trade and tourist movement in Trieste I have relaxed the regulations governing entry into the zone to the extent that Italian citizens may now pass the frontier upon production of their valid identity cards. I believe that this reform, which removes an unnecessary barrier to travel within a single currency zone, will do much to increase the prosperity of Trieste.

For the convenience of the population of those communes where the Slovene language is customarily spoken, an order has been published permitting the use of Slovene as a second language of official business in the communal councils of Duino-Aurisina, San Dorligo della Valle, Sgonico and Monrupino, although Italian remains the official language throughout the zone. The communist organs, particularly the communist press, have used every device and much violence of language, in attempts to revive racial bitterness and to this end they have not failed to raise the standard of nationalism and exploit the problem of bilingualism wherever they have seen an opportunity to do so. These efforts, as well as certain inflammatory utterances by extreme right-wing elements, have, on the whole, been met with good sense by the population and I am encouraged by the belief that the new communal administrations will continue to cooperate with the Allied Military Government in removing sources of racial antagonism and allowing old wounds to heal.

This report sets out in detail the measures which are being taken to secure industrial and commercial recovery, a field in which much work has been done and steady progress made. Complete recovery, however, cannot be achieved by A.M.G. alone and must ultimately depend upon bringing to an end the present uncertainty as to the political future. I have found no reason to alter the views, expressed in my previous reports and reinforced by continuous experience, that the security and prosperity of the Free Territory of Trieste are to be found in its return to Italy in accordance with the proposal made by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States and France on 20th March 1948. I am convinced that any other solution will only sever the ethnic and cultural roots of the majority of the population, but would lead the territory through economic collapse into the orbit of communist totalitarianism.