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Peace proposals: Wilson and Morgan lines |
From January until June 1919 negotiations were dominated by Baron Sidney Sonnino, the Italian Foreign Minister, who divided and conquered his allies, forcing Britain and France to acquiesce in the Treaty of London and endeavouring to negotiate directly with America from a position of strength. At the same time he whipped up the Italian people with nationalistic propaganda. [23] When the government of Orlando was replaced by that of Francesco Saverio Nitti on 23 June, Sonnino was replaced by Tommaso Tittoni. The nationalist fervour he had stoked, however, broke into open violence in Fiume, where, on 6 July 1919, an element of the Italian population massacred some of the occupying French soldiers. [23]
On 15 April President Wilson issued a memorandum proposing a line, the so-called "Wilson Line", dividing the Istrian peninsula between Italy and Yugoslavia. Trieste and Pula, with the railway connecting them, lay on the Italian side; Fiume and Ljubljana (Laibach), with the railway connecting them, on the Yugoslav. Učka (Monte Maggiore) was to be Italian, but the Wilson Line ran further west of Fiume than that of the Treaty of London. Italy would have none of the rights in northern Dalmatia granted it by that treaty, but it would receive the islands of Vis (Lissa) and Lošinj (Lussin). The Yugoslav fleet, inherited from Austria-Hungary, was to be reduced, and the area of the frontier demilitarised generally. [23] The Italians alleged that the Wilson line did not give sufficient protection to the Trieste–Pula railway. [24]
Tittoni altered the course of negotiations by abandoning the Treaty of London and strengthening the Franco-Italian alliance, but he did not accept President Wilson's proposed "line". The French diplomat André Tardieu worked as an intermediary between Tittoni and the Americans, and he first suggested the creation of a buffer state out of a strip of land around Fiume, the future Free State of Fiume. The main American objection at the time was that the buffer state denied its inhabitants the right of self-determination. [24]
On 12 September 1919, Gabriele d'Annunzio led a band of disaffected soldiers of the Granatieri di Sardegna in a march on Fiume—the so-called impresa di Fiume ("Fiume enterprise")—defying the international commission and the governments of Italy and Yugoslavia. Tittoni petitioned the international community, represented by French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau after the American and British heads of government had both gone home, and the Yugoslav government for time to allow Italy to rein in d'Annunzio. In October he proposed that Fiume itself and a coastal strip leading to it should be conceded to Italy, that besides Lošinj and Vis she should possess the islands of Cres (Cherso) and Lastovo (Lagosta) and that the city of Zadar (Zara) should be a free city under Italian protection. [25]
After the departure of the president, Frank Polk headed up the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in Paris. He was the driving force behind the memorandum of 9 December, signed by American, British and French delegates. This statement denied the Italians Fiume and most Yugoslav islands and even restricted their mandate over Albania. This memorandum was quickly abandoned by the British and French, whose prime ministers signed a compromise with their Italian counterpart on 14 January 1920 without American participation. Therein it was agreed to concede Fiume and a coastal strip to Italy and in exchange hive off the northern part of Albania and give it to Yugoslavia. To gain the latter's acceptance the signatories of the new compromise threatened to otherwise enforce the Treaty of London. [26]
This last compromise aroused the anger of President Wilson, who, in a statement issued 10 February, denounced it as "a positive denial of the principles for which America entered the war". [27] He threatened to withdraw the United States from the Treaty of Versailles and from the Franco-American agreement of the past June. On 26 February, Clemenceau and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George published a note offering to disavow the January compromise and suggesting that the memorandum of December be similarly sidelined. They expressed their wish to see Yugoslavia and Italy negotiate directly, and, contrary to Wilson's desire, stood by their intention to enforce the Treaty of London if all else failed. [27] It was suggested by some at the time that Lloyd George had personally frustrated the efforts of Wilson by a private agreement with Nitti whereby the latter would support Britain against France on the Eastern (i.e., Russian and Turkish) Question.[ citation needed ]
On 12 September 1919, D'Annunzio occupied the city of Rijeka (Fiume) and proclaimed the Italian Regency of Carnaro, but the approval of the Treaty of Rapallo on 12 November 1920 turned the territory into an independent state, the Free State of Fiume. Other parts of the Treaty of Rapallo were supposed to solve the dispute between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed Yugoslavia in 1929). It included Italian annexation of parts of Carniola, several Adriatic islands, and the city of Zadar (Zara).[ citation needed ]
SMS Zrínyi was a Radetzky-class semi-dreadnought battleship (Schlachtschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, named for the Zrinski, a Croatian-Hungarian noble family. Zrínyi and her sisters, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Radetzky, were the last pre-dreadnoughts built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the aftermath of the First World War. It was intended to settle the Adriatic question, which referred to Italian claims over territories promised to the country in return for its entry into the war against Austria-Hungary, claims that were made on the basis of the 1915 Treaty of London. The wartime pact promised Italy large areas of the eastern Adriatic. The treaty, signed on 12 November 1920 in Rapallo, Italy, generally redeemed the promises of territorial gains in the former Austrian Littoral by awarding Italy territories generally corresponding to the peninsula of Istria and the former Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, with the addition of the Snežnik Plateau, in addition to what was promised by the London treaty. The articles regarding Dalmatia were largely ignored. Instead, in Dalmatia, Italy received the city of Zadar and several islands. Other provisions of the treaty contained safeguards for the rights of Italian nationals remaining in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and provisions for commissions to demarcate the new border, and facilitate economic and educational cooperation. The treaty also established the Free State of Fiume, the city-state consisting of the former Austro-Hungarian Corpus separatum that consisted of Rijeka and a strip of coast giving the new state a land border with Italy at Istria.
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although internationally unrecognised, this was the first incarnation of a Yugoslav state founded on the Pan-Slavic ideology. Thirty-three days after it was proclaimed, the state joined the Kingdom of Serbia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
The Treaty of London or the Pact of London was a secret agreement concluded on 26 April 1915 by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on the one part, and Italy on the other, in order to entice the latter to enter World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. The agreement involved promises of Italian territorial expansion against Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and in Africa where it was promised enlargement of its colonies. The Entente countries hoped to force the Central Powers – particularly Germany and Austria-Hungary – to divert some of their forces away from existing battlefields. The Entente also hoped that Romania and Bulgaria would be encouraged to join them after Italy did the same.
Janko Vuković, sometimes spelt Janko Vukovich or von Vukovich, also known as Janko Vuković de Podkapelski or Janko Vuković-Podkapelski was a Croatian naval officer who served in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and - amidst its collapse - for a brief period as commander of the fleet of the fledgling State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Vuković saw action in World War I and was appointed commander of the fleet in October 1918 as Austria-Hungary disintegrated and the entire navy was handed over to the fledgling State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. He died on board the SMS Viribus Unitis, sunk by Italian commandos.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated SMS, for Seiner Majestät Schiff. The k.u.k. Kriegsmarine came into being after the formation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, and ceased to exist in 1918 upon the Empire's defeat and subsequent collapse at the end of World War I.
SMS Prinz Eugen was the third of four Tegetthoff-class dreadnought battleships built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Prinz Eugen was named for Prince Eugene of Savoy, a Habsburg general and statesman during the 17th and 18th centuries most notable for defeating the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Zenta in 1697. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 30.5 cm (12.0 in) guns in four triple turrets. Constructed shortly before World War I, she was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste, where she was laid down in January 1912 and launched in November that same year.
The Free State of Fiume was an independent free state that existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of 28 km2 (11 sq mi) comprised the city of Fiume and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to the Kingdom of Italy.
The U-1 class was a class of two submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The class comprised U-1 and U-2. The boats were built to an American design at the Pola Navy Yard after domestic design proposals failed to impress the Navy. Constructed between 1907 and 1909, the class was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's efforts to competitively evaluate three foreign submarine designs.
SM U-1 or U-I was the lead boat of the U-1-class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-1 was designed by American naval architect Simon Lake of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, and constructed at the Navy Yard in Pola. She was one of two Lake-designed submarines purchased as part of a competitive evaluation of foreign submarine designs after domestic proposals were rejected by the Navy.
SM U-2 or U-II was the second ship of the U-1 class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-2 was designed by American naval architect Simon Lake of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, and constructed at the navy yard in Pola. She was one of two Lake-designed submarines purchased as part of a competitive evaluation of foreign submarine designs after domestic proposals were rejected by the Navy.
SMS Radetzky was the first of the three Radetzky-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She was named for the 19th-century Austrian field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. Radetzky and her sisters, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Zrínyi, were the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy—they were followed by the larger and significantly more powerful Tegetthoff-class dreadnoughts.
The history of the Croatian Navy can be traced from the Middle Ages until modern times. See List of admirals of Croatia
In 1918–1920, during the occupation of the eastern Adriatic, a series of violent fights took place in the city of Split between Croats and Italians, culminating in a struggle on 11 July 1920 that resulted in the deaths of Captain Tommaso Gulli of the Italian protected cruiser Puglia, Croat civilian Matej Miš, and Italian sailor Aldo Rossi. The incidents were the cause of the destruction in Trieste of the Slovenian Cultural Centre by Italian Fascists.
In the aftermath of the First World War, the Fiume Question, part of the larger Adriatic Question or Adriatic Problem, concerned the fate of the territory that was part of the Corpus Separatum of Fiume, the Royal Free City and one of the only two free ports of Austria-Hungary.
SMS Admiral Spaun was a scout cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named for Admiral and Marinekommandant Hermann von Spaun, Admiral Spaun was constructed shortly before World War I. Laid down at the Pola Navy Yard in May 1908, the cruiser was launched in October 1909. Admiral Spaun was commissioned into the Navy just over a year later, in November 1910. The first ship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy to be constructed with steam turbines, her design later influenced the construction of the Novara-class cruisers.
The Montenegrin question was the issue of relationship of the Kingdom of Montenegro with the Kingdom of Serbia and subsequently the issue of its status within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after the World War I.
SMS Uzsok was one of four Ersatz Triglav-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine during the First World War. Completed in 1918, she participated an unsuccessful raid on the Otranto Barrage later that year. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Monfalcone. The Regia Marina kept her in service until 1939 and the ship was subsequently scrapped.
Espero ("Hesperus") was an Italian Nembo-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1905, she served in World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign. In the aftermath of the Impresa di Fiume of 1919, she played a role in the defense of the Free State of Fiume against Italy in 1920. Renamed Turbine and reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1921, she was stricken in 1923.
The occupation of the eastern Adriatic was a military mission of Allies of World War I conducted in the aftermath of the World War I, from November 1918 to September 1921. It involved deployment of naval assets and troops of the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Italy, France, and the United States to parts of the territory of former Austria-Hungary, especially the region of Dalmatia and the city of Rijeka, as well as to the coastal areas of the Kingdom of Montenegro. The occupation was meant to resolve a number of issues, including disposal of assets of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and settlement of Italian territorial claims on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Those claims, largely corresponding to the award made under the Treaty of London used to entice Italy to enter the war on the side of the allies, conflicted with the territorial claims of the nascent Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and its predecessor states, as well as the principle of self-determination outlined in the Fourteen Points of President Woodrow Wilson.