Morgan Line

Last updated
The division of the Julian March between June 1945 and September 1947, with the Morgan line in Red. Confini Trieste-Istria2.jpg
The division of the Julian March between June 1945 and September 1947, with the Morgan line in Red.

The Morgan Line (Italian : Linea Morgan, Slovene : Morganova Linija) was the line of demarcation set up after World War II in the region known as Julian March which prior to the war belonged to the Kingdom of Italy. The Morgan Line was the border between two military administrations in the region: the Yugoslav on the east, and that of the Allied Military Government on the west. After 15 September 1947, the Allied Military Government was composed of both the British Element Trieste Forces (BETFOR) troops from the United Kingdom and the Trieste United States Troops (TRUST) from the United States.

Contents

Boundary

The Morgan Line established a temporary boundary between the Yugoslav and Allied administrations in the region of Julian March (Venezia Giulia), contended by Italy and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and also to reduce the possibility of combat between Allied and Yugoslav forces in the area. The line was named after the British representative at the negotiations in Duino that resulted in the demarcation, Lieutenant General Sir William Duthie Morgan. Morgan, chief of staff to Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, had been sent to Belgrade on May 7 to remind Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito that Yugoslav forces were in violation of a February 1945 written agreement between Tito and Alexander in occupying the territory. During the negotiations, Morgan drew up a line, then called the "Blue Line" and, when Allied troops of the British XIII Corps began moving forward to the blue line on May 22, Tito agreed in principle to the demarcation the next day, with the agreement signed in Duino on June 10, 1945.

Location

Memorial plaque to the Morgan line in Spodnje Skofije, Slovenia. In Istria, the line served as the border between Zone A and Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste between 1947 and 1954. Today, almost all of the former Morgan Line lies within Slovenian territory. Morgan Line.JPG
Memorial plaque to the Morgan line in Spodnje Škofije, Slovenia. In Istria, the line served as the border between Zone A and Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste between 1947 and 1954. Today, almost all of the former Morgan Line lies within Slovenian territory.

The line, approximately 70 miles in length, began on the coast just south of Trieste, curved 15 miles to the east and then northwest to Gorizia, Italy, then north along the Isonzo/Soča River through Kobarid to Rateče near the Italian-Austrian border. The demarcation divided the Julian March into two zones, "Zone A" under Allied military administration and "Zone B" under the administration of the Yugoslav People's Army.

Zone A

Zone A comprised the western portion of the region, which included the current Italian provinces of Trieste and Gorizia, a strip of territory between the current Slovene-Italian border and the Soča/ Isonzo river, the Brda/ Collio hills, the lower Vipava Valley/ Valle del Vipacco (corresponding roughly to the current Slovene municipalities of Šempeter-Vrtojba, Renče-Vogrsko, Miren-Kostanjevica and most of the municipality of Nova Gorica, except the Banjšice Plateau), the western section of the Karst Plateau (corresponding more or less to the current Slovene municipalities of Sežana and Komen), and the Istrian villages of Plavje, Spodnje Škofije, Elerji, and Hrvatini, now in Slovenia.

The Istrian coastal town of Pula (now in Croatia) was also under Allied administration, forming an enclave of Zone A within the territory of Zone B.

Zone B

The Yugoslav-administered Zone B extended to almost two-thirds of the region, including the city of Rijeka/ Fiume, most of the Istrian peninsula (with the exception of the town of Pula/Pola and the municipalities of Muggia and Dolina), the Cres-Lošinj/ Cherso - Lussino archipelago, and the eastern portion of the Slovene Littoral. The village of Opatje Selo/ Oppachiesella on the northwestern edge of the Karst Plateau formed a small enclave of Zone B within the territory of Zone A.

End of the line

The Morgan Line ceased to exist on 15 September 1947, when the Treaty of Peace with Italy came into effect. The Treaty established the border between Italy and Yugoslavia in the northern sections of the contended territory, as well as the border between Yugoslavia and the Free Territory of Trieste established as new independent, sovereign State under a provisional regime of Government [1] under the direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council [2] in its southern part. Allied troops along the Morgan Line withdrew several miles to a parallel "French Line" (adopted at the recommendation of the French Foreign Minister), part of which ran along sections of the former Morgan Line.

The Free Territory was divided into two administration zones (Zone A, under an Allied Military Government and Zone B under a Yugoslav Military Government), and the demarcation line between the two zones ran along the Morgan line. In 1954, when both military governments handed over their mandate, to the Governments of Italy and Yugoslavia respectively [3] the villages of Plavje/ Plavie, Spodnje Škofije/ Albaro Vescovà, Elerji and Hrvatini/ Crevatini were entrusted to the administration of the Yugoslav Government annexed to Yugoslavia. [4]

Today, almost all of the former Morgan Line is completely within Slovenian territory. Only a very small part still serves as a border between Italy and Slovenia, dividing the Italian municipality of San Dorligo della Valle from the Slovenian municipality of Koper / Capodistria.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istria</span> Peninsula on the Adriatic Sea

Istria is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf. It is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, with 87% of surface area being part of Croatia. Croatia encapsulates most of the Istrian peninsula within Istria County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trieste</span> City in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Italy

Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the regional decentralization entity of Trieste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kobarid</span> Place in Slovenian Littoral, Slovenia

Kobarid is a settlement in Slovenia, the administrative centre of the Municipality of Kobarid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Territory of Trieste</span> Former country in Europe between Italy and Yugoslavia

The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath of World War II. For a period of seven years, it acted as a free city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koper</span> Place in Slovene Littoral, Slovenia

Koper is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres from Trieste, Koper is the largest coastal city in the country. It is bordered by the satellite towns of Izola and Ankaran. With a unique ecology and biodiversity, it is considered an important natural resource. The city's Port of Koper is Slovenia's only container port and a major contributor to the economy of the Municipality of Koper. The influence of the Port of Koper on tourism was one of the factors in Ankaran deciding to leave the municipality in a referendum in 2011 to establish its own municipality. The city is a destination for a number of Mediterranean cruising lines. Koper is the main urban centre of the Slovenian Istria, with a population of about 25,000. Aleš Bržan is the current mayor, serving since 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Izola</span> Place in Littoral, Slovenia

Izola is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. It is the seat of the Municipality of Izola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Trieste</span> Province of Italy

The province of Trieste is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Trieste. It had an area of 212 square kilometres (82 sq mi) and it had a total population of 234,668. It had a coastal length of 48.1 kilometres (29.9 mi). Abolished in 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the regional decentralization entity of Trieste, and was reactivated on 1 July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian March</span> Historical region in Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia

The Julian March, also called Julian Venetia, is an area of southern Central Europe which is currently divided among Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia. The term was coined in 1863 by the Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, a native of the area, to demonstrate that the Austrian Littoral, Veneto, Friuli, and Trentino shared a common Italian linguistic identity. Ascoli emphasized the Augustan partition of Roman Italy at the beginning of the Empire, when Venetia et Histria was Regio X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duino</span> Frazione in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Duino is today a seaside resort on the northern Adriatic coast. It is a hamlet of Duino-Aurisina, a municipality (comune) of the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The settlement, picturesquely situated on the steep Karst cliffs of the Gulf of Trieste, is known for Duino Castle, immortalized by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke in his Duino Elegies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slovene Littoral</span> Traditional region of Slovenia

The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral, is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral, the Habsburg possessions on the upper Adriatic coast, of which the Slovene Littoral was part. Today, the Littoral is often associated with the Slovenian ethnic territory that, in the first half of the 20th century, found itself in Italy to the west of the Rapallo Border, which separated a quarter of Slovenes from the rest of the nation, and was strongly influenced by Italian fascism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istrian–Dalmatian exodus</span> Post-World War II exodus of ethnic Italians from Yugoslavia

The Istrian–Dalmatian exodus was the post-World War II exodus and departure of local ethnic Italians as well as ethnic Slovenes and Croats from Yugoslavia. The emigrants, who had lived in the now Yugoslav territories of the Julian March, Kvarner and Dalmatia, largely went to Italy, but some joined the Italian diaspora in the Americas, Australia and South Africa. These regions were ethnically mixed, with long-established historic Croatian, Italian, and Slovene communities. After World War I, the Kingdom of Italy annexed Istria, Kvarner, the Julian March and parts of Dalmatia including the city of Zadar. At the end of World War II, under the Allies' Treaty of Peace with Italy, the former Italian territories in Istria, Kvarner, the Julian March and Dalmatia were assigned to now Communist-helmed Federal Yugoslavia, except for the Province of Trieste. The former territories absorbed into Yugoslavia are part of present-day Croatia and Slovenia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muggia</span> Italian town and comune

Muggia is an Italian town and comune (municipality) in south-eastern Regional decentralization entity of Trieste, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia on the border with Slovenia. Lying on the eastern flank of the Gulf of Trieste in the northern Adriatic Sea, Muggia is the only Italian port town in Istria. The town's architecture is marked by its Venetian and Austrian history, and its harbour hosts a modern 500-berth marina for yachts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postage stamps and postal history of Yugoslavia</span>

The story of the postage stamps and postal history of Yugoslavia officially begins with the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 1 December 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spodnje Škofije</span> Place in Littoral, Slovenia

Spodnje Škofije is a settlement in the City Municipality of Koper in the Littoral region of Slovenia. A major border crossing on the Highway 5 into Italy was located here, with the Italian side known as Rabuiese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plavje</span> Place in Littoral, Slovenia

Plavje is a village in the City Municipality of Koper in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is located on the northernmost edge of the Istrian peninsula, on the border with Italy, on a small hill overlooking the Gulf of Trieste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italy–Yugoslavia relations</span> Bilateral relations

Italy–Yugoslavia relations are the cultural and political relations between Italy and Yugoslavia in the 20th century, since the creation of Yugoslavia in 1918 until its dissolution in 1992. Relations during the interwar years were hostile because of Italian irredentist demands to Yugoslav territory, leading to Fascist Italy and the Axis Powers invading Yugoslavia during World War II. After lingering tensions after the war over the status of the Free Territory of Trieste, relations improved during the Cold War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trieste United States Troops</span>

The Army command Trieste United States Troops (TRUST) was established 1 May 1947 in accord with a protocol to the Treaty of Peace with Italy which created the Free Territory of Trieste as a new independent, sovereign State under a provisional regime of Government and under the direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istrian Italians</span> Ethnic group in Europe

Istrian Italians are an ethnic group from the Adriatic region of Istria in modern northwestern Croatia and southwestern Slovenia. Istrian Italians descend from the original Latinized population of Roman Histria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who colonized the region during the time of the Republic of Venice, and from the local Croatian people who culturally assimilated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slovene Istria</span> Region

Slovene Istria is a region in southwest Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula, and is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovene Littoral. Its largest urban center is Koper. Other large settlements are Izola, Piran, and Portorož. The entire region has around 120 settlements. In its coastal area, both Slovene and Italian are official languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban Municipality of Koper</span> Urban municipality of Slovenia

The Urban Municipality of Koper is one of twelve urban municipalities of Slovenia. It lies at the coastline of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Slovenia and was established in 1994. Its seat is the town of Koper. The area has been included in Coastal–Karst Statistical Region since 1995. The municipality is bilingual.

References

  1. Article 21 and Annex VII, Instrument for the Provisional Regime of the Free Territory of Trieste. See: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%2049/v49.pdf
  2. see: United Nations Security Council 16, 10 January 1947: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/16(1947)
  3. UNTS Vol.235, 3297 Memorandum of Understanding of London, article 2: see https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20235/v235.pdf
  4. UNTS Vol.235, 3297 Memorandum of Understanding of London, maps: see https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1956/04/19560425%2009-09%20AM/I-3297-vol-235-map-.color.pdf

Sources