The present essay focuses on the long-term complicated events which characterized the Yugoslav-Italian relations, paying special attention to the Eastern borders. Starting point of this process was the difficult signing of the Treaty of Rapallo, followed by the many contradictions and uncertainties of Mussolini’s policy towards the neighbour state, which was characterized by the unappeased Italian territorial ambitions in the Balkans and culminated in the Italian occupation of Yugoslavia during World War II. The aftermath of the war was marked on the other hand by the political protagonism of Communist Yugoslavia, which could take part both in the peace talks and in the definition of the new borders from a position of strength. The Treaty of Peace signed in Paris sanctioned the loss of quite all the Julian March territory, while leaving at the same time the whole issue unregulated by creating the Free Territory of Trieste (FTT), which was to remain a dead letter. The Memorandum of Understanding signed in London led to the division of the FTT between the two neighbour states. The new international position of Tito together with the new Yugoslav-Italian relations, the Italian internal political affairs and the new world order led to a progressive détente and to the final signing of the Treaty of Osimo, which marked the end of a long period characterized by difficulties and tragic clashes.
