Free Territory of Trieste municipal election, 1949
Encyclopedia
Municipal elections were held in the six municipalities of the Anglo-American occupation zone ('Zone A') of the Free Territory of Trieste
in June 1949, Trieste
, Duino-Aurisina
, San Dorligo della Valle
, Sgonico
, Monrupino
and Muggia
. There were 197,266 eligible voters in the electoral rolls in Trieste and a combined number of 15,392 eligible voters in the five other municipalities.
The elections were largely symbolic, as the elected officials had no formal decision-making over the Allied Military Government (AMG), which controlled the most areas of administration. Ahead of the elections, the AMG intervened in order to boost the pro-Italian conservative Christian Democracy
(DC) party. The Christian Democrats were also supported by the mainstream press, represented by newspapers such as Messaggero Veneto and Giornale di Trieste. In their election campaign the Christian Democrats and their pro-Italian allies ran an anti-Slavic campaign, accusing their communist opponents of being anti-religious. As such the election campaign followed the pattern of the Italian general election of 1948
, in which the Christian Democrats and other moderate elements had campaigned on the plank of whipping up fears of a Bolshevik
takeover of Italy. The Christian Democratic campaign struck a chord especially amongst women voters in the Free Territory, who were allowed to vote for the first time.
The Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste
(PCTLT), which had initially supported the incorporation of the Free Territory with Yugoslavia
, had been divided as a result of the rupture between the Soviet Union
and Yugoslavia in 1948. The pro-Yugoslav communists were now regrouped in the Slovenian-Italian Popular Front (FPIS), with the daily newspaper Primorski dnevnik
as their press outlet.
A third force was the Independence Front, which sought to convert the Free Territory into an independent state.
. The Communist Party won 57% of the votes in Muggia (8,039 votes, whilst the Titoist FPIS obtained 1,387 votes), and the Slavic-Italian Anti-Fascist Union won 33% of the total vote in Duino-Aurisina, 55% in San Dorligo della Valle, 51% in Sgonico and 97% in Monrupino. These results were heralded by Pravda
as a victory for the Communist Party.
Free Territory of Trieste
The Free Territory of Trieste was to be a city-state situated in Central Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, created by the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath of World War II and provisionally administered by an appointed military governor commanding the peacekeeping United...
in June 1949, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Duino-Aurisina
Duino-Aurisina
Duino-Aurisina is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lying near the border with Slovenia, it has a substantial Slovene population...
, San Dorligo della Valle
San Dorligo della Valle
San Dorligo della Valle is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 4 km southeast of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,019 and an area of 24.5 km²...
, Sgonico
Sgonico
Sgonico is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 12 km northwest of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. , it had a population of 2,130 and an area of 31.3 km²...
, Monrupino
Monrupino
Monrupino is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 9 km north of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. , it had a population of 848 and an area of 12.7 km²...
and Muggia
Muggia
Muggia is a small Italian comune in the extreme south-east of Trieste lying on the border with Slovenia.Muggia is the last and only flap of Istria still in Italian territory, after the dissolution of the Free Territory of Trieste in 1954....
. There were 197,266 eligible voters in the electoral rolls in Trieste and a combined number of 15,392 eligible voters in the five other municipalities.
The elections were largely symbolic, as the elected officials had no formal decision-making over the Allied Military Government (AMG), which controlled the most areas of administration. Ahead of the elections, the AMG intervened in order to boost the pro-Italian conservative Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
(DC) party. The Christian Democrats were also supported by the mainstream press, represented by newspapers such as Messaggero Veneto and Giornale di Trieste. In their election campaign the Christian Democrats and their pro-Italian allies ran an anti-Slavic campaign, accusing their communist opponents of being anti-religious. As such the election campaign followed the pattern of the Italian general election of 1948
Italian general election, 1948
The Italian elections of 1948 were the second democratic elections with universal suffrage ever held in Italy, taking place after the 1946 elections to the Constituent Assembly, responsible for drawing up a new Italian Constitution...
, in which the Christian Democrats and other moderate elements had campaigned on the plank of whipping up fears of a Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
takeover of Italy. The Christian Democratic campaign struck a chord especially amongst women voters in the Free Territory, who were allowed to vote for the first time.
The Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste
Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste
Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste was a communist party in the Free Territory of Trieste...
(PCTLT), which had initially supported the incorporation of the Free Territory with Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, had been divided as a result of the rupture between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Yugoslavia in 1948. The pro-Yugoslav communists were now regrouped in the Slovenian-Italian Popular Front (FPIS), with the daily newspaper Primorski dnevnik
Primorski dnevnik
Primorski dnevnik is a Slovene language daily newspaper published in Trieste, Italy. It is the only Slovene daily in any country other than Slovenia, and one of the three newspapers in Italy published in a language other than Italian...
as their press outlet.
A third force was the Independence Front, which sought to convert the Free Territory into an independent state.
In Trieste
| Party | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Democracy Christian Democracy (Italy) Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield .... |
65,627 | 39.04 | 25 |
| Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste was a communist party in the Free Territory of Trieste... |
35,548 | 21.14 | 13 |
| Independence Front | 11,476 | 6.83 | 4 |
| Socialist Party of the Julian March Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II... |
10,747 | 6.39 | 4 |
| Italian Social Movement Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s... |
10,171 | 6.05 | 4 |
| Italian Republican Party Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini... |
9,081 | 5.41 | 3 |
| Italian Bloc | 8,252 | 4.91 | 3 |
| Trieste Bloc | 4,860 | 2.89 | 1 |
| Italian-Slovenian Popular Front | 3,957 | 2.35 | 1 |
| Italian Liberal Party Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution... |
3,094 | 1.84 | 1 |
| Slovenian National List | 3,004 | 1.79 | 1 |
| Italian Republican Movement | 2,291 | 1.36 | 0 |
Other municipalities
The elections in the five smaller municipalities were marked by victories of the Communist Party and its front organization, the Slavic-Italian Anti-Fascist UnionSlavic-Italian Anti-Fascist Union
The Slavic-Italian Anti-Fascist Union was a political movement in the Free Territory of Trieste. It was the most important mass organization of the Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste...
. The Communist Party won 57% of the votes in Muggia (8,039 votes, whilst the Titoist FPIS obtained 1,387 votes), and the Slavic-Italian Anti-Fascist Union won 33% of the total vote in Duino-Aurisina, 55% in San Dorligo della Valle, 51% in Sgonico and 97% in Monrupino. These results were heralded by Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
as a victory for the Communist Party.