TRŠĆANSKA KRIZA I FORMIRANJE BALKANSKOG SAVEZA
THE TRIESTE CRISIS AND THE FORMING OF THE BALKAN PACT

Summary/Abstract: The military alliance formed between members of NATO on the one side and socialist states on the other, at a time when the world was sharply divided into two opposing blocs was not only an unprecedented and puzzling phenomenon, but in some ways also an absurd one. There was not a single instance at the time of another alliance similarly made up of countries having different ideological and political systems. The political association between Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey in the early fifties was determined by several factors of international politics. Some of them had an encouraging effect, while the influence of others was wholly negative. The latter included the problems created by Yugoslavia’s dispute with Italy over the question of Trieste. The increasing tension between Yugoslavia and Italy posed the threat of armed conflict and with it the question of the position in this regard of Yugoslavia’s new allies. As members of NATO, Greece and Turkey would be obliged to side with Italy, whereas their membership in the Balkan Pact would require their military support of Yugoslavia. Despite its desire to see the Balkan alliance formalized, as a means of drawing Yugoslavia into its defense system, the West had their own idea about how this process should evolve. An agreement on the Trieste question was to precede the formation of the triple alliance. Yugoslavia, however, wished things to take the opposite course. The Balkan Pact would strengthen its international position and with that its chances of negotiate a better settlement with Italy. As a result, the Yugoslav leadership gave precedence to the talks regarding the regional alliance, despite Western comments about the need to postpone its formation. The US Government’s continued support of Italy during the negotiations regarding the European defense community project, notably receded once the project failed, which boosted Yugoslavia’s international position and weakened Italy’s negotiating ability. Yugoslavia made use of these circumstances to resolve two important questions: the demarcation with Italy and the alliance with Greece and Turkey.

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