On this day, November 12th, 1920, the treaty of Rapallo would determine the borders between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) after the first world war.
At the time of the signing, the world was more or less pleased with the resolution and encouraged friendly relations and cooperation between the two states and rebuilding Europe after World War I. Though many people on both sides would remain dissatisfied for years to come.
Despite the talk by Woodrow Wilson and entente forces about respecting national and ethnic boundaries, the situation in the Adriatic would never please anyone with a population of such mixed ethnicities and nationalities. With the reluctance of other countries to involve themselves in a border dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia, it was Italy who came out with a stronger position as an undisputed victor in the war - claiming territory from what was Austria-Hungary but not as much as it had been promised.
Later, Italy would feel betrayed by the Entente for not respecting Italy's territorial demands from the Treaty of London (1915). This territorial injustice would in Italy be known as "mutilated victory" (vittoria mutilata) and become fuel for the rise of Mussolini and fascism.
The treaty would also leave thousands of ethnic Slovenes and Croatians in Italy, along with many strategic locations. For Slovenes especially this would remain forever as a painful and humiliating defeat in diplomacy.
Edited with Vegas Pro 19
#ww1 #history #shorts
