Figure 1.-- This CDV portrair showstwo unidentified brothers in Trieste during the 1870s. The boys are wearing identical suits. Trieste at the time was a popular port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The studio was L. Mioni wgich sounds Italian.

Trieste in northeastern Italy is a special case. It was for years controlled by Austria (1382-1918). Trieste in many ways developed as a border town. Its location made it a crossroads of Germanic, Latin (Italian) and Slavic cultures and thus a bone of contention for the various nation states which formed in the area. The population reflects the ethnic mixing of a notder town. It is an ethnic mix of the neighbouring regions. The two most important groups are the Italians and Slovenrs. Other ethnic groups included Germans, Croats, and Serbs. It was the largest port of the virtually land-locked Austro-Hungarian Empire. This Adriaric port gave the Empire access to the Mediterranean and thus maritime trade. It was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (only Vienna, Budapest, and Prague were larger). As a prosperous seaport and Mediterranean resort region, Trieste during the fin-de-siecle period was not just a port, but important culturally. It was a hub for literature and music. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I and annexation by Italy caused both a cultural and economic decline. This process continued during the Cold War era when Communist Yugoslavia demanded Trieste. Italian policies were not as open to minority groups as the Austrians. Most Austrians/Germans left after Wotld War I. Italian annexation led to a gradual decline of the city's economic and cultural importance and throughout the Cold War, Trieste became a peripheral city of minor importance. Cold War tensions meant that trade through the port was limited to Italy and other Western countries. Trieste continues to be an important European seaport. While awarded to Italy after World War I, with its large Slovenian population. the city became a bone of contention between Italy and Yugoslavia--especially after World War II. Trieste is on a tounge of land around the Gulf of Trieste and is almost surrounded by first Yugoslavia and now Slovenia. Trieste is now the capital of the Italian autonomous region Venezia-Giulia and Trieste province. The modern city is a cosmopolitan city with an interesting linguistic and cultural mix. The dominant language used is a an Italian dialect called Trieste, related to to the Venetian dialect. Slovene is still spoken in the eastern suburbs which border Slovenia. There are also a few Serbian, Croatian, German, and Hungarian speakers.

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Created: 8:43 PM 4/28/2010
Last updated: 8:43 PM 4/28/2010