Through a long period of time, Trieste was seen as being peripheral to the centers of Italian commerce and culture, and lost influence-however lately it has been gaining influence as Italy's window to the east (former Yugoslavia). The Kosovo War saw large numbers of refugees passing through the city, which is now negotiating cooperation with Slovenian ports and expanding business with former Yugoslavia.
The local Venetian Dialect of Trieste is called "Triestino" in Italian and "Triestin" (pronounced /tri.e.stin/) in the local Language itself. Italian and the local venetian dialect are spoken in the city center while Slovenian is spoken in many of the immediate suburbs. This linguistic division is historical and cultural and dates back hundreds of years. Italian-speaking and Slovenian-speaking locals are considered autochthonous into the border region of Trieste, eastern Friuli and Istria.
After the end of the Western Roman Empire (in 476) Trieste was first under the authority of their count-bishop, then (from the year 1081) loosely under the Aquileia's patriarchy, then (from the year 1369) under the Venetian Republic, then (from the year 1372) a free commune and then, (from the year 1382) to free themselves from Venice, the Triestins donated the city to Leopold III von Habsburg, duke of Austria. (External link: The original Latin version of the Dedication)
During the Middle Ages, Trieste grew into an important port and trade hub. It was constituted a free port by Emperor Charles VI and remained a free port from 1719 till July 1 1891. Its role as the principal Austrian commercial port and shipbuilding center was emphasized by the construction of the Vienna-Trieste railway, completed in 1857.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Trieste was a buzzing cosmopolitan city frequented by artists such as James Joyce, and Italo Svevo. The city was a very real part of Mitteleuropa, with a cosmopolitan mix of Italian (65%), Germanic (6%), and Slavic (27%) elements (along with others), as well as a border-town feeling that it retains even today.
The thought of an Italian population under Austrian domination was offensive for many Italian nationalists, who considered Trieste Italy's main "unredeemed" territory; whence the term "Irredentism" for the movement pleading for incorporation to the Italian state of every Italian population. After World War One ended Trieste was transferred to Italy.
On May 1 1945 (only days before the official end of World War Two in Europe) soldiers from the Yugoslav 4th Army and the Slovenian 9th Corpus NLA liberated Trieste ahead of regular Allied armies. The German Army surrendered to Allied forces the next day, but the Yugoslavs were forced to leave shortly thereafter.
In 1947 Trieste became the capital of the Free Territory of Trieste. When that state was de facto dissolved in 1954, the city of Trieste reverted back to Italy, while the southern part of the territory went to Yugoslavia.
Slovenian writers:
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