TRIESTE: Transfer in the Rain

At 10 a.m. one morning last week in Rome's Palazzo Madama, Presiding Senator Enrico Molé solemnly announced to his colleagues: "At this moment Italian troops are entering the incomparably Italian soil of Trieste." At the same magic hour, Rome's students poured from their classrooms and surged joyfully through flag-lined streets, chanting: Viva Trieste Italiana!

In Trieste itself, the long-awaited takeover came off enthusiastically, too, but not according to plan. Britain's General Sir John Winterton, departing commander of the British-U.S. occupation troops, had been cordially hated by the Triestini since last year's bloody riots. The British, therefore,...

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