Editing Free Territory of Trieste (section)

===Establishment of the territory and provisional government===
[[File:StampTrieste B1948Michel1I.JPG|thumb|150px|A postage stamp for Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste, 1948]]
In January 1947, the [[United Nations Security Council]] approved [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 16|Resolution 16]] under Article 24 of its charter calling for the creation of a free state in Trieste and the region surrounding it. A permanent statute codifying its provisions was to become recognized under international law upon the appointment of an international governor approved by the Quatripartite Powers (UK, US, France, and the Soviet Union). On 15 September 1947, the peace treaty between the [[United Nations]] (UN) and Italy was ratified, establishing the Free Territory of Trieste. 

Official languages were Italian and Slovene, possibly with the use of Serbo-Croatian in the portion of Zone B south of the [[Dragonja]] River. However, local government bodies were never formed, and it continued to be run by military authorities, respecting the administrative division demarcated by the Morgan Line: Zone A, which was {{convert|222.5|km2}} and had a population of 262,406 - including Trieste itself &ndash; was administered by the British and American forces; Zone B, &ndash;which was {{convert|515.5|km2}} with 71,000 residents &ndash; including north-western Istria &ndash; was administered by the Yugoslav army.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-06420-0009, Radrennfahrer, Mannschaft aus Triest.jpg|thumb|250px|Cyclists from the Free Territory of Trieste during the 1950 [[Peace Race]] in [[Poland]]]]
Between October 1947 and March 1948, the [[Soviet Union]] rejected the candidacy of 12 successive nominees for the civilian governor of the territory, at which point the Tripartite Powers (United States, United Kingdom, and France) issued a note to the Soviet and Yugoslav governments on 20 March 1948 recommending that the territory be returned to Italian sovereignty. 

Since no governor was ever appointed under the terms of UN Resolution 16, the Territory never functioned as a real independent state – although its formal status and separate sovereignty were generally respected. It operated as a separate state in the [[Marshall Plan]] (launched in April 1948) and the related [[OECD|OEEC]] (formed in March 1948).<ref>{{Cite web|title = Organisation for European Economic Co-operation – OECD|url = http://www.oecd.org/general/organisationforeuropeaneconomicco-operation.htm|website = www.oecd.org|access-date = 2015-09-24}}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Tito-Stalin split]] in mid-1948 led to the deterioration of relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, which resulted in a political stalemate, and the proposal to return the territory to Italy was suspended until 1954.

The [[Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories|Allied Military Government]] (AMG) thus continued to administer Zone A. The governance was split into peacekeeping and law enforcement sectors, with the local command comprising 5,000 Americans in the [[Trieste United States Troops]] (TRUST) and 5,000 British personnel in the [[British Element Trieste Forces]] (BETFOR).

According to the estimates published by the Allied Military Government, the population in Zone A as of 1949 was about 310,000, which included 239,200 ethnic Italians and 63,000 ethnic Slovenes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.milhist.net/docs/intellrev.html#59 |title=Settling the Question of Trieste |access-date=24 March 2010 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309184546/http://www.milhist.net/docs/intellrev.html#59 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

According to contemporary Italian sources,{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} in Zone B there were at the time 36,000 to 55,000 Italians and 12,000 to 17,000 Slovenes and Croats. According to the Yugoslav census of 1945 (which was considered falsified by the Quadripartite Commission set up by the UN),<ref>{{cite journal |title=Venezia Giulia: Area of Dispute |journal=Intelligence Review |date=February 28, 1946 |issue=3 |pages=30–36 |url=http://www.milhist.net/docs/intellrev.html#3 |access-date=10 September 2017 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309184546/http://www.milhist.net/docs/intellrev.html#3 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in the part of Istria which was to become Zone B there were a total of 67,461 inhabitants - including 30,789 Slovenes, Serbs and Croats, 29,672 Italians, and 7,000 people of unidentified nationality.

Elections in the Territory were held twice, in 1949 and 1952, but only for municipal councils. The elections for what was supposed to be the People's Assembly (Free Territory of Trieste's national legislature) were never held.

[[File:Free Territory of Trieste Diplomatic visa issued in Vienna.jpg|thumb|Free Territory of Trieste Diplomatic visa issued in Vienna.]]