1949 Free Territory of Trieste municipal election

Municipal elections were held in the six municipalities of the Anglo-American occupation zone ('Zone A') of the Free Territory of Trieste in June 1949, Trieste, Duino-Aurisina, San Dorligo della Valle, Sgonico, Monrupino and Muggia.^[1]^[2] There were 197,266 eligible voters in the electoral rolls in Trieste and a combined number of 15,392 eligible voters in the five other municipalities.^[2]

The elections were largely symbolic, as the elected officials had no formal decision-making over the

Italian general election of 1948, in which the Christian Democrats and other moderate elements had campaigned on the plank of whipping up fears of a communist takeover of Italy.^[2] The Christian Democratic campaign struck a chord especially amongst women voters in the Free Territory, who were allowed to vote for the first time.^[3]

The Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste (PCTLT), which had initially supported the incorporation of the Free Territory with Yugoslavia,^[4] had been divided as a result of the rupture between the USSR and Yugoslavia in 1948.^[2] The pro-Yugoslav fraction was now regrouped in the Slovenian-Italian Popular Front (FPIS), with the daily newspaper Primorski dnevnik as their press outlet.^[2]

A third force was the Independence Front, which sought to convert the Free Territory into an independent state.^[2]

In Trieste

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Christian Democracy	65,627	39.04	25
Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste	35,548	21.14	13
Independence Front	11,476	6.83	4
Socialist Party of the Julian March	10,747	6.39	4
Italian Social Movement	10,171	6.05	4
Italian Republican Party	9,081	5.41	3
Italian Bloc	8,252	4.91	3
Trieste Bloc	4,860	2.89	1
Italian-Slovenian Popular Front	3,957	2.35	1
Italian Liberal Party	3,094	1.84	1
Slovenian National List	3,004	1.79	1
Italian Republican Movement	2,291	1.36	0

^[2]

Other municipalities

The elections in the five smaller municipalities were marked by victories of the Communist Party and its front organization, the Slavic-Italian Anti-Fascist Union. The Communist Party won 57% of the votes in Muggia (8,039 votes, whilst the Titoist FPIS obtained 1,387 votes), and the Slavic-Italian Anti-Fascist Union won 33% of the total vote in Duino-Aurisina, 55% in San Dorligo della Valle, 51% in Sgonico and 97% in Monrupino.^[1]^[2] These results were heralded by Pravda as a victory for the Communist Party.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE FREE TERRITORY OF TRIESTE SUCCEEDS AT THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press, No. 25, Vol.1, July 19, 1949, p. 34
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Zucca, Lorenzo. LA CITTÀ OCCUPATA (1948 – 1951)^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c Sluga, Glenda. The Problem of Trieste and the Italo-Yugoslav Border: Difference, Identity, and Sovereignty in Twentieth Century Europe. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 2001. p. 150
^ Puppini, Marco. Il quadro politico dopo il trattato di pace del 1947 e la risoluzione del Cominform del 1948 Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Consorzio Culturale del Monfalconese

[p1-1] COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE FREE TERRITORY OF TRIESTE SUCCEEDS AT THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press, No. 25, Vol.1, July 19, 1949, p. 34

[p2-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Zucca, Lorenzo. LA CITTÀ OCCUPATA (1948 – 1951)^{[permanent dead link]}

[p3-3] Sluga, Glenda. The Problem of Trieste and the Italo-Yugoslav Border: Difference, Identity, and Sovereignty in Twentieth Century Europe. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 2001. p. 150

[4] Puppini, Marco. Il quadro politico dopo il trattato di pace del 1947 e la risoluzione del Cominform del 1948 Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Consorzio Culturale del Monfalconese

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]