Page 120 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 120
plex Gateways
The chief problems of Western Germany are recovery from the com-
plete disorganization of economic life and political institutions which
followed the defeat, and the difficulties of adjusting to the separation
from industrial Western Germany of the predominantly agricultural
Eastern territories which were formerly a major source of food for the
West (Economic Cooperation Administration 1949c, 1).
The direct political connection between the US-occupied portion of
southern Germany (Bavaria, Hesse, and Württemberg-Baden) and the
US quota of the Trieste AMG was certainly an element in favouring the
Northern Adriatic port. Furthermore, the selective destruction of vi-
tal lines of communication (especially bridges) redirected a large part of
the main supply routes along some unusual North-South lines Economic
Cooperation Administration 1949c, 60–2), instead of the traditional net-
work of interconnections over all the territory. Also for these reasons,
Trieste was perceived as the best choice to feed Bavaria, and then to hus-
tle the economic recovery of the entire American zone.
Finally, for Italy, the most important matter was not the port in it-
self, but the possibility of benefitting from the flow of foreign curren-
cies connected with the port activities. Operating in Italian lire, Trieste
port activities, in practical terms, generated valuable currents that di-
rectly supported the course of the national currency, with advantages
such the ability of the entire Italian economy to relate to the internation-
al markets.
This exceptional (and very temporary) coexistence of positive as-
pects strongly pushed the resumption of traffic in the early days, but it
could not support the transition of port activities towards more modern
forms of logistics. In other words, the haste of the early days brought im-
mediate benefits, which were paid for with less capacity for moderniza-
tion over a longer time frame.
In the short run, the strategic value of the port infrastructures in-
creased the still greater-than-usual political importance of the Trieste so-
cioeconomic stabilization, leading to a local standard of living generally
higher than the Italian one.
120
The chief problems of Western Germany are recovery from the com-
plete disorganization of economic life and political institutions which
followed the defeat, and the difficulties of adjusting to the separation
from industrial Western Germany of the predominantly agricultural
Eastern territories which were formerly a major source of food for the
West (Economic Cooperation Administration 1949c, 1).
The direct political connection between the US-occupied portion of
southern Germany (Bavaria, Hesse, and Württemberg-Baden) and the
US quota of the Trieste AMG was certainly an element in favouring the
Northern Adriatic port. Furthermore, the selective destruction of vi-
tal lines of communication (especially bridges) redirected a large part of
the main supply routes along some unusual North-South lines Economic
Cooperation Administration 1949c, 60–2), instead of the traditional net-
work of interconnections over all the territory. Also for these reasons,
Trieste was perceived as the best choice to feed Bavaria, and then to hus-
tle the economic recovery of the entire American zone.
Finally, for Italy, the most important matter was not the port in it-
self, but the possibility of benefitting from the flow of foreign curren-
cies connected with the port activities. Operating in Italian lire, Trieste
port activities, in practical terms, generated valuable currents that di-
rectly supported the course of the national currency, with advantages
such the ability of the entire Italian economy to relate to the internation-
al markets.
This exceptional (and very temporary) coexistence of positive as-
pects strongly pushed the resumption of traffic in the early days, but it
could not support the transition of port activities towards more modern
forms of logistics. In other words, the haste of the early days brought im-
mediate benefits, which were paid for with less capacity for moderniza-
tion over a longer time frame.
In the short run, the strategic value of the port infrastructures in-
creased the still greater-than-usual political importance of the Trieste so-
cioeconomic stabilization, leading to a local standard of living generally
higher than the Italian one.
120
