Page 128 - 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. 128
plex Gateways
the years considered here, the final decision was always taken within of-
fices where only allied personnel were present. In this sense, the strange
experience of the Trieste version of the ERP is also a verification of the
practical viability of the entire political background of the plan, which en-
trusted local representatives with the task of finding a balance between
political objectives and economic instruments. The same local represent-
atives inevitably filtered both suggestions and plans for their realization
through their own conceptual background and experiences in the moth-
erland, in this case provoking a short-circuit: the use of exceptional re-
sources officially pursuing long-term goals, but practically, aiming at very
short-term results. It was a complex game of filters and mirrors, which at
times, but not always, was able to take advantage of the best aspects of
both experiences: the US and the local one.
Like many hybrids in nature, even the Americanization of Trieste
and its territory was not fruitful. The massive US involvement did not
give rise to a dynamic and prosperous economy, but rather to a sleepy
and assisted society. During the second half of the twentieth century, the
local society replaced the ethics of making its own in the best of times
with the opportunism of positional rent and the repeated affirmation of
‘rights’ for compensation, for the numerous and troubled political events
that the region had experienced in the first half of the century.
Bibliography
Archival Sources
ACS, ACC: Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Allied Control Commission.
IRSML: Istituto Regionale per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione,
Trieste.
IUE, OEEC: Istituto Universitario Europeo, Organisation Européenne
de Coopération Economique.
NARA, RG: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
Record Group.
NARA, WO: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
War Office.
PRO, FO: Public Record Office, Foreign Office.
128
the years considered here, the final decision was always taken within of-
fices where only allied personnel were present. In this sense, the strange
experience of the Trieste version of the ERP is also a verification of the
practical viability of the entire political background of the plan, which en-
trusted local representatives with the task of finding a balance between
political objectives and economic instruments. The same local represent-
atives inevitably filtered both suggestions and plans for their realization
through their own conceptual background and experiences in the moth-
erland, in this case provoking a short-circuit: the use of exceptional re-
sources officially pursuing long-term goals, but practically, aiming at very
short-term results. It was a complex game of filters and mirrors, which at
times, but not always, was able to take advantage of the best aspects of
both experiences: the US and the local one.
Like many hybrids in nature, even the Americanization of Trieste
and its territory was not fruitful. The massive US involvement did not
give rise to a dynamic and prosperous economy, but rather to a sleepy
and assisted society. During the second half of the twentieth century, the
local society replaced the ethics of making its own in the best of times
with the opportunism of positional rent and the repeated affirmation of
‘rights’ for compensation, for the numerous and troubled political events
that the region had experienced in the first half of the century.
Bibliography
Archival Sources
ACS, ACC: Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Allied Control Commission.
IRSML: Istituto Regionale per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione,
Trieste.
IUE, OEEC: Istituto Universitario Europeo, Organisation Européenne
de Coopération Economique.
NARA, RG: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
Record Group.
NARA, WO: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
War Office.
PRO, FO: Public Record Office, Foreign Office.
128
