A Difficult and Silent Return. Italian Exiles from Dalmatia and Yugoslav Zadar/Zara after the Second World War

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to offer a brief analysis of the political activity of the Italian exiles from Dalmatia after the Second World War and their relations with their mother­land and their hometown of Zadar/Zara. Their activities failed to bring about a change of the Italian-Yugoslav border established by the 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy, but they displayed great activism and a strong determination to keep their cultural traditions alive not only in Italy but also in Yugoslav Zadar. After much effort the Italian exiles eventually succeeded in setting up a public Italian club in Zadar in 1991, after the end of communist Yugoslavia and the creation of independent Croatia.