Encroaching Visions: Italy, Yugoslavia and the Adriatic Question, 1918-1920

This chapter presents a systematic analysis of the reciprocal perceptions between Rome and Belgrade, from the establishment of the Yugoslav Kingdom (1918) to the Treaty of Rapallo (1920). It shows that, after the First World War, Italy’s position in the Adriatic was that of a regional power which was able to achieve most of its historical territorial ambitions and, at the same time, be regarded by the Yugoslav diplomacy (including the delegation in Paris, the Foreign Ministry in Belgrade, and the Yugoslav representative in Rome) as pivotal in the European balance of power