After entering service in the early 1930s, the four members of the "Zara" class took part in training exercises with the Italian fleet and participated in fleet reviews held for foreign leaders, including Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and Miklós Horthy, the Regent of Hungary. "Gorizia" and "Pola" were involved in the Spanish Civil War; in 1936 "Pola" conducted non-intervention patrols and "Gorizia" carried Italian nationals from Gijon, Spain, to Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France that year. After departing France, "Gorizia" visited Germany, and on the way back, she suffered a major explosion in an aviation gasoline tank that forced her to put into Gibraltar for repairs. There, British shipyard inspectors discovered that the ship was grossly over the Washington Treaty's displacement restriction. In March 1939, all four ships sortied to prevent a squadron of Republican warships from reaching the Black Sea, forcing them to stop in Bizerte, Tunisia, where they were interned. The following month, "Zara", "Pola", and "Gorizia" provided gunfire support to Italian forces invading Albania.