Klana soon became one of the largest border garrisons of the Italian kingdom, where there were stationed up to 10,000 Italian soldiers. Despite the high concentration of troops and attempt at Italianization, which almost immediately began and culminated in various fascist repressions and the introduction of Italian in school and other institutions, people living in Klana still preserved their Croatian identity. One of the most stalwart guardians of Croatian was Pastor Ivan Koruza, who was in Klana from 1896 to 1942. In the mid 1930s, many Klana residents were forcibly mobilized and sent to the battlefields of the Italo-Abyssinian War in Ethiopia. Following Italy's capitulation in World War II and the decision of ZAVNOH (State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia) in 1943, Klana with Istria joined the Socialist Republic of Croatia, though two difficult years of war lay ahead. Nazi German forces occupied the region in 1944 and reinforced the Rapallo border such that in April and May 1945, fierce fighting took place. Klana was finally liberated on 5 May 1945.