Evening star., 1946-03-31
Trieste
Continued From Page CID


not Forthcoming. as the liberatorl
themselves frankly admitted no rec
ords OF arrests were being kept.
Peace Failed to End Strain.
On We day in Trieste, one coule
not help feeling how relative thint
was the peace which had been won
The atmosphere was not that Of {
liberated city: 1t was like that of {
city under enemy occupation. i
was sullen and ominous, electri,
with strain. The strain was no
confined to the italian populace ane
their Yugoslav liberators. Their,
was no open conflict. between tn,
New Zealanders around the port ane
the Yugoslavs in the rest of the city
but there was an awful lack of cor.
diality.
How had such a situation ariseni
Allied headquarters announced
bluntly that Marshal Tito's occu.
patton of Trieste violated his agree.
ment with Field Marshal Sir darolt
Alexander, Allied commander in tn,
Mediterranean. Marshal Tito haI
bluntly denied 1t. What was behins
these accusations and counteraccu.
Sations?
Behind them, I believe, was Mar.
shall Alexander's assumption, during
advanced discussion as to what
would happen when his forces me-
those of Marshal Tito at the head o1
the Adriatic, that he would reach
the critical area first. Undoubtedly
Marshal Tito guessed otherwise. Be.
cause Of these incompatible and mute
assumptions, neither insisted on OF
obtained hard and fast agree.
ment in advance. Significantly
nothing was committed to writing
not even minutes of the meetings
Allied headquarters awoke with &
start from a deep dream of peace
late in April when, as German re.
sistance collapsed everywhere, it be.
came suddenly and painfully OBJ.
vious that the best troops at Mar.
shall Tito's disposal were making al
speed in the direction of Trieste ane
that only by miracle could the race
be won from our side. Despite {
fine burst of speed by the New Zea.
landers, the miracle did not ma.
terialize. 1t is true that they re-
ceived the surrender of the German
garrison at Trieste on May 2. Blu
it Is also true that by then Tito
men had been there for three days
in force.
Effects Political Situation.
What happened after that is tot
well known to require recital here
How headquarters denounced Yugo.
slavia,s action as an attempt to an.
next territory by force-how Mar.
shall Alexander thundered that |,
was all to reminiscent of Hitler
Mussolini and Japan"-how Marsha
Tito thundered back-how, aftel
more than month of crisis, the is.
sue was settled with Yugoslav &C.
ceptance Of the so-called Morgan
Line. which placed Trieste under oul
custody and most of the rest Of
Venezia Giulia under theirs-al
this, in its infinitely complex de.
tall, has been written into the rec.
ord. The Yugoslavs marched out O
Trieste, singing mourning songs a.
they went.
OF course, the trouble was no
over. The evidence seems to indi
cate, for one thing, that Communist
In the city must have been unde
general orders not to cooperate ii
any way with -AMG. Tension has no
been easily allayed, even on an in
ternal basis.
Why Marshal Tito of late has beer
massing so many troops along tn,
Morgan Line can only be surmised
The Allied statement last Wednes
day brushed aside as absurd hi
explanation that the deploymen
was defensive" in character.
1t may be, as some here believe
that the explanation lies in the OBJ
vious effect of the proximity O.
this troop concentration on the poll
tfcal situation in our zone.
But II it is more than that-if /
should develop that Marshal Tito il
unwilling to take his chances on al
international settlement of the fat,
OF Trieste or has made up his mins
he will not accept an adverse de-
cision-if, in other words, he is get
ting ready for second try at tax.
ing over by force what he regards
as hls-or even If the shootins
should start suddenly as result O.
one of those unplanned but por
tentous incidents of which histor,
is full-then it will not be as easy t.
settle the thing this time as it wa!
last June.