page_title: Adriatic Sea
section_title: Modern period
hierarchical_section_title: Adriatic Sea / History / Modern period
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Affondamento Santo Stefano English: Italian postcard with photograph of the sinking of the Austro-Hungarian battleship w:SMS Szent István while it was proceeding to break through the w:Otranto Barrage 10 June 1918. The caption reads: "Italian Navy in the World War 1915-1918. On the dawn of June 10th, 1918, Commander Rizzo attacked with two MAS a powerful enemy squadron. The Austrian battleship 'Saint Stephen', hit by torpedo, sank, capsizing on the left side".
context_page_description: The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto to the northwest and the Po Valley. The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains over 1,300 islands, mostly located along the Croatian part of its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres. The Otranto Sill, an underwater ridge, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because the Adriatic collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the Mediterranean, acting as a dilution basin.
context_section_description: The process of Italian unification culminated in the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in the Kingdom of Sardinia annexing all territories along the western Adriatic coast south of Venetia in 1860, and the 1861 establishment of the Kingdom of Italy in its place. The Kingdom of Italy expanded in 1866: it annexed Venetia, but its navy was defeated in the Adriatic near Vis. Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, the control of much of the eastern Adriatic coast was redefined. The cisleithanian (Austrian) part of Austria-Hungary spanned from the Austrian Littoral to the Bay of Kotor, with the exception of the Croatian Littoral mainland. In the territory outside the Austrian Littoral, special status was given to Fiume (modern day Rijeka) as a separate part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The rest of the territory was made a part of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which in turn was also in the Transleithanian part of the dual monarchy. The Adriatic coastline controlled by the Ottoman Empire was reduced by the Congress of Berlin in 1878, through recognition of the independence of the Principality of Montenegro, which controlled the coast south of the Bay of Kotor to the Bojana River. The Ottoman Empire lost all territories along the Adriatic following the First Balkan War and consequent 1913 Treaty of London that established an independent Albania.
  The World War I Adriatic Campaign was largely limited to blockade attempts by the Allies and the effort of the Central Powers to thwart the British, French and Italian moves. Italy joined the Allies in April 1915 with the Treaty of London, which promised Italy the Austrian Littoral, northern Dalmatia, the port of Vlorë, most of the eastern Adriatic islands and Albania as a protectorate. The treaty provided the basis for all the following divisions between Italy and Yugoslavia. In 1918, the Montenegrin national assembly voted to unite with the Kingdom of Serbia, giving the latter access to the Adriatic. Another short-lived, unrecognised state established in 1918 was the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, formed from parts of Austria-Hungary, comprising most of the former monarchy's Adriatic coastline. Later that year, the Kingdom of Serbia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes—subsequently renamed Yugoslavia. The proponents of the new union in the Croatian parliament saw the move as a safeguard against Italian expansionism as stipulated in the Treaty of London. The treaty was largely disregarded by Britain and France because of conflicting promises made to Serbia and a perceived lack of Italian contribution to the war effort outside Italy itself. The 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye did transfer the Austrian Littoral and Istria to Italy, but awarded Dalmatia to Yugoslavia. Following the war, a private force of demobilized Italian soldiers seized Rijeka and set up the Italian Regency of Carnaro—seen as a harbinger of Fascism—in order to force the recognition of Italian claims to the city. After sixteen months of the Regency's existence, the 1920 Treaty of Rapallo redefined the Italian–Yugoslav borders, among other things transferring Zadar and the islands of Cres, Lastovo and Palagruža to Italy, securing the island of Krk for Yugoslavia and establishing the Free State of Fiume; this new state was abolished in 1924 by the Treaty of Rome that awarded Fiume (modern Rijeka) to Italy and Sušak to Yugoslavia.
caption: SMS Szent István moments before its sinking by the Italian MAS
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