Trieste, Italy
1945-47

The Beginning of the Cold War

The rest of the division was sent to Lake Garda, where they were given the assignment of guarding 300,000 POWs. Some of the soldiers had enough points to ship out during the summer, while others were moved to Trieste for occupation in the fall. Many of them remained in Italy for the next two years.

The city of Trieste in the northern Adriatic was the center of long-standing Italo-Yugoslav territorial struggle at the end of World War II. The United States assumed a key role in this dispute by joining Britain in taking on temporary military administration of the city to prevent its occupation by Tito's Yugoslavia until a settlement could be reached at the peace table. This "temporary" Anglo-American control of Trieste lasted nearly a decade, until the sovereignty question was finally resolved in 1954 in favor of Italy.

The 88th Infantry Division was fighting in the Dolomite Alps of Austria when the war ended in May of 1945.

After the war the Division, on occupation duty in Italy, guarded the Morgan Line from positions in Italy and Trieste until 15 September 1947. It was then withdrawn to Livorno and inactivated.

The 351st Infantry was relieved from assignment to the division on 1 May 1947 and served as the main component of a garrison command in the Free Territory of Trieste, securing the disputed border between Italy and Yugoslavia.

The command served as the front line in the Cold War from 1947 to 1954, including confrontations with Yugoslavian forces. In October 1954 the territory was ceded to Italy and administration turned over to the Italian Army.

In 1947, Trieste was declared an independent city state under the protection of the United Nations as the Free Territory of Trieste. The territory was divided into two zones, A and B, along the Morgan Line, established in 1945.

In 1954, the Free Territory of Trieste was dissolved. The vast majority of Zone A, including the city of Trieste, was ceded to Italy. Zone B became part of Yugoslavia, along with four villages from the Zone A (Plavje, Spodnje Škofije, Hrvatini, and Jelarji), and was divided among the Socialist Republic of Slovenia and Croatia. The annexation of Trieste to Italy was officially announced on 26 October 1954, and was welcomed by the majority of the Trieste population.

The final border line with Yugoslavia, and the status of the ethnic minorities in the areas, was settled in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo. This line is now the border between Italy and Slovenia.

This 88th Infantry Division World War 2 route map poster was sold by the 88th Infantry Division Association at their 50th Anniversary reunion in 1992. Only 1700 copies were printed. This rare poster has only appeared once on Ebay in the last 10 years and sold for $90.

The poster shows historical information depicting the route of the 88th Infantry Division and the 349th, 350th and 351st Infantry Regiments through Italy from September 1943 to May 1945.