41/2 - Qualestoria. Rivista di storia contemporanea. Anno XLI, N.ro 2, dicembre 2013

After 1954, Trieste’s de facto return to Italy coincided with the defi nitive partition of the Adriatic border. As a consequence, recurrent political tensions that marked the years between the London Memorandum and the Osimo Treaties were generally neglected and understudied. This article represents a fi rst attempt to fi ll this gap in historical studies and prove that, until 1975, the issue of the ex-zone B remained a «Cold War hotbed» for the Italian government. In exploring the «complex relation» between Rome and Trieste through the lenses of the associative response to the Adriatic detente, this article tells a story of misunderstandings, confl icts, and antagonisms. It investigates the role played by local as well as national patriotic and émigrés associations in upholding the «italianità» of the ex-zone B and ultimately suggests that the neo-irredentist network, while opposing the new logic of international politics, restlessly advocated the defense of the «legitimate» interests of the nation.