The thesis examines the attitude of the Italian majority towards the Slovenian national community living in the territories annexed to Italy after the Second World War, as well as in those territories that were not officially annexed to Italy but were still perceived by Italy as an integral part of its territory. The thesis also defines the Italian perception of the unresolved territorial issues along the Slovenian-Italian border between 1945 and 1954. Both aspects—the Italian attitude towards the Slovenian minority and the perception of unresolved territorial issues—are explained through factors that can be divided into three groups: the influence of political superpowers and the Cold War divisions of the world, the significance of the economic power of the Slovenian community in Italy, and the impact on the newly constructed post-war Italian identity.
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