Rijeka’s Journey from Periphery to Center, 1945-1960

• In Event: Re-Imagining East Central European Cities in Cold War Borders

Abstract

Following its inclusion in the Kingdom of Italy in 1924, Rijeka became a border town, marking Italy’s boundary with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.  The border sliced through the city along the Rječina river, leading to formerly suburban Sušak’s emergence as a distinct city.  In spite of being the site of oil refining and torpedo production, as well as the manufacture of various consumer goods, Rijeka became economically peripheral, stripped of its previous role as central port.  When the Partisans took control of Rijeka in 1945, they endowed it with a central role both in Yugoslavia’s economy and in its imaginary.  This paper begins with an exploration of the Titoist regime’s conception of Rijeka’s role in an expanded Yugoslavia, and concludes with an exploration of the impact of the border change on two key sites in the urban fabric.

Author

• Brigitte Le Normand, U of British Columbia Okanagan (Canada)