THE TREATY OF LONDON AND THE CREATION OF YUGOSLAVIA

The historiography considered the Treaty of London 1915 as the main obstacle for the creation of Yugoslavia, since Italy's territorial claims as expressed in the Treaty were in opposition to the creation of a common state of South Slavs. However, the threat that Italy's territorial aspirations in the Adriatic represented was also an important motive for the creation of the Yugoslav state, because only the united with Serbia the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs from Austria-Hungary could defend themselves, seeing that the Allied governments refused to recognise them as an independent state.