Today, the Littoral is often associated with the Slovenian ethnic territory that, in the first half of the 20th century, found itself in Italy to the west of the Rapallo Border, which separated a quarter of Slovenes from the rest of the nation,[2] and was strongly influenced by Italian fascism.In the second half of the 14th century, they acquired Postojna and the Upper Vipava Valley from the Patriarchate of Aquileia, followed by Duino and parts of the Karst Plateau.Incorporated into the Julian March (Venezia Giulia) a forced Italianization of the Slovene minority began, intensified after the Fascists under Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922, and lasted until 1943.After World War II, according to the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties, the bulk of the region with the upper Soča (Isonzo) Valley fell to Yugoslavia.Parts of the area were re-arranged as the Free Territory of Trieste, while Italy retained the urban centres of Gorizia and Gradisca.