Based on archival sources, this article critically analyses the national approach to the historical narratives in the North Adriatic region after World War II and highlights the need for a transnational (or rather non-national) and entangled history approach to the study of the borderlands. In such territories, which have been subject to frequent changes (in terms of states, borders, regimes, etc.), the forms of multilayered, fluid, undefined, hybrid, and ambivalent identifications of the population manifest themselves. Along these lines, the predominant ethnocentric historical representations appear inadequate or insufficient for an in-depth analysis of broader social processes in the complex times of transition after World War II. Thus, we can conclude that the contemporary history of Istria provides a significant insight into the processes of nation and state building. Simultaneously, it offers rich material for research based on new methodological approaches and perspectives, capable of more thoroughly analysing the relations between the social and political actors as well as explor-ing the flexible strategies and practices whose national identifications often merely serve to pursue specific goals.