Foreign Policy 1 Flashcards
Why was having a strong foreign policy so important for Mussolini?
(4)
- to distance himself from previous liberal governments
- to enchance the Cult of Il Duce; key aspect was regaining Italy’s pride
- to distract the population from domestic problems
- to promote fascism abroad
What were Mussolini’s foreign policy aims?
(3)
** - to assert Italy’s position as a world power **
- to maximise his prestige
–> difficult to define as his actions were often opportunistic and erratic
What had to be achieved to establish Italy as a world power?
(6)
- build prestige abroad; overlooked at ToV, taken seriously in international politics
- address WWi’s ‘mutilated victory’; not recieved all irredente lands, revise some of the ToV
- establish Italian dominance in the Mediterranean; dominated by Britain, Italy as a ‘prisoner of the sea’, ‘Mare Nostrum’ (our sea)
- extend influence into the Adriatic/Balkans; large empire, irredente lands
- conquering territory abroad; previously failed to conquer Abissinya, still pacifying Libya, comparatively small empire
- spreading fascism abroad; show it was a strong, militaristic, political ideology
What was Italian foreign policy like between 1922 and 1935?
Mussolini alternated between negotiation and aggression; ‘testing the waters’
What event triggered the Corfu Incident?
- 17th Aug 1923, General Tellini + 4 of his staff were killed in Greek territory (they had been working on the Inter-Allied International Boundary Commission to draw up the new Greek-Albanian border)
- Mussolini accused the Greek government of financing the assassination
Why did Mussolini bomb Corfu?
(5)
Greek government refused to meet his demands for;
- full apology
- Greek gov. to attend funeral service at a Catholic Church in Athens
- Greek gov. to publicly honour the Italian flag
- pay 50 million lire in compensation
- men responsible to be arrested in 5 days and put to death
When was the Corfu Incident?
31st Aug 1923
- Italy bombed Corfu without warning
- unnecessarily killed many civilians
- occupied the island
–> suggested that attack was preplanned, Mussolini was just waiting for an excuse
What was the response to the Corfu Incident?
- some sympathy for Mussolini
- LoN; encouraged Greece to pay 50million lire
- Britain; demanded that Italy withdraw from Corfu, supported by Mediterranean fleet + LoN
- Italians; Mussolini’s popularity greatly increased, distanced from liber government through strong, dynamic actions
How was the Corfu Incident concluded?
- Head of the Italian Navy, Theon di Revel, said that Italy would barely last 48hrs is Britain decided to act
- 27th Sept 1923, Italy withdrew from Corfu and recieved 50 million lire from the Greek government
How successful was the Corfu Incident?
(6)
- increased Mussolini’s popularity in Italy
- propaganda success
- recieved 50mil lire compensation
- established that Italy could bully smaller powers through military might
- showed weakness of LoN
- BUT Italy still failed to stand up to Europe’s great powers (Britain)
What deal was made between Yugoslavia and Italy?
- 1922, Mussolini negotiated for Italy to take over Fiume
–> Yugoslavia willing as new port of Split had been developed - Italy agreed to formally recognise Yugoslavia’s claim to Susak (small island in Adriatic)
- 1924, Treaty of Rome; Italy officially annexed Fiume
What was the response to the Italian annexation of Fiume?
- no country prevented it from happening
- France too busy with the Ruhr crisis
- Italy; the ‘return of Fiume’ was very popular among nationalists
- Fiume itself went into permanent economic decline
How did Italian-Yugoslavian relations continue?
(4)
- success in Fiume convinced Mussolini that he could dominate all of Yugoslavia
- Relations with Albania threatened Yugoslavia; vulnerable to attack from west and south
- Mussolini tried to destabilise Yugoslavia by supporting separatist Croation groups (eg. Ustasha)
- 1934, Croation terrorist group assassinated Yugoslavian King Alexander; financed by fascists and allowed to set up a training camp in Italy
How did relations between Italy and Albania develop?
- 1924, Ahmed Zogu took power in Albania
–> Mussolini offered him political and economic support (encouraging Italian companies to set up business there)
–> 1928, Mussolini heloed Zogu become king - 1926, signed Treaty of Friendship; Albania became an Italian protectorate
What were the Locarno Treaties?
1925
- effort to ease tensions across Europe
- conference in Switzerland attended by ‘Great Powers’ of Europe
- attended by Austen Chamberlain, Aristide Briand, Gustav Stresemann, Dino Grandi
How successful were the Locarno Treaties?
(4)
- Germany accepted its western borders; greatly pleased France and indicated a peaceful future with western Europe
- BUT, Germany did not affirm its eastern borders
- Italy’s requests to revise her northern borders with Austria were repeatedly ignored and dismissed
- success in Italian press; showed Mussolini collaborating and taken seriously by other powers, press also claimed Mussolini had been a mediator and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize (false)
How did Mussolini involve himself in the Locarno Treaties?
- before the conference ended Mussolini arrived by speedboat, flanked by an aggressive fascist bodyguard
- Mussolini only attended one session of the conference
What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact?
Aug 1928
- signatories vowed to outlaw war as a means to resolve conflict, but it allowed for self-defence
- initially signed by 9 countries, but around 50 in the years to come
- US secretary of state (Kellogg) and French foreign minister (Briand)
What impact did the Kellogg-Briand Pact have?
- nothing major; eased some tensions across Europe
- Mussolini wanted it to be signed in Rome, but request was denied
- evidence of Italy being considered as a large power of Europe = used as propaganda
What was the Pacification of Libya?
1928-1933, the brutal occupation of Libya which aimed to end rebellion and reassert Italian rule
Were Mussolini’s goals for resettling Italians in Libya met?
(statistics!!)
No;
- Mussolini aimed for 1/2 million Italians to have settled in Libya by 1928
- 1928, only 25,000 Italians lived in Libya
What was the nature of Libyan rebellion?
(5) + key dates
- Libyans began to rebel against Italian rule in WWI
- much smaller than the Italian army but very well organised = required a large Italian force to control them
- Libyans had no rights or freedoms under Italian rule (especially if they didn’t comply with Italian life)
- 1931, Omar el Mukhtar (rebel leader) captured and publicly hanged
- 1932, Libyan rebellion put down
Through which mehtods was the Pacification of Libya carried out?
(8)
1930s
- widespread use of concentration camps
- barbed wire fencing used to cut off supply route from Egypt
- chemical warfare; poisonous gas used to bomb rebels
- mass execution; ethnic cleansing
- starvation
- displacement
- mercenaries bought, mainly from other African countries, to support Italian army
- –> conflict hidden from Italian public due to embarrassingly slow progress of Italian army
Libyan casualties statistics
- 1/3rd of the Libyan population killed or starved to death
- 40,000 died in/being transported to concentration camps
What was the theory of encirclement?
Mussolini was paranoid that Italy was completley surrounded by enemy powers, or potential enemy powers, on all sides
–> led to his conflicting and erratic early foreign policy
How did Italy form allies 1922-1935?
Mussolini felt that Italy had no loyalties to other countries = would ally with whoever presented the best deal
Evidence of cooperation between Britain and Italy
- allies in WWI
- good relationship with Churchill and Austen Chamberlain
- worked cooperatively during Locarno Treaties talks; Britain helped Italy claim Albania, Italy convinced Turkey to give Britain Mosul
- friendly until 1936
Evidence of tension between Britain and Italy
(4)
- 1923, Britain proved she was still more powerful in the Corfu Incident
- Italy couldn’t challenge Britain’s power in the Mediterranean
- Mussolini tried to establish pro-Italians in Malta to undermine British rule
- 1927 reevaluation of the lira = Italy dependent upon a financial system dominated by Britain and the USA
Evidence of cooperation between France and Italy
(2)
- allies in WWI
- through Britain, Ftanco-Italian relations remained stable
Evidence of tensions between France and Italy
(5)
- many exiled antifascists settled in France
- France annoyed at constant OVRA intervention to kill antifascists
- Italy saw France as an obstacle to her claims for land in North Africa and the Balkans
- France worried that Mussolini would move a large Italian population into Tunisia
- rising possibility between an anti-French alliance between Germany, Spain, Hungary, and Italy
Evidence of cooperation between Germany and Italy
(3)
- Locarno Treaties
- Kellogg-Briand Pact
- Italy had supported German nationalist groups that tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic
Evidence of tensions between Germany and Italy
(2)
- 1934, Mussolini had prevented anschluss between Germany and Austria
- Mussolini intially felt threatened by a growing, nationalist power in Germany
