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The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy (c.1911-46) > Foreign Policy (1935-40) > Flashcards

Foreign Policy (1935-40) Flashcards

1
Q

What were 7 reasons why Mussolini wanted to invade Abyssinia?

A
  • To avenge the humiliation in Adwa in 1896
  • To demonstrate that Italy was a great power
  • To warn Hitler (about Anschluss)
  • As a propaganda victory for fascism
  • To find new markets for Italian goods and raw materials
  • To develop colonies for southern peasants to move to (rather than foreign countries)
  • To make his regime more popular
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2
Q

When did Mussolini start the invasion of Abyssinia?

A
  • October 1935
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3
Q

How many men did Mussolini send to fight in Abyssinia, and whose command were they under?

A
  • 600,000
  • Emilio De Bono
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4
Q

Give 2 details on how the invasion of Abyssinia under De Bono went.

A
  • There were some quick victories; Adwa was captured 3 days after the invasion was started
  • After this, their progress slowed as it was necessary to build roads, which frustrated Mussolini
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5
Q

What did Mussolini do since De Bono was taking longer than he wanted to invade Abyssinia?

A
  • He replaced him with Marshal Pietro Badoglio
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6
Q

What were 3 tactics Badoglio used?

A
  • Mass aerial bombings
  • Murder of prisoners of war
  • Use of mustard gas
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7
Q

When and how did the invasion of Abyssinia end?

A
  • Badoglio and his troops entered Addis Ababa on 5th May 1936
  • The Emperor Haile Selassie was exiled
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8
Q

What were 2 benefits of the invasion of Abyssinia for Mussolini?

A
  • It won him popularity in Italy
  • The Church praised the invasion as it gave an opportunity for Catholicism to be spread (Abyssinians tended to be Christians)
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9
Q

What were 5 negatives of the invasion for Italy?

A
  • The budget deficit rose from 2.5 billion to 16 billion lire
  • 250,000 troops were required to keep control in Abyssinia, which would cause problems at the start of WW2
  • The hopes for trade, oil and raw materials never materialised
  • The Abyssinians waged a guerrilla war until 1941 (when Britain took the country)
  • Fascist Italy gained a negative reputation globally due to the illegal use of chemical weapons and the high death toll (half a million Abyssinians)
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10
Q

What was an international issue Italy faced due to the invasion of Abyssinia?

A
  • The League of Nations had placed economic sanctions on Italy; countries couldn’t sell them weapons, rubber or metal
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11
Q

What limitation was there on the League of Nations’ actions, and why?

A
  • The sanctions imposed were not enough to stop Italy
  • Stopping their oil supplies or not allowing them access to the Suez canal would have made them stop, but Britain and France were unwilling to do this as it could cause Italy to improve its relationship with Germany
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12
Q

What 2 impacts did economic sanctions have on Italy?

A
  • In December 1935, the royal family launched a campaign to raise money for the invasion through women giving their gold wedding rings to the state (the Queen herself did this first) and they were then replaced with steel rings (giving the idea of being wedded to the nation), which created a sense of national unity against the League of Nations
  • Italy had to increase trade with Germany due to the sanctions
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13
Q

What were 3 huge dilemmas caused by the invasion of Abyssinia?

A
  • Italy’s relationship with Britain and France was damaged beyond repair, which left Mussolini no choice but to turn towards Hitler as he would be isolated otherwise
  • Mussolini took Britain and France’s inaction as a sign that he could pursue a much more aggressive foreign policy
  • Hitler saw the weakness of the League of Nations as well
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14
Q

When did Mussolini start to think that Hitler would be a good ally? What were 2 reasons why?

A
  • When Hitler marched troops into the Rhineland in March 1936, Britain and France did nothing, which indicated to Mussolini that Britain and France were weak and afraid of Hitler
  • Mussolini thought that if he moved closer to Hitler, Britain and France would offer him concessions in Africa and the Mediterranean to prevent this
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15
Q

When did the Spanish Civil War start, and what were 5 reasons why Mussolini got involved in it?

A
  • 1936
  • France had decided to support the Republicans against General Franco, who was leading the right-wing
  • If the Republicans won, France would be able to increase its influence in the Mediterranean as they would have a Mediterranean ally
  • Mussolini didn’t want to be seen as inferior to Hitler, who was helping Franco
  • As he would be fighting alongside Hitler, Mussolini was still hoping for concessions
  • He also hoped to gain naval bases in the Mediterranean from Franco
  • Mussolini wanted to boost his public support again after seeing the popularity of the Abyssinian War
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16
Q

Give 4 examples of aid that Mussolini sent to Franco.

A
  • 75,000 troops
  • 1400 pilots
  • 400 fighter planes
  • 200 bombers
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17
Q

What were 7 problems that intervening in the Spanish Civil War had for Italy?

A
  • The war was much longer than it had been expected to be
  • 4000 soldiers had died
  • It had cost 14 billion lire
  • Mussolini hadn’t been given the naval bases he had been hoping for
  • The government had to create special taxes to pay for this, which the people resented as they did not even understand why Mussolini had intervened
  • Involvement had weakened the Italian military, and it hadn’t recovered by WW2
  • It further damaged the relationship with Britain and France, and pushed Mussolini towards Hitler
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18
Q

What were 3 reasons why the Stresa Front broke down?

A
  • The Anglo-German naval agreement
  • The Hoare-Laval Pact
  • Finally, Mussolini’s withdrawal from the League of Nations in 1937 which made it clear that they wanted to rewrite the Treaty of Versailles
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19
Q

What was the Anglo-German naval agreement?

A
  • Britain had agreed with Germany in 1935 that Germany could have a navy 35% of the size of their own, which violated the Treaty of Versailles
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20
Q

What was the Hoare-Laval Pact, and what happened to it?

A
  • A British and French agreement with Italy that Italy could keep two-thirds of Abyssinia (the other third would be independent) in return for the maintenance of the Stresa Front
  • When the British press found out about it, there was outrage and the plan was dropped
21
Q

What had Italy done in the Spanish Civil War that angered Britain?

A
  • Italian submarines pretended to be Spanish and sunk neutral shipping in the Mediterranean
22
Q

What was the relationship between Italy and Germany like in 1934?

A
  • Mussolini saw himself as the more dominant and powerful partner in the relationship
  • He also viewed Hitler negatively
23
Q

What was the Rome-Berlin Axis, and when was it signed?

A
  • A public declaration of friendship between Italy and Germany
  • 1936
24
Q

What were 3 reasons why Italy and Germany had moved closer by the end of the 1930s?

A
  • Italy’s relationship with Britain and France had worsened
  • From 1936, the Italian economy was becoming more dependent on Germany
  • Mussolini was impressed by Hitler personally, especially after his state visit in 1937
25
Q

What agreement did Italy sign in 1937, and with who? What was its purpose?

A
  • The Anti-Comintern Pact
  • Germany and Japan
  • It claimed to establish mutual support in the case of aggression from the Soviet Union
26
Q

In what 2 ways did Anschluss start to affect the relationship between Germany and Italy?

A
  • It made Mussolini the weaker partner, as he had accepted it as inevitable
  • Italy began to lose its independence
27
Q

Which 2 events in 1938 affected Italy and Germany’s relationship with each other?

A
  • Anschluss
  • The Sudetenland Crisis
28
Q

How did the Sudetenland Crisis affect their relationship?

A
  • It improved it as Mussolini had created a way for Hitler to peacefully gain the Sudetenland
29
Q

During the late 1930s, what was sentiment towards the fascist regime like? Give 5 reasons why.

A
  • The regime was decreasing in popularity, due to:
  • concern about the move towards Nazi Germany
  • the antisemitic laws
  • the possibility of war (elites and fascists also found this problematic)
  • the increase in taxes to fund military spending
  • the declining living standards due to autarky and the Battle for Grain
30
Q

How important was this discontent?

A
  • Not very, as Mussolini himself was still popular
31
Q

When did Italy invade Albania?

A
  • March 1939 (however, Albania was already an Italian protectorate)
32
Q

What were 3 reasons why Italy invaded Albania?

A
  • To show Hitler Italy’s strength
  • To present Italy as a major European power
  • To be able to exploit Albania financially
33
Q

What were 2 impacts of Italy’s invasion of Albania?

A
  • It pushed Mussolini further away from Britain and France, and closer to Germany
  • It showed clear problems that the Italian army had in 1939
34
Q

How was the strength of the relationship between Italy and Germany confirmed, and when?

A
  • The Pact of Steel
  • May 1939
35
Q

Whose idea was this alliance, and what impact did it have on the alliance?

A
  • Germany had been pushing for an alliance with Italy towards the end of the 1930s, but Italy had been avoiding one so far (Mussolini still wanted to play both sides)
  • The Germans drafted the pact
36
Q

List 3 aspects of the Pact of Steel.

A
  • If Germany went to war, Italy had to support it
  • Permanent political consultation between the 2 sides
  • Military and economic cooperation
37
Q

What was Italy’s main concern with the Pact of Steel, and how was this dealt with?

A
  • Mussolini and his foreign minister, Ciano, made it clear that Italy wouldn’t be ready for war until 1943
  • Ribbentrop (Germany’s foreign minister) reassured them that Germany wasn’t planning to go to war before this date
38
Q

How valid was Italy’s concern about Germany going to war sooner than 1943?

A
  • In August Ribbentrop and Hitler told Ciano that Germany was going to attack Poland
39
Q

What came after Hitler and Ribbentrop’s announcement?

A
  • The Nazi-Soviet Pact
40
Q

In what 2 ways was the Nazi-Soviet Pact problematic for Mussolini?

A
  • Mussolini didn’t know negotiations had been taking place, or consulted for his opinion
  • It went against the Anti-Comintern Pact
41
Q

How did Mussolini buy himself time when he knew war was likely in August 1939?

A
  • He sent Hitler a list of 170 million tonnes of goods that Italy would need before they could wage war
  • As expected, Hitler released Mussolini from his obligations to the Pact of Steel
42
Q

What were 2 reasons why Mussolini wanted to join the war?

A
  • Fascism was linked with militarism and aggression
  • Staying out of the war was what the liberal government decided to do in 1914
43
Q

What were 3 factors that made Mussolini stay out of the war?

A
  • He was considering switching sides (but this had its own risks, like the risk of a German invasion)
  • Italy wasn’t ready for a war either militarily or financially as Abyssinia and Spain had depleted the army’s resources and the economy
  • The army itself had a lot of weaknesses
44
Q

List 3 issues that the army itself had.

A
  • Incompetent leadership
  • There was rivalry within the army
  • Although they had started to modernise, this was still incomplete by 1940
45
Q

When war broke out, what position did Mussolini take, and why?

A
  • Mussolini took a position of ‘non-belligerence’; Italy supported Germany’s actions, but would not join in the fighting
  • Mussolini did not want to use the word ‘neutrality’
46
Q

What enabled Mussolini to remain neutral?

A
  • The ‘Phoney War’; the period from the invasion of Poland in September 1939 to the invasion of Western Europe from April 1940 where there was limited fighting
47
Q

What 3 factors pushed Mussolini into joining the war?

A
  • In May 1940, Hitler had conquered the Netherlands and Belgium, and had advanced into France, and Mussolini was told that France was near defeat
  • Mussolini knew that Germany would not be very sympathetic to an ally who had betrayed them twice, which would at best lead to the domination of Europe by Hitler, and at worst the invasion of Italy
  • He wanted to be part of the post-war negotiations so he could gain territory
48
Q

Who was Mussolini’s chief of staff, what did Mussolini tell him in May 1940, and why?

A
  • Marshal Badoglio
  • He believed Germany would have won the war by September, and that Italy needed ‘a few thousand dead to be able to attend the peace conference as a belligerent’
49
Q

When did Mussolini declare war, and on who?

A
  • June 1940
  • Britain and France

The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy (c.1911-46) (15 decks)

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