Foreign Policy 2 Flashcards
What was international politics like after WW1?
(5)
The League of Nations founded in 1919
- one of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points was to create a peace-keeping military pact
- US isolationist policy = congress never ratified US membership
- USSR not part of it
- Germany only a member between 1926-1933
- LoN Council had 4 permanent members (Britian, France, Italy, Japan) and 4 rotating temporary members
How did the great depression change the international situation?
1929 onwards, Britain and France became less willing to intervene in international matters as they were preoccupied with domestic/economic issues
–> eg. 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria (Chinese province), justifying it by blaming the Mukden Incident on China –> LoN sent Lord Litton to investigate for 6 months, he concluded that Japan was guilty –> Japan refused to withdraw from Manchuria, LoN could not afford to apply economic sanctions and so applied ‘moral sanctions’
–> eg. Hitler rearming Germany and breaking the ToV –> Britain and France reacted by appeasing Germany
= Mussolini saw that others could get away with aggressive foreign policy
What was the pretext to the invasion of Abyssinia?
(5)
- Mussolini had been planning the invasion since 1932; gradually extended the borders of Eritrea + Somalia and building up arms
- Dec 1934, Wal-Wal Incident
- April 1935, Stresa Front
- Mussolini claimed that Italy needed a war every 25 years
- Pope Pius XI referred to the invasion as a crusade against the Coptic Christians who did not accept Rome’s authority
What was the Wal-Wal Incident?
(6)
- Dec 1934, Ethiopians fired on Italians 80 miles within the Ethiopian border
- –> Mussolini demanded an apology & the matter was deferred to the LoN
- –> Mussolini prepared for an invasion anyway; shipped men + weapons to Eritrea and declared he would conquer Abyssinia by war
- –> Pierre Laval discussed allowing Mussolini to colonise Abyssinia in return for help against Germany
- –> Britain indicated it would not tolerate aggression but did not stop the flow of supplies through the Suez Canal
- Sept 1935, LoN refused to condemn either side for the incident
How did the Stresa Front affect the invasion of Abyssinia?
(4)
- Hitler was rearming Germany and Mussolini was worried as he had committed his resources to Africa; needed Britain and France’s help to contain Germany = called a conference
- Created the Stresa Declaration; a joint resolution on their committment to the LoN and desire for peace, to which Mussolini added the phrase “in Europe”
- Mussolini hoped they would not hinder his plans to invade Abyssinia in return for his help against Germany, and he felt that Laval had implied this
- –> Laval later claimed to have only agreed to ‘economic colonisation’ and Britain said they did not understand the Stresa Front to exclude Africa; warned Mussolini multiple times not to go through with the invasion
How did the Italian invasion of Abyssinia unfold?
(8)
- 3rd Oct 1935, 400,000 Italian troops invaded Abyssinia from Ethiopia
- 6th Oct, quickly seized Adwa and other border towns
- 7th Oct, LoN condemned the invasion and imposed sanctions upon Italy which excluded oil and steel
- progress then slowed
- Nov 1935, Mussolini replaced De Bono as head of the invading army with Marshal Badoglio; a brutal war against the Abyssinian army began (mass aerial bombings, murder of POWs, chemical warfare… like in Libya)
- Dec 1935, Hoare-Laval Pact secretly offered but turned down by Mussolini
- 5th May 1936, the Italian army entered Addis Ababa; orders given for ten Ethiopians to be killed for each Italian casualty
- 9th May, 20 million Italians listened to Mussolini’s public radio broadcast proclaiming Italy’s fascist empire
Why did Italy invade Abyssinia (domestic political reasons)?
(6)
- to pursue traditional fascist ideals (glorification of war)
- to settle concerns in the PNF that Mussolini wasn’t pursuing a fascist enough direction
- to strenghten the Cult of Il Duce (propaganda)
- to keep fascism current and exciting
- to bring about the unification of Italy through fascism (a longterm key aim)
- to avenge and overcome the humiliating defeat at the Battle of Adwa in 1896
Why did Italy invade Abyssinia (international political reasons)?
(4)
- to establish Italy as a colonial power and increase her international prestige
- to establish Italian control in North Africa
- to show Hitler the power of fascist rule and dissuade him from Anschluss with Austria
- to gain easy access to the Suez Canal
Why did Italy invade Abyssinia (socio-economic reasons)?
(5)
- 1932, planning for war boosted the Italian economy through comissioning war-related contracts
- to help achieve goal of autarky and self-sufficiency
–> hoped Abyssinia would be a source of raw materials, agricultural expansion, and cheap labour
–> hoped Abyssinia would provide Italy with a greater market for exporting Italian goods - hoped that southern Italian peasants would take up land there = ease pressure for land reform in southern Italy
What were the domestic political consequences of the invasion of Abyssinia?
(5)
- sanctions imposed on Italy allowed Mussolini to look like a strong leader who fought for Italy in propaganda
- Dec 1935, Queen Elena melted her wedding ring to fight the sanctions on Italy; began the ‘Gold for Patria’ campaign where thousands of women exchanged their gold rings for steel to raise money
- the church blessed the mission as a civilising mission despite the fact that Ethiopians are Christian
- became the highlight of Mussolini’s dictatorship; fulfilled the image of a new Caesar
- only 130,000 Italians ever settled in Abyssinia (goal was much higher)
What were the economic consequences of the invasion of Abyssinia?
(6)
- LoN’s sanction banned selling Italy arms, rubber, or tin, or givign her loans
- BUT sanctions were limited as did not ban oil, coal, or steel exports or close the Suez Canal (not to push Mussolini to Hitler, but just enabled him to continue)
- Abyssinia did not provide enough oil or raw materials for Italy to establish autarky
- Abyssinia did not significantly develop the Italian trade; only 2% of Italian exports went to Abyssinia
- war had massive economic reprecussions for Italy; lira devalued by 40%, and Italy’s budget deficit rose from 2.5 billion to 16 billion lire
- economic reprecussions = international trade shift towards Germany
(economic LoN sanctions ended in July 1936)
What were the military consequences of the invasion of Abyssinia?
(2)
- 2/3rds of Abyssinia had not yet been occupied
- 250,000 troops were needed to fight the ongoing guerilla war in Abyssinia
What were the international political consequences of the invasion of Abyssinia?
(6)
- Italy was closer to proving itself as a greatr military power
- Mussolini was more confident that he could challenge the power in Europe through aggressive foreign policy
- the Italian fascist regime was condemned internationally; danger to European peace, high death toll, use of chemical warfare
- the economic reprecussions of the war resulted in a trade shift towards Germany
- Mussolini highlighted the weakness of the LoN; encouraged Hitler to pursue his ambitions
- Allowed Hitler to remilitarise Germany without foreign intervantion
What was the nature of warfare in Abyssinia?
(5)
- Mussolini listened to flatterers and General De Bono; sent shiploads of equipment that could not be unloaded for weeks because the harbours were too small = poor planning
- Nov 1935, Mussolini replace De Bono with Marshal Pietro Badoglio (led the suppression of Libyan rebellion); started a brutal war against the Ethiopians
- Badoglio used; mass aerial bombings, poisonous musturd gas, murdered POWs, a vast number of aircrafts, fiat machine guns, modern weapons
- Abyssinians were ill-equipped; psychologically ill prepared for this kind of war, used spears and 1874 vintage rifles
- still took 2 Italian armies 7 months to capture Addis Ababa
What was the Hoare-Laval Pact?
- Dec 1935, Britain and France secretly offered Italy 2/3rds of Abyssinia in return for keeping the Stresa Front; Mussolini refused as he wanted to invade the rest of Abyssinia
- –> offer later leaked to the public = outrage at trying to bypass the LoN which they governed, offer had to be withdrawn
- British Foreign Secretary, Hoare, forced to resign and replaced with Eden = more negative attitude towards Mussolini
What was the Spanish Civil War?
July 1936, General Franco led a revolt of right-wing forces against the Spanish Republican government which turned into a civil war which ended in March 1939
–> Britain, France + USSR backed the Spanish government (sent a comparatively small number of troops)
–> Italy and Germany supported Franco (Germany tested out ‘Blitzkreig’; strategic mass bombing by plane, then troops sent in)
Italian support in the Spanish Civil War statistics
Italy sent;
- 50,000 soldiers
- 1,400 pilots
- thousands of tanks
- Italian troops involved until the end of 1938
Why did Mussolini offer Franco support in the Spanish Civil War?
(5)
- to secure foreign policy concessions from Britain and France
- to unite European fascism (Franco technically an authoritarian military nationalist, not fascist); get closer to Hitler
- to gain strategic allies in the Medeterranean; Mussolini hoped to gain naval bases on the Balearic Islands
- to weaken socialism/communism across Europe
- to enchance the Cult of Il Duce; keep up momentum from Abyssinia and make the Italian people more militant
What happened in the Battle of Guadalajara?
- against Franco’s wishes, Mussolini ordered Italian troops to push towards Madrid in hopes Italians could capture the capital (prestige, bargaining power)
- March 1937, Italian troops were defeated at Guadalajara, 50km from Madrid
–> opposing troops included Italian antifascist ‘Garribaldi Brigade’ created by the Rosselli brothers
What were the consequences of the Battle of Guadalajara?
- showed the weakness of the Italian army; used as antifascist propaganda
- Mussolini now refused to leave Spain without an Italian victory; committed more Italian troops to the Spanish Civil War
What were the political consequences of Italian intervantion in the Spanish Civil War?
(5)
- Franco was determined not to let Spain become fascist Italy’s satellite state; no territorial gains or naval concessions given to Italy
- Italian intervantion was unpopular amongst Italians; couldn’t understand reason for involvement, resented the economic problems it caused
- Domestic concern over increasing closeness with Germany
- Battle of Guadalajara fuelled much antifascist propaganda
- Italy was pushed towards an alliance with Germnay; fought on the same side against the allies/Spanish gov.
What were the military consequences of Italian intervantion in the Spanish Civil War?
(5)
- Mussolini had not anticipated the length of the war; hoped for a quick victory
- relatively high Italian casualties; 3,266 killed, 11,000 wounded
- military focus in Spain weakened efforts in Abyssinia
- war severely weakened the Italian army; wekaer in 1939 than in 1936
- loss at Guagalajara showed the weaknesses of the Italian army and made Mussolini committ more troops
What were the socio-economic consequences of Italian intervantion in the Spanish Civil War?
(4)
- Spanish Civil War cost Italy 14 billion lire; government forced to exact special taxes from the Italian population to pay for the war
- lira was further devalued
- Italy’s foreign currency reserves halved
- Italy became economically dependent upon Nazi Germany
What was the Rome-Berlin Axis?
October 1936, Ciano went to Berlin to negotiate an informal agreement between Germany and Italy;
- Germany would have freedom of action in eastern Europe and the baltic
- Germany would support Italy’s attempts to gain power in the Mediterranean
- they would have no conflict of interest
–> to ensure that Germany would not isolate Italy by making an agreement with Britain
How did the Hoare-Laval Pact impact the relationship between Britain + France and Italy?
(2)
- public outrage = no more possibility of an alliance between Italy and the west
- the economic sanctions imposed by the LoN further antagonised Italy, as she believed that Britain had called for them
How did the Spanish Civil War impact the relationship between Britain + France and Italy?
(4)
- summer 1938, Italy bombed a Spanish port and sank 11 British ships
- Italy’s interventioned aimed to undermine British and French influence in the Mediterranean
- Britain and France were greatly angered but agreed to sign the ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ in Jan 1937; confirmed the currrent power dynamic in the Med., limited Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, recognised Italian rule over Abyssinia
–> Italy ignored the ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ - Britain failed to stop Italy from moving closer to Germany
What was the Anti-Comintern Pact?
November 1937
- signed between Italy, Germany, and Japan
- aimed to establish mutual support on the chance that there was aggression from the USSR
- to reduce the strength of communism outside of the USSR
What was the impact of the Anti-Comintern Pact?
- Italy moved closer to Germany
- undermined Britain and France’s hopes to create a lasting agreement with Italy
- Italy showed that there were other countries also willing to work with her
What was the impact of Italy leaving the League of Nations?
(5)
December 1937; Italy claimed that the organisation was against Italy and its revolution
- confirmed Italy’s place alongside Germany as a revisionist power that sought to rewrite the ToV
- Ended the Stresa Front
- the LoN became even less powerful
- BUT Italy still did not have an official signed alliance with Germany; could be using her as a bargaining tool in hopes of gaining concessions from Britain in the Mediterranean
- Britain and France greatly feared a German-Italian alliance; still hope for a relationship between Italy and the west
What was the impact of Anschluss, 1938?
(5)
- unpopular amongst Italians, felt that not stopping it was a failure of Mussolini
- Italy not resisiting Anschluss interpreted as tacit support
- Germany felt she could dominate Italy
- Mussolini was still trying to navigate a path between Britain and Germany; rejected Hitler’s proposal for a full-scale military alliance
- Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement not officially in place yet but British economy not strong enough to intervene and Austria seemed to be willing to join Anschluss
What was the impact of the Munich Conference?
- September 1938, Germany granted the right to annex the Sudetenland
- Mussolini supposedly played an important role in brockering the deal and avoiding a European war
Why did Italy invade Albania?
(4)
Good Friday April 1939, Italy invaded Albania; King Zog and his wife fled the country
- Albania had already been an Italian protectorate
- Economic; King Zog was encouraging investment from other countries (eg. Japan) so it could be less dependent on Italy
- Ciano proposed taking Albania as compensation for letting Hitler take Austria
- Mussolini wanted to show Italy’s power to Germany and other European powers
What was the ‘Pact of Steel’?
22nd May 1939; agreed to military and economic cooperation between Italy and Germany, and permanent political consultation
- drafting of the agreement was left to Germany
- Article 3; Italy had to support Germany if it went to war (against diplomatic conventions, where military alliances tended to be defensive) –> Ciano said Italy wouldn’t be ready for war until 1943
- Italy’s desire for land in the Med. would lead to conflict with Britain and France; needed an ally in Germany
