Foreign Policy pre-1935 Flashcards
What were Mussolini’s key aims w/ foreign policy?
- Assert Italy’s position as world power
- Maximise prestige
- Gain Fiume and Dodecanese Islands (mutilated victory)
- Dominance in Adriatic Sea and Balkans ( esp Albania)
- Gain African territory (specifically Libya, Eritrea and Somaliland)
- Expand Italy’s spazio vitale (living space)
In order to form alliances, who did Mussolini sign treaties with, did this actually boost his prestige as intended and why not?
- 1923 –> POL, Czechoslovakia, AUS
- 1924 –> USSR, Switzerland
- 1925 –> Hungary, SPA, Albania, Greece
- Did not boost prestige
- Has a reputation for switching allegiances when it suited him
How did Mussolini treat great and smaller powers differently
Great powers:
- Aimed to demonstrate how Italy could work peacefully to achieve its aims
Smaller powers:
- More aggressive
Give an example of a country who Mussolini treated differently as they were a smaller power and over what issue:
- Greece
- Over Dodecanese Islands, which Italy had claimed in 1912
What event did Mussolini use to attack the Greek gov and what did he claim?
- 27 Aug 1923 –> Murder of Italian general Enrico Tellini + 4 aides, who died while on a mission to establish border between Greece and Albania
- Claimed they had financed his assassination
As a result, what did Mussolini demand from the Greek gov and what did he say would happen if they did not?
Demands:
- Official apology
- Attend a funeral service at RCC in Athens
- Salute by Greek navy to Italian flag
- Arrest of those responsible w/in 5 days + execution
Penalty:
- 50 mil lire to Italy
- Otherwise Italy would invade Corfu
How many days did Mussolini give Greece to accept the terms and pay the penalty?
- Accepting terms –> 1 day
- Paying penalty –> 5 days
When did Italy bombard Corfu w/out warning and occupy the island?
31 Aug
Who celebrated Mussolini’s actions and what did the League of Nations say about this?
- Celebrated by nationalists and elites eg. head of Navy Thaon di Revel
- GBR demanded Mussolini to leave Corfu
- League of Nations ordered Greece to pay penalty
Why did Mussolini have to leave Corfu, when did they do this and what did they get in return?
- di Revel informed him their navy would barely last 48 hrs if GBR decided to act
- 27 Sep –> Italy left Corfu and Greece gave the demanded 50 lira
How was the Corfu incident both a success and a failure?
Failure:
- Showed Italy’s insignificance as a power
Success:
- Showed the people Mussolini was willing to engage in decisive action
What change in the army did the Corfu incident lead to?
Policy of considerable rearmament to allow ITA to challenge GBR’s power in future
When was Mussolini’s next success regarding foreign affairs, how did he achieve it and why had it happened?
- Jan 1924 –> Pact of Rome signed, where Yugoslavia recognised Fiume as part of Italy
- Through negotiations
- Yugoslavia no longer needed it as they had constructed a greater port at Split
- Exchanged it for Italian recognition of Yugoslavian rule at Susak
When was the Locarno Treaty and how was it significant to Italy?
- 1925
- Conference attended of European powers
- Germany took its place in League of Nations, showing equality to great powers to the people
- Pre-WW1 borders between itself, FRA and Belgium were accepted
- Demilitarised Rhineland confirmed
How successful was the Locarno Treaty and how did Mussolini use this to portray a positive image of himself?
- Very successful
- Initially sent Dino Grandi as his representative but after went himself when discovered its success
Dino Grandi:
- Initially left-wing
- Joined Blackshirts in 1920 (radical)
- 1929 –> Minister of the Interior
- 1923 to 1939 –> Italy’s ambassador to UK
How did Mussolini undermine Yugoslavia and why did he do this?
- Supported Croatian Ustasha and Macedonian nationalist movements aiming for separation from Yugoslav state
- Powerful block to Italy’s territorial ambitions
How did Mussolini use Albania to undermine Yugoslavia and extend his influence?
- Jan 1925 –> Mussolini backed accession of Ahmet Zogu as president
- 1926 –> Treaty of Friendship w/ Albania signed (satellite state)
- 1928 –> Supported his self-proclamation as King Zog I
- Yugoslavia now faced a military threat on its southern border
When was the Kellogg-Briand Pact signed, what did it say, how many nations signed it altogether and how did Mussolini try to use it to demonstrate his influence?
- 27 Jul 1928
- 65 nations
- Tried to persuade signing to happen in Rome, but this was refused
Who assassinated the Yugoslavian King Alexander, when did this happen and who was behind this?
- 1934
- Croatian terrorists
- Financed by fascists and provided w/ training base in ITA
What was Mussolini continuing in Libya, what had happened here and what was this called?
- War against Libyan rebellion that had started in WW1
- ITA garrisons driven back towards coast
Pacification of Libya: - 1929 –> Marshal Badoglio pursued a brutal policy to reassert Italian rule
What did the brutal policy consist of?
- Starvation
- Mass execution
- Use of concentration camps
- Chemical warfare eg. poison gas
What fraction of Libya’s population were either killed or starved to death and when was the rebellion finally ended?
- 1/3
- 1932
What examples are there to show GBR’s good relationship w/ Italy?
- GBR supported Italy’s independence movement
- GBR fought alongside ITA in WW1
- Worked together in Locarno Treaty negotiations
- ITA helped pressure Turkey into giving up rich oil town of Mosul to British colony of Iraq so GBR helped w/ Albania
In what instance did these good relations begin clashing?
GBR would not consider any compromise on its naval control of Mediterranean, which ITA claimed it had some rights to
In what other way did Mussolini undermine British power?
Supporting pro-Italian grps in Malta
Give examples to show Italy’s economic dependence on GBR, which also created problems
- Revaluation of lira in 1927 was only done through funding from GBR gov and financial institutions
- Linked to a world financial system dominated by GBR and USA
As a result, what kind of relationship did Mussolini share w/ GBR up until 1936 and what was he doing meanwhile?
- Friendly relationship
- Building ITA army to challenge British power in Mediterranean
How did Mussolini view France and what events impacted their relationship?
- As a rival
- Majority of antifascist exiles had settled there
How was the fact that many antifascist exiles settled in FRA an issue?
- Mussolini made complaints to FRA about ITA antifascist activities there
- Responded w/ anger that OVRA and fascist security police operated agents in FRA who infiltrated antifascist organisations
What is another country the French were worried about and why?
- Tunisia
- French African colony where a greater number of settlers were Italian
- Worried ITA would use this against them to gain control of Tunisia
What was ITA’s foreign policy towards France like and it has similarities w/ foreign policy of which other country?
- Mixed approach
- Prepared to work w/ them in some aspects eg. Locarno Treaty
- Raising possibility of anti-French alliances w/ GER, SPA or Hungary
- Similar to approach w/ GBR
Before Hitler’s rise to power how did Mussolini view GER and why?
- Looked down on it
- Ran by socialists and pacifists in Weimar Republic
In order to undermine the Republic even further, what did Mussolini do, but what was an underlying issue in doing this?
- Gave support to German nationalist grps
- A nationalist GER gov may seek Anschluss, which was dangerous to ITA as Austria would no longer be a buffer between ITA and GER
What other German goals did ITA attempt to revise and why?
- Revision of Treaty of Versailles
- Directing focus from Alps to Rhine
- Hoped strong GER would counterbalance power of GBR + FRA which would help him aims in N Africa + Balkans
From early 1930s, what did Hitler and Mussolini exchange letters about?
- Hitler promised to pursue a GER-ITA alliance if he became Chancellor
- Mussolini gave political advice
Despite his links w/ Hitler, why was Mussolini still concerned and how did he react to this?
- Hitler was a nationalist and and Austrian so he would most definitely pursue Anschluss
- Tried to bring GBR, FRA, GER and ITA together in a ‘Four Power Pact’
What did Mussolini aim to have in ‘Four Power Pact’?
- Proposal promising GER a parity (equality) of arms w/ ITA and possibility of territorial changes to Versailles settlement
- Hoped to undermine League of Nations by having key decisions made by pact not them
When was the ‘Four Power Pact’ signed but who was it never ratified by?
- 15 Jul 1933
- Never ratified by GBR or FRA
Which countries opposed the pact, why and what did their alliance w/ FRA help them do?
- Czechoslovakia and Poland
- Feared German expansion due to possible territorial changes
- Kept FRA away from Pact
How was the aim of revising the Versailles settlement undermined by Hitler?
1933:
- Hitler withdrew from League of Nations
- Resumed rearmament
When Austria was threatened by Germany, who did their Chancellor go to for help and what did this person encourage?
- Mussolini
- Encouraged clamping down on Austrian Nazis demanding Anschluss in return for protection from GER offered by ITA
- Feb 1934 –> Encouraged him to establish an authoritarian regime based on Italian fascism
What event confirmed Mussolini’s fear of Anschluss in the following year, but how did this luckily fail?
- Jul 1934 –> Austrian Nazis assassinated Austrian Chancellor, Englebert Dolfuss
- Attempted to take over and pursue Anschluss
- Coup collapsed when Hitler refused to back them
How did Mussolini initially react to the attempt to take over, how did the people view this and what was the real reason for Hitler’s lack of support?
- Mobilised 4 divisions
- Moved some equipment to Brenner Frontier between AUS and ITA (40,000 troops)
- They thought he was the key to stopping Hitler from supporting the coup
- Hitler was more interested in consolidation of power and maintenance of good relations w/ Italy than foreign policy
However, besides Anschluss, what other conflicts were there between ITA and GER?
Nazi racial theory depicted Italians as inferior
In Mar 1935, what did Hitler openly announce and how was this a problem?
- Germany’s military rearmament that had been going on for 2 years, conscription and development of Luftwaffe (air force)
- Direct violation of Treaty of Versailles and threat of Anschluss
In reaction to the announcement, who did Mussolini meet with, where and when?
Apr 1935:
- GBR (Ramsay MacDonald) and FRA foreign ministers (Pierre Laval)
- Stresa, northern ITA
What was the content of the agreement?
- GBR, FRA, ITA criticised rearmament
- Cooperation to avoid any country abandoning peace treaty without communication
- Reaffirmed support for Locarno Treaty
- Support for AUS’ independence
What were the negatives of the Stresa Front and what did Mussolini use this an excuse for?
- Vague
- Undermined when Anglo-German naval agreement signed w/ GER in Jun 1935 w/out consultation
- Excuse to abandon agreements made at Stresa Front
What had Mussolini already discussed w/ Laval?
If FRA approved ITA plans to colonise Abyssinia, anti-German agreement would be reached between ITA and GER
What misunderstanding has occurred at Stresa?
- Mussolini claimed there was a suggested understanding that GBR and FRA would support ITA’s goals in Africa in return for ITA’s anti-German action in the Stresa Front
- This is because collective security was referred to only ‘in Europe’ (not Africa)
- Later, Laval argued he had only approved penetration of Abyssinia
