Italy Topic 4 Flashcards
Italy International standing
Italy had little international Influence Britain and France were the key world powers
1935 foreign policy aims
Auurtarky
Militaristic nation
Establishing italy as a great power
Independent if the lira
Territorial expansion
When was corfu ?
August 1923
What happened at the incident of corfu?
Italian general Enrico fellini murdered while leading a commission
Mussolini blamed the Greeks and demanded a funeral service in the Catholicism Church if Athens and 50 million lira or the Italian army would invade corfu
31st August italy invaded but the league of nations with british backing demanded italy leave
Why did the Italians leave corfu
Knew they did not have a chance against the british on the 27th September italy left corfu with the 50 million lira
Was corfu a success or failure
Can be considered a success and failure as it forced the league of nations to accepting italys position as a great power alongside Britain and France
Shows mussolini was a dynamic ruler willing to take action
What happened in yugislavia
Because yugoslavia recognised fiume as being part of italy they were prepared to give fiume formally
Significance of yugoslavia
Commemorates the history of fiume [ dannuzio marched into fiume] the gaining this was domestic, earning mussolini popularity
What happened in 1925
Mussolini attend the locarno meetings
Significance of the meeting
The very fact mussolini was invited dicated to the Italian people that italy was accepted as a great power which contributed to his popularity.
Describe what happened jn the balkans during 1924-26
Ahmed zog took power in Albarn in 1924 mussolini persuaded yugoslavia into accepting Italian ibfluence in the balkans . Italy gave the financial support for zog signed a treaty in 1926 agreeing Albania would become a satellite state
Reactions with bristin frances and germany
what was italys relationship with britain like in the beginning
italy and britain had good realtions mussolini was on good terms with british politicions sush as winston chruchill and neville chamberlain.
Britain aided italys intrest in albaina and italy persuaded turky to give up the rich oil town of monsul to the british colony of iraq.
did britains and italys realtionship become strained ?
somewhat, italys territorial claims in the Mediterranean and the incident in corfu , their inability to stand up to british military power , italy also tried to undermine the british by supporting fascist groups in malta complicating their relationship italy also relied economically on britain in 1924 the revaluation of the lira relied in british funding
what was frances and italys relationship like?
france and italy had an overly negative relationship, france angered by the OVRA operating infiltrating anti-fascist organisations. mussolini viewed the french as rivials due to their imperialist claims in africa but were willing to work as they were a great power eg, locarno pact 1925
what was italys and germanys relationship like
during the weimar republic mussolino gave support to the nationalist groups who sough to undermine the republic , when hitler came to power mussolini was aprehensive beacue he was austrian and might seek to claim austra, [ anshluss] throughout the 1920s hitler and mussolni exchanged letters promisinf an alliance when they came to power.
what was the stressa front
in 1935 germany formally annouced they were rearming although secrely they have been for 2 years. this was a direct threat to the TOV , so italy britain anf france called for a meeting at stressa
what was discussed at stressa and what was the outcome
- all three critisised german rearment which went against the traty of versailles
- they agreed to co-operate to prevent countries from breaking previous peace treaties
-reaffirmed their support for the locarno pact
-agreed to support independ austria
the outcome was that the stressa front was vague and were not prepared to invade germany and there was division betwen the 3 powers with how to deal with germany.
when was the invasion of Abyssinia
october 1935
who led the invasion
marshal badoglio
how many troops
400,000
described the events
marshal badoglio and 400,000 troops , they used mass arial bombing and the illegal use of chemicals by 5th may 1936 italian troops conqured the capital addis ababa
how did the league of nations respond
did not intervene during the invasion but..
banned weapons sales , sanctions on rubber,metal ,oil however the suez cannal remained open
what were the positive impact of the invasion
mussolini was portrayed as a strong dynamic leader standing up to the great powers and european authority.
establisment of a fascist empire
to go against the sanctions the royal family launched the campaign ‘ gold for the patria campaign’ where the queen gave up her wedding ring to be melted many followed suit, switching to steel rings symbolic of the ties to the fascist state
