Mussolini's foreign policy 1922-40 Flashcards
What were Mussolini’s foreign policy aims?
Make Italy a Great Power and restore prestige
Expand her empire
Re-establish Roman Empire - Mare Nostrum
What happened in August 1923?
An Italian general and four of his staff were assassinated in Greece.
Mussolini demanded a full apology and 50 million lire as compensation, when the Greeks refused he bombarded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu
What were the consequences of the 1923 Corfu crisis?
Italy’s occupation challenged the League of Nations so Britain demanded that Italy withdraw, and Italy obeyed
Mussolini did receive the 50 million lire and this was hailed as a success in Italy for fascism.
It also highlighted that Italy could not stand up to the ‘greater’ powers
What was agreed in 1924?
The Pact of Rome.
Italy received Fiume, a town they had been making claims over since the unification. Italy asked for it in the 1919 conference, claiming that 65% spoke Italian
This brought Mussolini great prestige and popularity - made him stand out from the Liberals
What happened in Albania?
In 1924, Ahmed Zog came to power in Albania and the fascist government supplied him with money and encouraged Italians to invest in the Albanian economy
Treaty of Friendship was signed in 1926 - Albania was effectively an Italian satellite state
What happened in Libya in the 1920s?
Arab population continually refused to accept Italian control so General Graziani attempted to force pacification with the Arabs
1925 - Mussolini entered negotiations with the British to define borders between Libya and Egypt and the British awarded Mussolini with border areas of Egypt
1925 - Arab rebels were removed from 1925 and barbed wire fences were built around desert entrances. 100,000 ended up in concentration camps
1928 - estimated that the fascists had killed 80,000 Libyans
What happened in 1925?
The Locarno Pact - it guaranteed the integrity of north European frontiers
Propaganda - Mussolini raced across Lake Maggiore in speedboats to make himself look stronger. He also only attended one session of the conference
What happened in 1928?
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed, outlawing war
Why did Hitler’s appointment in January 1933 change Italian foreign policy?
Created a chance for Italy to move away from Britain and France
Increased use of makeweight policy due to global fear of war
Why did Hitler’s Germany challenge Mussolini?
Germany was a potentially more influential fascist regime which may detract from the influence of Mussolini on the world stage
German-speaking Austria was a target of the Nazi party and Austria would bring Germany to Italy’s border
What happened in February 1934?
Mussolini encouraged Austrian chancellor Dolfuss to set up a right-wing anti-Nazi government in Austria
What happened in July 1934?
Dolfuss was assassinated by Nazi-sympathisers, Mussolini was outraged and put 30,000 troops on the Brenner Pass, fearing an Anschluss
What did Hitler announce in March 1935?
Revealed that he had developed an air force - the Luftwaffe and announced that he was introducing conscription to create an army 5x the allowed size
What happened in April 1935?
Stresa Front - an arrangement to deal with the growing threat of Hitler in Europe
Agreed to enforce Locarno and support the independence of Austria
Italy left with the impression that it could invade Abyssinia
Consequences of Stresa
June 1935 - Anglo-German naval agreement announced. Germany would build a navy that was 35% of the size of the Royal Navy
Italian invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935
Why was Stresa so important?
Highlighted the weakness of Britain and France, and how they valued appeasement over their alliance with Italy. The perceived British ‘betrayal’ pushed Mussolini towards Germany because he felt isolated
What were the causes of Abyssinia?
Dec 1924 Wal-Wal incident - 30 Italian soldiers killed
Disappointing domestic policies e.g. Battles and Corporate State
Stresa conference - Mussolini was not told anything to prevent him from invading
Rising power of Nazi Germany and the assassination of Dolfuss - Mussolini felt threatened and wanted to prove Italy’s power/dominance
Anglo-German naval agreement - June 1935
What happened in January 1935?
France gave Italy a ‘free hand’ which effectively endorsed the Ethiopian campaign
How many troops did the Ethiopians have?
Around 500,000 troops, only 25% of which had military training. They also had outdated weapons such as spears and bows
How many troops did the Italians have?
400,000 troops in Eritrea and 285,000 in Somalialand
They also had 6000 machine guns, 599 tanks and 390 aircraft
200 journalists were also sent to capture Italian victory
What happened on the 3rd October 1935?
De Bono crossed into Ethiopia without a declaration of war and later that day Ethiopia declared war on Italy
What happened on the 6th October 1935?
Adowa fell after heavy air bombardment
Why was De Bono sacked in December 1935?
De Bono was slow to advance which allowed the Ethiopians to advance back
The Ethiopians moved all the livestock south so a constant supply of food needed to be shipped from Italy
He was replaced by General DeBadoglio
What happened on the 7th October 1935?
The League of Nations declared Italy the aggressor and sanctions were imposed on the buying of luxury goods
BUT sanctions were not put on key war items like war and steel and the British refused to block access to the Suez Canal
What was offered to the Italians in December 1935?
The Hoare-Laval Pact was offered by the British and French to try and end the hostilities. This would have rewarded Italy with the north of Abyssinia and they would have economic influence over the south
Mussolini was advised to accept the pact as it would not damage fascist reputation BUT he disagreed because Italy’s departure from the League was celebrated within Italy
Why was the Hoare-Laval Pact not successful?
It was leaked to the British and French press and the public were outraged. Hoare was forced to resign as foreign secretary
What happened in December 1935 in Abyssinia?
The Ethiopians launched a counter-offensive and it is said that over 3000 Italians were killed
How did the Italians respond in January 1936?
They had begun using chemical weapons like mustard gas. Mussolini had even authorised Badoglio to use gas against civilians if needed to take control of civilians. And a further 600,000 troops to enter Abyssinia
How did Abyssinia end?
By April 1936 the majority of Southern Abyssinia was controlled by Italy and Emperor Selassie had disappeared
By May the capital lay in ruins and Ethiopia had fallen to the Italians
Were Italians in favour of the war?
NO
Between 1935-36, 5.5 million lire was payed in fines by Italian people who had publicly opposed the war and 1424 people sent to confinos for opposing
Ciano and Badoglio both claimed at different points that the war could not be done
What were the consequences of Abyssinia?
Abyssinia cost 12.5% of the state’s budget
Cost 43 billion lire
Italy grew closer to Germany which pushed them into the Spanish Civil War and 1936 Rome Berlin axis
Lost all preparation for WW2 and would not be ready for war until 1949
What happened in November 1936?
28th - Italians signed a secret treaty with Spanish nationalists
Mussolini sent over 12,000 machine guns 2,500 tonnes of bombs and many more supplies
What happened in March 1937?
Guadalajara offensive
400 Italians were killed and 1,800 were wounded
Franco blamed the Italians and banned them from operating as an independent unit
What happened in April 1937?
Guernica
German offensive, led by the Luftwaffe
Was the climax of German re-armament programme. Allegedly 1,687 dead and 800 wounded. No German lives lost
Gave the world an impression that the Luftwaffe could ruin entire cities
What were the consequences of the Spanish civil war?
Lira was devalued and lost half its foreign currency reserves
8 billion lire was spent
4,000 Italians dead
Drained Italy so much that their military strength was less in 1939 than it was in 1936
No public enthusiasm
What happened in September 1937?
Mussolini visited Berlin and gave a speech
What happened in November 1937?
Mussolini signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany and Japan
What happened in December 1937?
Italy left the League of Nations
What was the significance of Italy leaving the League?
Could not return to British and French - 100,000 people celebrated in the streets of Italy when they left the League
What happened in March 1938?
Hitler did the Anschluss
What was the significance of the Anschluss?
Mussolini couldn’t go back to Britain and France because Germany was now on his border
What happened in April 1938?
Britain accepted Italy’s annexation of Abyssinia
What happened in July 1938?
Mussolini introduced anti-Semitic laws into Italy
What happened in September 1938?
Munich conference and Hitler took the Sudetenland
What was the significance of the Munich conference?
Mussolini appeared strong as he claimed he had saved Europe
He was celebrated by the British and French press as a great mediator
BUT in reality he just did what Hitler said
What happened in 1939?
March - Hitler seized Bohemia and Moravia
April - Mussolini invaded Albania to prove he could keep up with Hitler despite it providing do value to Italy as it was already a Client State
May - Pact of Steel
August - Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
What was the significance of the Pact of Steel?
Italy have to get involved in WW2 even if Germany are the aggressor
