Topic 4: Early foreign policy 1922-35 Flashcards
FP Goals
Great power status, equal to B+F
Promote Italian prestige abroad after WWI.
Adress the “mutilated victory”, gain Fiume.
Enhance M’s reputation domestically and internationally.
Establish dominance in the mediterranean despite B+F.
Expand interests into the balkans (albania)
Conquer territory abroad and build an empire.
Popularise fascism and increase prestige.
Conflict with B+F
B+F were still the key powers. Still supported the territorial divisons made in the TOV and had powerful empires.
While M claimed friendship with italy’s former allies he also called them “parasites”.
Declared intention of demolishing the British Empire.
Claimed Italy was a prisoner in the mediterranean, surrounded by enemies with no natural resources like coal.
Propaganda of FP
Depicted M as overcoming other foreign statesmen, and as the infallible defender of Italian interests.
Failures in appearing as a statesman
Made very large amounts of treaties with other nations, in reality they concerned commercial matters and brought no prestige.
His reputation for switching allegiances meant the treaties counted for little politically.
Corfu
1923-
An Italian General and 4 of his aides were assassinated in Greece. They were part of a LON mission to establish the location of the Greek and Albanian border.
M demanded-
An official apology
Greek gov members at the funeral.
Salute by the Greek navy to the italian flag.
Arrest of those responsible in 5 days followed by execution.
50 million lire from the Greek gov.
When Greece refused M ordered the bombardment and occupation of Corfu.
The LON supported italy largely and greece was ordered to pay.
Britain demanded Italian withdrawal from Corfu, M complied as he could not challenge the British navy.
In Italy M portrayed as a hero, but it also proved Italy was not a great power.
Also showed how ineffective the LON were.
Pact of Rome
1924
Resulted in ceding of Fiume to Italy.
Gave M great prestige and popularity within Italy, although Fiume entered permanent economic decline due to its isolation from the rest of the territory around it.
Albania
Ahmed Zog took power in 1924.
recieved financial and political support from Fascist Italy, and M encouraged Italian companies to invest in Albania.
1926- “treaty of friendship” effectively confirmed Albania as a satellite state of Italy.
First imperial expansion of Fascism.
Destabalised Yugoslavia, he also funded separatist militias here.
Locarno Treaties
1925
To ease tensions, a conference was set up in Switzerland between European powers.
Mussolini sent his representative.
Successful with Germany’s western frontiers and Rhineland.
M made a dramatic enterence, arriving by speedboat at the conference with a fascist body guard.
He only briefly attended one session and his appearance as boycotted by journalists.
Fascist press claimed it was a huge success. In reality the contempt of the foreign press meant Mussolini would not do something like this again.
Kellogg-Briand pact
1928
Outlawed war as a means to resolve conflict.
9 powers along with italy signed the pact. 56 others did after this.
M tried to use the pact to demonstrate his influence, attempting to persuade delegates to travel to rome to sign it. (They refused)
No real weight or momentum amoung those who signed it. M dismissed the agreement shortly after signing it to parliament.
Attempts to win over B+F
Continued to claim to be a model statesman supportive of B+F interests.
Italy stayed in the LON
Signed Locarno Treaties
Signed Kellog-Briand pact
Made agreement with Britain over location of colonial borders in North Africa which helped to resolve tensions.
Yet M not fully committed to pacts.
Spoke lightly of them as mere pieces of paper and was prepared to exploit international and European developments for himself and Italy.
Germany
M Funded RW political groups in Germany in the late 1920’s, hoped for a gov sympathetic to Fascism.
Belived G could act as a counter-balance to the power of B+F which would allow M to push for concessions in North Africa and the Balkans.
Issues of Germany to Mussolini
Lose influence to a more powerful Germany.
Share propaganda-triumphs with the only other Fascist state.
Nazi racial theory depicted Italians as racial inferiors.
Competing claims over south tyrol.
Austria
M feared Anschluss would diminish Italian influence.
M encouraged Dollfuss to clamp down on Austrian Nazis, emphasised he would protect Dollfuss from German agression.
Sent 40,000 troops to the border upon his assassination.
Stressa front
Hitler announced rearmament against the TOV.
Mussolini called for a meeting with B+F to discuss Nazi actions.
Agreed:
To cooperate to prevent a country from abandoning previously agreed peace treaties.
Reaffirmed Locarno Treaty support
Austria should remain independent.
To critisise German rearmament.
Depicted as great statesman. (closest M ever really was)
However pact was vague and did not have any commitments
Leaders all not prepared to invade Germany to prevent further TOV violation.
When B signed the A-G Naval agreement M used this as an excuse to abandon the agreements.
Mussolini always intended to gain North African territory the Stressa front was just another attempt to win B+F over to allow concessions.
