THE MAIN AIMS OF MUSSOLINI’SFOREIGN POLICY

HISTORY CAMBRIDGE AS (PAPER 2)PRESENTATION 1 - EXAM ANSWER

1933-1939 MODULE

MUSSOLINI• Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Mussolini followed an inconsistent

political path in his early years. Initially more influenced by his father (a blacksmith with revolutionary socialist views) than by his mother (a school teacher and a devout Catholic), Mussolini drifted into socialist politics and journalism.

• Between 1904 and 1910, he developed a reputation as a militant as a result of articles in which he expressed traditional socialist views. The First World War led him to make a dramatic switch to extreme nationalism – which resulted in his expulsion from the Socialist Party – and then to fascism. Mussolini became Italy’s first dictator, ruling from 1922 until 1943.

ORIGINS AND RISE• In October 1922, Benito Mussolini became prime minister of

Italy. In 1925, with the backing of his Fascist Party, he made himself dictator and ruled Italy (or, from 1943 to 1945, just the northern part of it) for the next 20 years.

• Yet just 75 years earlier, the newly unified state of Italy had been created amidst hopes of building a modernised and liberal nation. Ironically, it was arguably the liberals’ decisions and methods of rule that – either unconsciously or consciously – did much to make the rise of Mussolini’s Fascist Party possible.

THE INVENTOR OF FASCISM• Mussolini and his fascist state are important, historically and

politically, for a number of reasons. Mussolini claimed to have invented fascism, and was the first ruler of a single-party fascist state during the period between the two World Wars.

• In addition, his early ideas and political programmes, and his party organisation and methods, were all influences on Adolf Hitler who, in the early years of the formation of his Nazi Party in Germany, was one of Mussolini’s strongest admirers.

AIMS OF THE FOREIGN POLICY• Acquire territory rich in resources: colonies (this gives

Mussolini more cash and power). Especially needed iron ore and oil

• Prestige for Italy• Dominate the Mediterranean – “Mare Nostrum” – our sea• Acquire new lands for cultivation – grow grain, make bread• Increase military spending – make Italy a strong global power• Expand the Empire! Take Abyssinia – restore pride after Italy

was beaten in Adowa in 1886.• Autarky – major point – make Italy self-sufficient: Mussolini

wanted Italy to be “free from the slavery of foreign bread”

TIMELINE 1923-1927• 1923 - Bombardment & Invasion of Corfu (Greece) after

assassination of Italian officials. LoN intervenes and Italy withdraws – results in significant boost to Mussolini’s prestige and Italy’s international reputation.

• 1924 - ‘Pact of Rome’ – Italy retakes control of disputed town of Fiume from Yugoslavia – significant boost to Mussolini’s internal prestige.

• 1925 - Locarno Pacts – dismantling some of the negative outcomes of the ToV – portrayed inside Italy as another significant international achievement.

• 1926-27- Albania – Mussolini installs a puppet regime in Albania across the Adriatic.

TIMELINE 1934-1936• 1934 - Mussolini stands up to Hitler’s attempted invasion

of Austria to protect Italian Territory. Hitler back’s down.• 1935 - Italy invades Abyssinia – Britain & LoN fail to

intervene. Italy takes control of country, but at considerable cost and not much economic gain.

• 1936 - Spanish Civil War – Mussolini supports Franco with troops and equipment, as does Hitler. The two dictators come closer together.

TIMELINE 1937-1940• 1937 - Anti-Comintern Pact – Allies Germany, Italy & Japan

against Communist threats• 1938 - Anschluss – Germany & Austria are joined. Mussolini

does not object• 1939 - Pact of Steel – Formal military and strategic alliance

between Italy & Germany• 1940 - Italy enters the war and suffers heavy defeats in North

Africa

SAMPLE ANSWER EXAM

HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS MUSSOLINI’S FOREIGN POLICY LEADING UP TO WW2?

HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS MUSSOLINI’S FOREIGN POLICY LEADING UP TO WW2

• Mussolini's foreign policy from when he came into power after the March on Rome 1922 until the beginning of World War Two in September 1939 was motivated by three main aspects.

• The first was his egotistical attitude and unattainable aims for foreign expansion after easy victories in 1934 and 1936. He refused to accept that Italy did not have the power for excessive foreign expansion and refused to believe that Italy was a third rate European power.

DISTRACT ITALIAN PEOPLE FROM FAILURE OF FASCISM• The second was his obsessive need to surpass Nazi Germany as

he could not allow himself to be overshadowed by a new fascist power lest it reflect badly on him.

• The third was that Mussolini needed to distract the Italian people from the failures of fascism. A 'short, sharp war' was needed to convince the Italian people that Fascism was a success. Throughout the 1920s and 30s until the start of World War Two, this is what motivated the achievements and failures in his foreign policy.

THE CORFU INCIDENT• In August 1923, four Italian diplomats were killed in Greece.

Mussolini demanded a public apology from the Greek government and fifty million lire in compensation for the deaths.

• The Greek government refused to give in to his demands and Mussolini sent troops to occupy the Greek island of Corfu in retaliation.

• The League of Nations stepped in and demanded that the Italians vacate Corfu immediately but also insisted that Greece had to pay the money to the Italians.

MUSSOLINI’S IMMENSE POPULARITY• The actual occupation of Corfu cost the Italian economy thirty

million lire more than the compensation they were owed but the Italian people were satisfied that Mussolini had stood his ground.

• They saw it as a great achievement for Italy internationally as they believed Italy was always seen as a pushover nation.

• Mussolini promoted the event as a step towards Italy gaining the respect he believed it deserved again.

• He gained immense popularity among his own people due to this which encouraged him to expand his foreign policy further.

FIUME INCIDENT• Italy had also been promised the city of Fiume, which bordered

Yugoslavia, after World War One in the Treaty of London if they agreed to switch sides during the war. Even though they did this, Italy did not gain the territories it was promised and instead Fiume became a League of Nations city instead. Many Italians were bitter about this as it felt like they had been double crossed by the other Allied Forces.

• However, in 1923, Mussolini sent military officials to occupy Fiume and claimed he was restoring order in the city and could not allow a city so close to Italy to be chaotic as he claimed Fiume was. Yugoslavia objected to this but could do little about it since France, Yugoslavia's ally, was occupying the Ruhr Valley at the time. Nothing was done to stop Mussolini. Fiume became an Italian city in 1924. After this victory, he gained even more confidence in his handling of Italy's foreign policy.

ITALY AS A STRONG EUROPEAN POWER• Mussolini felt that, to be a strong European power, Italy must

be involved in as many multinational conferences and allegiances as possible.

• He became a signatory to the Locarno Pact of 1925 and the Kellog-Briand pact of 1928 which encouraged European powers to discuss ways to solve future disputes peacefully without resorting to violence.

• However, Mussolini was more concerned about the rapid growth of Nazi Germany in the early 1930s when Hitler gained power.

OPPOSING HITLER• He strongly opposed any attempt by Hitler to unify with their

mutual neighbour, Austria as he felt threatened by the idea of Germany sharing a much larger border with Italy in case of future aggression.

• When the Austrian chancellor, Dollfuss, was assassinated by Nazis in 1934, he sent troops up to the border with Austria as a warning to Hitler not to use it as an opportunity to invade.

• After this, Mussolini set up the Stresa Front with Britain and France to oppose German rearmament and expansion.

INVADING ABYSSINIA• In 1935, Mussolini decided to invade the African country of

Abyssinia. He was eager for a colonial conquest because Italians were becoming more disillusioned with fascism’s corporate state.

• Abyssinia was primely located between two other Italian colonies, Somaliland and Eritrea. It was also seen as revenge for the humiliating Italian defeat against Abyssinia in 1896.

• Even though the Abyssinian army was primitive, the weak Italian army still struggled to defeat them and eventually resorted to brutality. The army infamously used poison gas on the civilian population as well as the army.

REPUTATION DAMAGED• The League of Nations imposed sanctions on Italy because of

this but they were not severe enough to make much of an impact and many countries simply didn't enforce them anyway.

• 400,000 troops with tanks and airplanes eventually succeeded in conquering Abyssinia but it was at a great cost. Hitler supported Mussolini with this as it distracted the League from his military occupation of the Rhineland.

• As a result of this war however, Italy's international reputation was severely damaged and the Stresa Front fell apart. Mussolini withdrew Italy from the League of Nations in 1937.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR• Mussolini also decided to involve Italy in the Spanish Civil War,

which lasted from 1936 to 1939. • He wanted to both support the fascist dictator, Franco, and use

Spain as a testing ground for the Italian army. • He met with the Spanish generals prior to the war to offer his

aid and it was accepted. • Hitler and Stalin has similar ideas and all major communist and

fascist powers used Spain as a testing ground to test out their own

INTERNATIONAL HUMILIATION• Mussolini sent 800,000 troops into the war. He hoped a fascist

victory would improve his prestige at home and internationally and that it would increase domestic morale.

• However, the opposite was true. Italian troops were poorly equipped and Franco held them in contempt and ultimately blamed them for some of the major losses of fascism during the war.

• Hitler too began to see serious problems with Mussolini's bravado and came to view him as a second class fascist dictator, holding him in disdain. Ultimately, Italy faced international humiliation.

DEPENDENCE BY NAZI GERMANY• After 1936, Mussolini became more dependent on Nazi

Germany for support. In October 1936, Count Ciano, Italian foreign minister, signed the Rome-Berlin Axis.

• This was a statement of common German and Italian interests, around which was presumed Europe would soon heed to. It was presumed that all power in Europe would revolve around an axis connecting Italy and Germany.

• Mussolini also signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan and Germany in 1937 to vouch to fight against the spread of communism.

THE PACT OF STEEL• In 1939, the German-Italian alliance was strengthened to one

of military allegiance also. • It was called the Pact of Steel and meant if one country went to

war, the other would also declare war on the opposing country. • However when Hitler invaded Poland on the 1st of September,

1939, Mussolini did not honour this alliance. • He refused to aid Germany in the war until German victory

seemed inevitable which made him look like a coward.

FOREIGN POLICY• Mussolini's foreign policy continued to breed humiliation for

Italy well into the war. Italy's involvement in World War Two was a series of failures and defeats which caused not only Hitler's contempt for him to increase but it also bred animosity among his own people.

• In 1943, the Italian population overthrew him but he managed to escape retribution until his execution in 1945.

• Ultimately, although Mussolini had some minor successes with his foreign policy, his overconfident management of Italy internationally was overall a large failure in his regime.

FOREIGN POLICY• Mussolini's foreign policy continued to breed humiliation for

Italy well into the war. Italy's involvement in World War Two was a series of failures and defeats which caused not only Hitler's contempt for him to increase but it also bred animosity among his own people.

• In 1943, the Italian population overthrew him but he managed to escape retribution until his execution in 1945.

• Ultimately, although Mussolini had some minor successes with his foreign policy, his overconfident management of Italy internationally was overall a large failure in his regime.