Mussolini's Foreign Policy 1922-1943
Lybia
1912= obtained from Turkey-> parts under Berber (rebels) control
1922-25= Italy sends in army to try and gain conrol -> try to establish an Italian settlement but guerilla war fare continues
Italy takes on a more repressive approach-> concentration camps + barbed wire from the Meditterean to deep in the dessrt
Result= only controlling the coastal strip
❌ economic benefits just national prestige
Corfu
August 1923 Greece= General Tellini + 4 staff assassinated
Mussolini demands an apology + 50 million lire in compensation
Greece won't meet Mussolini's demands
Mussolini bombarded + occupied Corfu -> ignored condemnatiomn of the Legue but not the British demand to withdrawl <- backed by British Mediterranean fleet
Aims of Fascist Foreign Policy
Wanted to make Italy great, respected + feared -> via diplomatic intrigue or if needed war <- military build- up
Expand colocnial empire in Africa -> scramble for Africa
Balkans as Italy's own sphere of influence
Italy would one day be the dominant power in the Mediterranean
Spread Fascism throughout the Italian empire
Increase national prestige
Fiume
Mussolini viewed the Blakasn as a sphere for Italian influence-> desire greatly increased during D'Annunzio occupation of Fiume
🖊 Mussolini negotiated the 1924 Pact of Rome with Yugoslavia -> Yugoslavia gained control over Port Baroc + Delta and Italy was to take control of Fiume
Mussolini's ambitions in the region were helped by events in neighbouring Albania
Albania
1924= Pro Mussolini cheiftain, Ahmed Zog seizes power
Steps to increase Italian influence-> supplied Zog with money (Italian sponsored), encouraged Italian companies to invest in the Albanian economy + employed Italian officers as advisers to the Albanian army
Italian pressue on Yugoslavia -> Mussolini funded ethnic minorities noteable the Croats <- wanted to break away from Yugoslav state
🖊 1926= Signed Treaty of Friendship -> little more than an Italian satellite state
❌ apology ✅compensation
Italian protrayed this as a great triumph for Il Duce
Lesson= Might be able to bully smaller but unable to stand up to Great Powers -> made him aware of good relations with Britain at least in the short term
Good realtions with Britain and France
Italy remianed in the League of Nations <- regardless of what Mussolini througth of it
🖊 Mussolini= signatory of 1925 Locarno Pact -> guaranteed Germany's western borders
🖊 Mussolini also signed the 1928 Kellog Briand Pact -> rejected war as a way of settling disputes between nations
Italy reached an agreement with Britain over the border betwen British controlled Egypt + Italian controlled Libyia
Benefits of taking the Diplomatic Path
🖊 1927= Italy signed a friendship treaty with Hungary -> another revisionist state
Italian press coverage = always extenside -> suggesting Duce was being trated as an equal to the Great Powers
Protrayal= Mussolini's presence + contribution had been crucial in reaching such momentous European agreements
Participated in diplomatic spectacles -> emjoyed being taken seriously + being seen as a European statesman
Relations with Germany
Mussolini funded right-wing groups in the hope that a pro-Fascist government might come to power
Trained German military pilots in Italy-> breach of the Treaty of Versialles
March 1938= Hitler carried out the Anchluss without consulting the Duce (said he wouldn't then did).
Didn't want Germany to become the centre of Fascism -> orgins in Italy <- should be the centre
Strained Relationship
Meeting in Venice-> Hitler= ❌ keen to play role of junior partner. After the meeting Mussolini referred to Hitler as 'a silly little monkey'
Disagreements over the future of Austria
February 1934= Mussolini encouraged Dollfuss (Austrain Chancellor) to put down the emergent Nazi Party in Austria + establish an anti-German authoritarian regime
Such actions encouraged the Austrian Nazis to attempt a coupe in July 1934-> during this Dollfuss was assassinated
Mussolini= angry -> dispatched Italian troops to his shared border with Austria + agressive attack on Hitler whom he accused of being a 'horrible sexual degenerate