How far do you agree that Fascist Italy potentially posed a significant threat to British interests in the 1920s?
I believe that Fascist Italy did pose a threat to British Interests; however some of the threats were indirect. Some of the areas in which Italy may have posed a threat are Britain’s Empire, Britain’s defence and the preservation of peace and balance of power.
One example of an area that was not directly threatened was the British Empire, however with in depth study; it is possible to see that the empire may have been under indirect threat from Italy. Italy wanted to increase its influence over areas which had traditionally been Italian, such as Libya and Albania. However the location of these on the world map reveals that these places are situated in such a way that they could prevent the exiting or entering of the Suez Canal, meaning trade and movement of troops/food to and from Britain’s empire could double in the time taken. This means that Italy would be in a position of power if a war were to start. Italy also refused to accept any peace treaties, which meant that any colonies that Britain had added to its empire from The Treaty of Versailles may have been at risk from the possible risk of war from Italy.
Another aim of Britain’s which may have been indirectly affected by Italy’s view to improving its influence was the Defence of Britain. The main aims of Britain’s defence policy were to protect trade, ensure the security of Britain, to protect the empire and to be ready to defend its allies. Protecting trade, and protecting the empire, as mentioned above, was indirectly threatened by Italy’s desire to improve influence. Mussolini made it clear from the start that any peace treaty made was only viewed as semi-permanent or was entirely ignored. This made Britain vulnerable, as any peace treaty involving Italy could be disregarded by them. As well as disregarding the peace treaties, there were disagreements between Britain, France and Italy as to the influence over the areas around the Mediterranean sea. If Italy had decided to press the issue, they had the ability to trap troops in an area of Britain’s empire by blocking the Suez Canal, meaning British forces may be otherwise engaged in trying to access their allies, instead of being able to assist them. It was also made clear that Britain or France would not ally with Italy, as neither country agreed with the Fascist views that Italy held. As well as being Fascist, Mussolini had been labelled as the ‘Chief Anti-Democratic conspirator of Europe’. This would have scared Britain, as they were Democracy, as were their allies, so any threat of war from Mussolini to remove democracy would affect them directly. It was shown that Italy was preparing for autarky, which was a well-known tactic for countries who were preparing for war, as self-sufficiency meant they didn’t have to rely on import/exports to keep their economy, and country in general running. This threatened all but one of the British ideas within the defence of Britain, and also threatened preservation of peace and the balance of power.
However, Italy also had the potential to prove helpful to British Interests, and not a threat. For example Italy published lots of anti-Nazi militia and they also signed the Treaty of the Locarno, which established Germany’s western boarders. This would have prevented any issues arising through Germany, therefore preventing the outbreak of any small war or issue between countries. Towards British defence, it is clear that Italy is more of a threat than not, but some of those threats are indirect, and some are a significant direct threat toward Britain and its foreign policy.
In respect to the British idea of preserving peace and the balance of power, there were not many things Italy did under Mussolini to assist British aims. Other than sign the Locarno Treaty, Mussolini was very anti peace, and wanted to gain power for Italy. As previously mentioned, Mussolini wanted to increase Italy’s influence over areas such as Libya, Albania etc. and this would have upset the balance of power within Europe, as Italy would have ended up controlling more of Europe than perhaps other countries did. Italy also still played the typical role of acting as the ‘pivot’ of power, as it could ally with either the typically German side, or the typically west side such as England/France. With Italy being Fascist, it was unlikely to ally with England or any other democratic countries, meaning the risk was that countries such as Germany would have the advantage in a war situation. It meant they would also have more power behind them, therefore upsetting the ideal balance of power. Mussolini also declared peace treaties invalid, directly threatening Britain’s ideal 10 year rule, and therefore the preservation of peace.
Overall it is clear that Italy could have potentially posed a very significant threat to British Interests, due to Mussolini’s anti-democratic and anti-peace views.
