In 1937 to 1938 Mussolini introduced new anti-Semitism laws following the introduction of them in Germany; he did this to impress and please Hitler as a token of reinforcing their alliance. Laws against Jews issued, including forbidding marriage between Jews and Gentiles. By doing this the Church criticised these laws as the stated that it was ‘an infringement of Christianity’. Therefore this was a domestic failure as Mussolini lost support from the Catholics in Italy despite reinforcing his relationship with Hitler.
In May 1939, the Germans and Italians cemented their friendship with the Pact of Steel. This pact committed both countries to support the other if one of them became involved in a war. The Italian Foreign Minister, Galleazo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law, realised that this pact was potentially very damaging for Italy but was more concerned with the prestige of allying with Europe’s most potent power rather than the politics of it. This was a formal military alliance between Italy and Germany securing support for each other. War was inevitable for Germany and by signing this pact it became inevitable for Italy too. This foreign policy was a failure as it completely tied Mussolini down to conform to Hitler’s ideology and wars; and it was through this pact that Italy was forced to intervene with the Second World War and this was the beginning of the end of Mussolini’s rule.
This happens in August 1939, when an attack on Poland imminent, Mussolini repeats he will not be ready until 1942. Hitler demands that Mussolini stands by him despite war is not in Italy’s best interest, due to this Italy states it will only join the war if Germany supplies with enormous quantities of war material. In September 1939, Germany invades Poland and Britain and France declare war on Germany. Mussolini declares his ally has been treacherous with no confrontation, and therefore voided the Pact of Steel. Ultimately the Pact of Steel initially is the end of Mussolini as it forces him to join the war on the side of the Germans and because of this, the Pact of Steel foreign policy is a failure.
In 1934, Hitler ordered the Austrian Nazis to create havoc in Austria to gain Anschluss. This turned into an attempt to overthrow the government. Chancellor Dollfuss was assassinated but the attempted coup failed because the Austrian military intervened to back up the government. Italy’s agreement with Austria meant that it would protect Austria from outside aggression. Mussolini honoured the agreement and moved Italian troops to the Austrian border to deter Hitler from invading. This action emphasised the power Mussolini had as he managed to stop and deter Hitler from invading Germany, it was internationally and domestically a great success.
Although again in Hitler tries to invade Austria in 1938, by this time relationships had improved to such an extent that Mussolini permitted Hitler's Anschluss with Austria. Hitler gave Mussolini 12 hours’ notice of his invasion and Mussolini accepted Anschluss. This was domestically very unpopular in Italy it showed great weakness from Mussolini and how much his priorities had changed due to the newly establish alliance with Hitler.
A further foreign policy is The Stresa Front which was the coalition of France, Britain, and Italy formed in April 1935 at Stresa, Italy, to oppose Adolf Hitler’s announced intention to rearm Germany. They protest as it violated the Treaty of Versailles settlement that agreed to prevent any future changes in Europe. Due to this, Mussolini believes he has French and British consent for expansion into Abyssinia as the front improved relations with Britain and France and was a success as it addressed the aim of improving foreign affairs.
The invasion of Abyssinia was another part of Mussolini’s foreign policy. Italian troops invaded Abyssinia, in October 1935, from Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. The League of Nations stated that Italy were the aggressors and imposed sanctions although they failed to place sanctions on Oil which was needed to enable the continuation of war. The implication of imposing sanctions led to a growth in nationalist support for the war in Italy as Britain and France failed to arrange a compromise and because of this in May 1936 Italy defeated Abyssinia. The King was crowned Emperor of Abyssinia and the war increased prestige for the Fascist regime and Il Duce. The outcome of this invasion showed Italian strength, gained a new territorial land and Italy was united with Fascism and soldiers including that of Germany. Mussolini’s world power was enhanced despite the huge economic costs of the war and their alliance with Britain and France was destroyed.
The Italian invasion and annexation of Abyssinia had strained relations between Italy and its allies Britain and France, and Benito Mussolini finally repudiated Italy's alliance with them. Hitler then began planning to draw fascist Italy into an alliance with Nazi Germany. In 1936, the Rome-Berlin Axis came about which was a public declaration of friendship between Italy and Germany and a secret understanding they would not compete for territory - Italy with the Mediterranean and Germany with Eastern Europe. This united Germany and Italy to control the future despite that there was no formal commitment. This was the beginning of Hitler and Mussolini’s close relationship and led to the Pact of Steel in 1939 as they affirmed their friendship. Ultimately this improved foreign affairs as they gained a fascist ally.
A final foreign policy Mussolini committed Italy to was the Ant-Commintern Pact. This was signed in November 1937 and was a pact between Italy, Germany and Japan as joint declaration they would work together to defeat international Communism, in effect, the USSR. This initially united Italy with Germany and Japan in complete opposition with Communists as they all had strong fascism ideology. Therefore Italy, through this pact, had established strong foreign affairs to begin to spread fascism globally.
'I want to make Italy great, respected and feared' said Mussolini in 1925. Mussolini's foreign policy included a number of positive and negative factors which all contributed to the rise, and the ultimately to the downfall, of both Mussolini and the Italian empire. It was clear that, Mussolini's foreign policy between 1922 and 1939 was not effective. His dreams of creating a powerful Italian fascist empire had crumbled. He had managed to overstretch Italy's resources and he made desperate alliances to inappropriate foreign powers in order to gain any strength to continue his dream. Instead, he lost control of his foreign policy and contributed to the downfall of Italy. Mussolini seemed to have believed his own propaganda that Italy was in a powerful and successful position and was respected in Europe. Instead the truth was that Italy had become a puppet of Hitler, who was used in order for them to get into power and Italy was left behind Mussolini's foreign policy was driven by ambition rather than common sense.
by
lydiageorge (student)
