How successful was Mussolini in increasing the international prestige of Italy in the years 1922 - 43?
How successful was Mussolini in increasing the international prestige of Italy in the years 1922 – 43?
Between the years 1923 – 43, Benito Mussolini tried to create an international prestige to rival that of the historical image set by the grand Roman Empire. He introduced many policies and waged many wars over the years, to achieve this goal but inevitably Italy of the 20th Century could not compete with its former self and this led the fall of their dictator. When discussing the international prestige there are four main areas that need to be considered. There are successes and failures in Africa and the Mediterranean, their relationship with Britain, France and Germany as well as what happened with the League of Nations.
Italy’s campaign in Africa did more damaged than good despite the claimed territory. In Libya, for example the Fascists did not win any support in the international community for the way they killed Libyans civilians in their campaigns. This was again repeated in their invasion of Somaliland and Abyssinia where they resorted to gassing the local population and the bombed local aid shelters that had been set up, such as Red Cross. Furthermore, the campaigns in Somaliland and Abyssinia dragged on for longer that expected, which really didn’t help Mussolini’s image both outside the Italy and in it, as he looked weak and incapable of winning a war. The only little success drawn from these campaigns was Hitler’s support from Nazi Germany, as he agreed with the methods used in these two campaigns.