Italy’s relationship with Germany was interpreted differently from each side, the Italians saw Germany as a country to impress and the Spanish Civil War was a significant opportunity to do this and show themselves as an ‘iron military strength.’1 Germany on the other hand saw Italy as an ally against Communism and was prepared to manipulate their ally in order to ensure that Germany succeeded in its foreign aims. This can be seen in Italy’s lack of action over the annexation of Austria in 1938 which was carried out suddenly despite promises from Hitler that they would be warned in advance. Italy was also naïve in its dealings with Germany during the Spanish Civil War as Hitler convinced Mussolini that considering Italy would reap the most benefits they should be the country to fund the majority of the war.
Only one of Mussolini’s domestic policies for Italy had an effect in the decision to become involved in the Spanish Civil War and that was to ensure that the Italian masses remained contained in the momentum of fascistisation, in other words to ensure that the movement of fascism continued on at a popular rate and people continued to accept it. If he could not maintain this then his career as leader of Italy would be cut short, Mussolini saw the SCW as an opportunity to provide Italy with the wealth that comes from winning a war be it territorial wealth or wealth in terms of money. If he could succeed in gaining this from the SCW then he could ensure his leadership would last at least a while longer.
In contrast Italian foreign policy had a significant effect on Italy’s reasons for going to war. Since Italy’s falling out with Britain and France Mussolini’s foreign policy became more important as he no longer felt bound to live with the British presence in the Mediterranean. Mussolini wanted to rebuild the great Roman Empire starting with the Balearic Islands; therefore by becoming involved in the Spanish Civil War Italy could claim the Balearic Islands as payment for their help. Mussolini concluded that the Spanish would be so grateful for their help that they would not mind giving Italy the Balearic Islands Once Italy had control of the Balearics they could then focus on other areas of the Mediterranean. If they did not become involved then the France and Spain may become allies and reduce Italy’s chances of gaining control of the Islands.
Lastly the Italians saw the Spanish Civil War as a testing ground for their military and Mussolini felt that this involvement in blood and violence was the only way to ‘forge the spirit of the new fascist man’2 in other words to let the world know that he, Mussolini, was not a man who could be beaten easily.
The start of Italy's involvement in the Spanish Civil War began during the Moroccan airlift when they sent nine Savoia’s, without this intervention the nationalists would not have been able to provide anywhere near ample enough resistance. The next step Italy took was to have its troops infiltrate Spain and it did this by disguising many of its troops as Spanish and sending them to Majorca where they proceeded to dominate the base at Palma de Mallorca, which would become a major blockade headquarters for Franco’s Army. Despite many successes by the Italian army such as, the takeover of Barcelona, which Mussolini was extremely proud of, their work was blighted by their defeat by the Republicans at Guadalajara. The battle was intended to show off Fascist Italy’s new army and is high standards; however they met determined resistance from the republicans, who had heavy Russian tanks that worked better in combat. The result of the battle was a loss for Italians and lowered morale, Mussolini was shown that his troops were not prepared to die for his ideals. This had such an impact on the type of Italian help as they did not try to capture vast areas for the rest of the war although they did capture Madrid in the last few days on the war.
The changes in Spain were obviously dramatic as where they had been a Republican state they were now faced with a fascist regime, and the people who had fought on the side of the republicans were obviously low on morale having lost their battle for power. A noticeable consequence of the war was that it lasted much longer than they had anticipated which had depleted Italian resources. As P. Knight stated ‘it was the continuity, regularity and higher quality of the German/Italian aid which gave the Nationalists the edge’3, without the aid given by Italy the war would have been over in a matter of weeks or months rather than years so the effect would not have been so great as there would have been less exposure to the violent conflict for the general public.
Spain retreated away from the International powers in order to avoid any further conflict; they took this action despite having signed the anti-Commintern pact. They took this one step further and refused to be any part of the Danzig/Poland dispute on September 3rd and remained neutral during World War Two.
The changes for Italy in an international context was that despite several noteworthy victories in Spain their status in Europe had lowered and unlike Mussolini's hopes they had not been shown to be an ‘iron military strength’. Italy’s status was lowered because of German manipulation which made Germany appear much more powerful and so Italy not as strong. This is shown in Hitler not seeing Mussolini as a threat and continuing ahead with German expansionist policies even after Italian protest, Italy had lost its voice and example of this is seen in Germany’s invasion of Poland. Italian relationships with both France and Britain had not improved over the course of the Spanish Civil War in fact they were now even further opposed as they signed the anti-Commintern pact with Germany, Spain and Japan in 1837. A consequence of this would be seen in World War Two when Italy chose to side with the Germans rather than the allies.
The consequences of the Spanish Civil War on Italian domestic policy were the complete opposite of Mussolini's original aims. The Spanish Civil War had made the government of Italy unpopular and distrusted by the majority of Italian people, excluding the Catholic Church. The Spanish Civil War had financially crippled Italy with an estimated 4.5 thousand million Lire being spent on the war. This had a detrimental effect on Mussolini's ability to reverse the public’s opinion on fascism and Mussolini's foreign policy. The financial consequences of the Spanish Civil War for Italy were far-reaching also affecting the Italian foreign policy.
The consequences of the Spanish Civil War on Italian foreign policy were dramatic; the only positive consequence was that Italy signed a treaty with Spain within which Franco promised to work with Italy to modify Article 16 of the league covenant which was used against Italy during the Abyssinian Campaign. Secondly that Spain would be neutral in any war involving Italy
However, that is where the positive slant ends as much of Italian foreign policy had been based at gaining control of the Mediterranean in order to rebuild the Roman Empire. At the end of the Spanish Civil War Britain was still in control of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal and Italy did not control any of the Balearic Islands. Italian foreign policy had been ripped to shreds as they did not have the funds after an expensive war to continue a take over bid in the Mediterranean. Franco did promise that there would be no third party troops allowed in Spain or the Balearic Islands, this pleased Mussolini as it was directed at France. This treaty was considered a diplomatic victory by Mussolini even though it was no where near his original aims, as it meant that Spain was not interested in becoming a French ally.
A consequence of the Spanish Civil War was that the foreign policy had to change, instead of focusing on creating Italy’s reputation as a great power they focused on supporting Germany. Italy continued to support Germany through the Danzig/Poland situation and into World War Two. Defeats such as Guadalajara and the lack of positive recognition saw Italy sink into the back ground in terms of foreign policy as they people were not united enough behind Mussolini to be making bold moves neither were they rich enough due to the cost of the war.
Italy became involved in the Spanish Civil War for selfish reasons, Mussolini believed that a victory in Spain would be quick and easy meaning Italy would gain a reputation as a strong country with a strong army, secondly he wanted to ensure his popularity at home. All of this had personal benefits for Italy, the only area of Mussolini's motives that actually had to do with the running of Spain is his fear of communism, but again this was more to do with the effect on Italy rather than in an international context. Despite the large numbers involved in the Spanish Civil War Italy did not gain any significant consequences, their humiliating defeats and manipulation by Germany ensure this. The only significant consequence was they became more involved with Germany, a country who would change Europe forever.