Impact of Fascism on Italian Foreign Policy; Source A
- Achievements of Mussolini’s economic policies?
Autarky, the declaration of self-sufficiency was a major achievement that Mussolini implemented which cut off foreign imports and food. This enabled the country to operate without the need to make imports. In a bid to protect his position and hang on to power, Mussolini adopted various economic positions that secured his power (Cippico, 1926). He developed various economic policies that facilitated the transformation of Italy in a bid to create an economy with the ability to build and maintain the war machine. Revaluation was another success whereby the Fascist government increased the value of the lira in relation to other currencies.
- Value and Limitations of the Source to the historians
Value
- One value of the source is the fact that Smith was an expert on issues to do with Mussolini in that he was a professional historian
- The author benefited from hindsight since the source’s publication date was reliable and had access to valuable sources
- From the title, one can understand that the main focus of the book is the political history of Mussolini thus provides valuable insights on the political context on the aspect of fascism in the country
- The book presents academic analysis of the scenario as experienced during the 1920s
Limitations of the Source for Historians
- This source was limited by the fact that it is difficult for the British historian to provide accurate insights into the perspective of Italian events
- The source focuses on a rather broad study on the political history of Italy in the modern ear but lacks the desired level of focus on the man of interest, Mussolini.
Source B. Key issues for Mussolini’s foreign policy
- Key issues of Mussolini’s foreign policy?
According to Mallett (1983), Mussolini’s foreign policy had issues in that it was based on opportunism and the fact that Italian friendship would be offered to the highest bidder. The pursuit of foreign policy was intended to boost Mussolini’s public support and personal prestige rather than win the country’s agendas. In his efforts, Mussolini was focused on portraying himself as a legend and international statesman, as well as the leader of a major power in Europe. The unpleasant weak industrial and financial position also acted as an impediment to the projected action towards the Red Sea supremacy and the Mediterranean by Mussolini.
The pressure from the British caused Mussolini to pull away from Corfu in that Britain was more powerful than Italy. In its endeavors, Italy aimed at underlining the alliance system with the French while it intended to have a positive relation with Britain. As 2019 explains, the foreign policy did not have a clearly developed set of policy goals and instead, involved the development of actions that would facilitate the spread of fascism in other nations. Mussolini lacked the support of various political elites and the economic situation also influenced foreign policy. Taking into consideration the fact that agriculture and the Italian economy could not support the goal of autarky meant that the economy would fail to support the general war.
Source A: Benito Mussolini in his autobiography My Rise and Fall (1998).
The carton also represents the exploitation that Mussolini placed on other countries. His inspiration to achieve high influence on Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean in a bit to gain additional power. As shown in the cartoon, it is this exploitation that caused the emergence of wars after which Mussolini was able to take control of the oil, manufacturing, and production sectors of the economy. The cartoon shows how Italy or Mussolini was getting out of control as a result of personal motivations that led to misbehavior. Unlike other countries, the cartoon also shows how Italy failed in taking his participation in conferences seriously, and instead, displayed undesirable and childish behavior.
Source B: Mussolini’s actions to export Fascism
Although Mussolini pretended that fascism was not intended for export purposes, he used various unofficial channels and Italian embassies to spread the message abroad. For instance, he managed to establish bogus trade companies that made use of the profits to spread the propaganda. It was not long before he embraced the fact that he had a mission to spread fascism everywhere. With this, the propagandists started to imagine about eradicating the Protestant civilization in northern Europe. This effort and that of Mussolini caused the establishment of fascist parties in at least forty countries after which a consignment of shirts was sent as Hyderabad. Mussolini also engaged in the possibility of establishing an international movement that was anti-communist. Rather than engaging in negotiations, Mussolini became a bully and his actions were guided by the fact that he thought that being eared was profitable than being respected. This was evidenced by the fact that Mussolini was interested in the promotion of international animosities rather than fostering alternative mechanisms that would be more profitable to the community.
Source B
- Foreign Policy in the 1920s
As Smith explains, Mussolini does not engage in power with a clearly stipulated set of policy goals. Instead, his foreign policy came up with a program of actions that were concerned with the domination of the Mediterranean and Balkans. The policies were intended to increase the pride of the nation by encouraging the spread of fascism to other territories. Additionally, the control of other territories such as the Mediterranean empire would facilitate the achievement of his vision of making Italy the center of attention and attraction. Additionally, Mussolini launched initiatives that would provide economic muscle to foster international animosity. These initiatives included the Battle for Grain (1925), Battle for the Lira (1926), and the Mussolini Law (19280.
- A long-term view of fascism as expressed by Mussolini
In his endeavor to foster international animosities, Mussolini was concerned with dictatorial power, regimentation of society, and the suppression of opposition, all of which show the undesirable long-term effects of fascism in the development of the foreign policy in the 1920s.
References
UK Newspaper (1923). A cartoon by David Low published in the UK newspaper, The Star, in August 1923.
Cippico, C. A. (1926). Italy: The Central Problem of the Mediterranean. Institute of politics.
Mallett, R. (2003). Mussolini and the origins of the Second World War, 1933-1940. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Mussolini, B., Child, R. W., Ascoli, M., & Lamb, R. (1998). My rise and fall. Da Capo Pr.
Smith, D. M. (1983). Mussolini: A Biography.