IB History Entry Into the Second World War Notes

Fascist Ideology and Italian Foreign Policy

1. Mussolini's foreign policy was rooted in Fascist ideology, which glorified war as a means of forging national character and proving Italy's greatness
2. Mussolini sought to recreate the Roman Empire, transforming the Mediterranean into Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea") under Italian domination
3. Fascism rejected liberal democracy and international cooperation, favouring military strength and imperial expansion as the path to national greatness
4. Italy's territorial ambitions focused on Africa (Abyssinia, Libya) and the Mediterranean (Nice, Corsica, Tunisia, Dalmatia)
5. The Treaty of London (1915) had promised Italy territorial gains for joining WWI, but the Allies largely reneged, creating lasting resentment
6. Mussolini increasingly distanced Italy from traditional diplomacy, aligning with Nazi Germany after 1935 as relations with Britain and France deteriorated

The Depression and Domestic Economic Pressures

1. The Great Depression hit Italy hard after 1929: withdrawal of US investment caused a collapse in industry and agriculture
2. Unemployment reached 2 million by the early 1930s, threatening the Fascist regime's claims of economic competence
3. Mussolini's regime increased state control, creating the largest public sector in Europe outside the Soviet Union
4. Italy pursued autarky (economic self-sufficiency) to reduce dependence on imports, but this failed to solve underlying weaknesses
5. Foreign policy aggression served as a distraction from domestic failures, with the Abyssinian invasion designed to boost national prestige and divert attention

Changing Diplomatic Alignments (1933-1935)

The Four Power Pact (1933)

1. Mussolini proposed a pact between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy to manage European affairs as a concert of great powers
2. The pact was largely symbolic and failed to achieve lasting cooperation, but it showed Mussolini still engaging with both sides
3. Smaller nations like France's allies (Poland, Czechoslovakia) opposed the pact, fearing great power decisions would override their interests

The Stresa Front (April 1935)

1. In April 1935, Italy, Britain, and France met at Stresa to oppose German rearmament and defend Austrian independence
2. This was the peak of anti-German cooperation between the three Western powers, but it proved fragile
3. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (June 1935) allowed Germany 35% of British naval tonnage, destroying the Stresa Front
4. Mussolini felt betrayed by Britain's separate deal with Germany, accelerating Italy's shift away from the Western democracies

The Invasion of Abyssinia (1935-1936)

1. The Wal Wal incident (December 1934) provided Mussolini with a pretext for invasion after a clash between Italian and Ethiopian forces at a disputed border post
2. Mussolini sought revenge for Italy's humiliating defeat at Adowa (1896), when Ethiopian forces had destroyed an Italian army
3. Italy invaded Abyssinia on 3 October 1935 with 400,000 troops. Italian forces used mustard gas against Ethiopian troops and civilians
4. Abyssinia was conquered by May 1936. Emperor Haile Selassie fled and made a famous appeal to the League of Nations for help
5. The League imposed limited sanctions but crucially did not ban oil exports to Italy, rendering the sanctions ineffective
6. The secret Hoare-Laval Pact (December 1935) proposed giving two-thirds of Abyssinia to Italy. Public outcry in Britain killed the deal
7. The Abyssinian crisis was the turning point in Italian foreign policy: League sanctions pushed Italy away from the democracies and towards Germany
8. The invasion initially boosted Mussolini's popularity domestically, but the economic costs of the campaign and sanctions were crippling

The Spanish Civil War and the Rome-Berlin Axis

1. Italy intervened in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), sending approximately 75,000 troops plus weapons and naval support to Franco's Nationalists
2. The Italian CTV (Corpo Truppe Volontarie) suffered defeats, notably at the Battle of Guadalajara (March 1937), embarrassing the regime
3. "Money, troops and supplies that Italy could not afford were wasted" on an intervention that brought no territorial gains
4. Fighting alongside Germany in Spain deepened the Axis partnership and further drained Italy's limited military resources
5. The Rome-Berlin Axis (October 1936) formalised cooperation between Italy and Germany, driven by shared ideology and mutual distrust of Britain and France
6. Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact (November 1937) alongside Germany and Japan, opposing the spread of communism and signalling a new power bloc
7. Italy withdrew from the League of Nations in December 1937, completing its break from the post-war international order

Albania and the Pact of Steel

1. When Germany annexed Czechoslovakia (March 1939) without consulting Italy, Mussolini felt humiliated and wanted to prove Italy could also act decisively
2. Italy invaded Albania on 7 April 1939. Albania was already an Italian client state; King Zog fled to Greece
3. The Pact of Steel (22 May 1939) committed Italy and Germany to full military alliance: if either went to war, the other must join
4. Mussolini warned Hitler that Italy would not be ready for war until 1943. Foreign Minister Ciano recorded deep scepticism in his diary

1. The Nazi-Soviet Pact (23 August 1939) shocked Mussolini, who was informed only two days before signing, exposing Italy's junior partner status
2. Only 10 of 73 divisions were combat-ready, equipment was outdated, and ammunition reserves would last only weeks

Italy's Entry into the Second World War

1. When Germany invaded Poland (1 September 1939), Italy declared non-belligerency rather than joining
2. Mussolini sent Hitler a deliberately impossible list of 17 million tonnes of supplies needed to enter the war, an excuse to stay out
3. The Fall of France (May-June 1940) in just six weeks convinced Mussolini the war would be short and Italy must join before it ended
4. Italy declared war on 10 June 1940. Mussolini told his Chief of Staff: "I need only a few thousand dead to sit at the peace conference as a belligerent"
5. Italy's territorial ambitions included Nice, Corsica, Tunisia from France and Egypt and Sudan from Britain, fulfilling the Mare Nostrum vision
6. In Egypt (September 1940), 236,000 Italian troops were routed by just 36,000 British. By February 1941, Britain had captured 130,000 Italian prisoners
7. Mussolini invaded Greece from Albania (October 1940) without telling Hitler. The Greek army pushed Italians back, forcing German intervention in April 1941
8. Germany sent Rommel's Afrika Korps to rescue Italy in North Africa. Italy's "parallel war" concept collapsed; it became totally dependent on Germany
9. The gap between Fascist rhetoric and military reality proved catastrophic, leading to Mussolini's overthrow in July 1943

Key Dates Timeline