Mussolini and the origins of the Second World War, 1933-1940
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Mussolini and the origins of the Second World War, 1933-1940
(The making of the 20th century / series editor, Geoffrey Warner)
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003
- : hbk
- : pbk
Available at 6 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-260) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The true nature of Mussolini's foreign policy during the late interwar period has been the subject of considerable controversy. Was Mussolini in reality pro-British, even as late as June 1940; or was his international policy more sinister and based on conquering a Fascist empire in North Africa and the Middle East?
Robert Mallett makes use of much new archival evidence in order to answer this riddle of interwar history. Mallett argues that Mussolini had harboured imperial designs in the Mediterranean and Red Sea from as early as 1919, but that not until 1933, with the rise of Hitler, was it possible for Fascist Italy to pursue a programme of territorial expansion. Previously unpublished material also casts new light on the Nazi-Fascist relationship, revealing it to be at times paranoid, acrimonious and duplicitous on both sides.
Although the book focuses on Italian policy, it provides an important reassessment of the Ethiopian Crisis, the Spanish Civil War, the Austro-German Anschluss, Munich and the run up to the Second World War. Mallett shows that it is erroneous to place excessive emphasis on the role of Adolf Hitler in subverting the interwar international order, and demonstrates that Mussolini was heavily implicated in the global conflict that erupted in September 1939.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.- Contrasting Interpretations of Mussolini and the Origins of the Second World War.- A Tortuous Landscape.- A New Alignment.- The Holy War.- Cementing the Bond.- A Brutal Friendship.- Passi Romani.- 'Not a Diaphragm, but an Axis'.- 'The Vital Need for Empire'.- The Climacteric.- Commitments.- Conclusion.- Select Bibliography.- Index.
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