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" Fuelling Fascism : "
May, Mario Alexander.
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1096747
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| Doc. No
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TLets482810
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| Main Entry
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May, Mario Alexander.
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| Title & Author
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Fuelling Fascism :\ May, Mario Alexander.
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| College
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University of London
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| Date
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2000
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| student score
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2000
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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This thesis is divided into four chapters which examine the principal areas of British andItalian economic and diplomatic relations in the 1 930s.Chapter One provides an outline history of Britain's financial dealings with Italy from themid 1920s until 1939, in particular the role of the Bank of England in helping to reformItaly's financial system through, for example, the encouragement of a stable, gold-basedItalian currency and the establishment of a respected and independent central bank, theBanca d'Italia. It examines the attitude of British clearing and merchant banks to thefinancial crisis in Italy immediately prior to the Italian attack on Abyssinia/Ethiopia in 1935,and explains their opposition to the granting of any sizeable loan to Italy. Finally, it detailsthe policies of successive British governments to Italy's financial position, especially prior to,during and after the Italo-Abyssinian war, 193 5-1936.Chapter Two provides an outline history of Italy's important coal trade with Britain up to theearly 1930s and charts and explains the loss of Britain's Italian market to Germany and othercompetitors. It examines the impact of League of Nations sanctions on the coal trade andreveals that this impact has been exaggerated since colliery owners were faced with largeItalian debts and long delays in payment and had already begun to lose faith in Italian buyers.Additionally, it demonstrates that the colliery owners' efforts to lift sanctions and recapturethe Italian market were weak and ineffectual.Chapter Three confirms that the major oil companies, including the Anglo-Iranian OilCompany (later British Petroleum) and Royal Dutch Shell, were operating a global pricefixingand shipping cartel throughout the 1930s. It describes and analyses these companies'commercial activities in Fascist Italy, especially during the period of League sanctionsagainst Italy. It confirms the vital significance of petrol and oil to the Italian economy andwar effort and analyses some of the British government's motives in not introducing petrolsanctions.Chapter Four is concerned with British-Italian diplomatic relations mainly during theAbyssinian crisis. It examines the political divisions in the British and Italian governmentsover how to respond to the international crisis generated by the Italo-Abyssinian war. Itdemonstrates that the British government helped produce a sanctions policy which gave theappearance of severity when it was, in truth, only a legitimation of an effective commercialand financial embargo which British banks and companies had already imposed. The analysisof British-Italian diplomacy concludes that the Abyssinian crisis could have been handledvery differently by Britain and contained both Italian and German aggression
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| Subject
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Britain; Italy
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| Added Entry
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University of London
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