Italy: ‘Mussolini’s attempt to make Italy a Great Power was undermined mainly by Italy’s economic weakness.’ How far do you agree with this statement about Italy’s foreign policy in the years 1935-40?

Introduction

• Italy’s economic weakness was the main reason why Italy failed to become a Great Power

• Criteria: What prevented them from becoming a Great Power = what made them unable to become economically and militarily capable enough to garner a feared international reputation

Paragraph 1

• Mussolini had to deal with a declining economy to begin with

• National debt had risen from 15 billion to 25 billion lire post WWI

• Mussolini’s 1926 Battle for the Lira intended to have 90 lira to the pound, but unemployment doubled after this

• By 1939, national debt rose to 50% of GDP

Paragraph 2

• Failure to become autarkic also significant

• North-South divide between wheat production, North could produce 1.5 tonnes per 100 hectares whereas the South could only produce 0.6

• Mussolini only reclaimed 1/6 of land that he planned to

• It failed also in employment, as there was only a 4% growth in it over the period of Fascist rule, despite the projects

Paragraph 3

• Poor militarization = quite important

• Only 542 fully operational air fighters in June 1940, but 70% were bad bi-planes

• Britain manufactured 13m tonnes of steel, Italy = 2.1m

• Led to the Allied invasion of Sicily 8th July 1943

Paragraph 4

• Italy was built on the belief in an ideology that lacked support

• 5m members of the PNF in 1940 out of a population of 44m

• Dislike of anti-Semitic policies (47,000 well-integrated Jews)

• Evidence of artificial plebiscites in favour of the regime e.g. 1934, 99.8% ‘Yes’