Italian expansion dates

New trade barriers forced Italy to increase trade with Central European powers such as Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania

1929

Foreign policy became more clearly Fascist as economic difficulties eased allowing riskier foreign policy

From 1935

Count Galeazzo Ciano appointed Foreign Minister

1936

Isituto Italiano created to financially support banks and industry

1931

Isituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale created to take control of share in banks and companies

1933

Mussolini had realised that a strong Germany would make Britain and France more amenable to Italian demands

In the 1920s

Mussolini probably funded the Nazis and other right wing groups in Germany

In the 1920s

Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss visited Rome

1933

Mussolini encouraged Dollfuss to set up a fascist but anti-Nazi authoritarian regime in Austria

February 1934

Dollfuss was assassinated by Nazi sympathisers after attempting to set up a fasicst, anti-Nazi regime

July 1934

Mussolini dispatched troops to the Austrian border to prevent Germany from attempting Anschluss

1934

Relations between Italy and Germany reached a low point when Hitler revealed the Luftwaffe and announced conscription

March 1935

Mussolini met with Britain and France in Stresa, Italy, forming the ‘Stresa Front’

April 1935

Mussolini’s foreign policy conduct had been cautious and respectable

Until 1935

Italy was defeated by Ethiopian forces at Adowa

1896

border incident at Wal Wal on the Abyssinian border with Italian Somaliland, several Italian soldiers killed

December 1934

Invasion of Abyssinia

October 1935 to May 1936

Capital of Abyssinia Addis Ababa reached by Italian troops

May 1936

Italy sponsored Abyssinia to be part of the League of Nations

1920s

Hoare-Laval Pact signed, Mussolini could take 2/3 of Abyssinia but dropped due to public outrage in Britain and France

December 1935

20 million listened as Mussolini proclaimed victory in Abyssinia through a radio broadcast

May 1936

Treaty of Friendship between Italy and Abyssinia

1928

League of Nations implemented limited sanctions against Italy

18 November 1935

Abyssinia formally annexed by Italy

9 May 1936

Rome-Berlin Axis strengthened when Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact

November 1937

Hitler carried out Anschluss without consulting Mussolini

1938

Chamberlain asked Mussolini to mediate after Hitler demanded the Sudetenland, Mussolini colluded with Hitler

1938

Mussolini demanded the annexation of Nice, Corsica and Tunis from France

November 1938

Mussolini invaded Albania, won without any fighting

April 1939

‘Pact of Steel’ between Germany and Italy

22 May 1939

Mussolini declared Hitler had been ‘treacherous’

September 1939

Italy declared war on Britain and France

June 1940

King Zog of Albania signed trade agreements with Greece and Yugoslavia

1939

Mussolini sent an ultimatum to Tirana, the capital of Albania, demanding agreement to Italian occupation

25 March 1939

Italy invaded Albania with 100,000 men and 600 aircraft, all ports were taken and King Zog fled

7 April 1939

Italian forces reached Tirana in Albania

8 April 1939

Albanian parliament deposed King Zog and voted to unite with Italy

12 April 1939

Albania withdrew from the League of Nations

12 April

Italy suggested it would not be ready for war until 1943

May 1939

Hitler and Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass border

March 1940

Ideological divide led to instability in the French government

1930s

Coalition of radicalises and socialists formed to govern France, did not deal with economic issues, had six different cabinets within 2 years

1932-1934

Left wing government in France, criticised for spending on domestic developments not rearmament

1936-1938

More political stability in France due to a change in government, refocus on armament

1938

Haile Salassie asked the LoN to arbitrate, neither Italy nor Abyssinia found responsible

6 December 1934

Franco-Italian agreement, concessions to Italy in Africa

January 1935

Haile Salassie appealed to the LoN

March and May 1935

Britain declared an arms embargo on Italy and Abyssinia , removed warships from the Mediterranean giving Mussolini uncontested access

July 1935

Abyssinian army mobilised against Italy

September 1935

Italian forces invaded Abyssinia without a declaration of war

October 1935

LoN found Italy to be the aggressor against Abyssinia, imposed weak sanctions

October 1935

Sanctions on Italy lifted by the LoN

July 1936

Japan recognised the new ‘Italian Empire’

November 1936

Britain and France recognised Italian control of Abyssinia; US and USSR refused to

1938