Italian aggression after 1934

The events of Mussolini’s foreign policy after 1934. 

• In 1934, Mussolini stopped Nazi Germany from expanding to Austria. Hitler claimed that he was trying to ‘put down the rebellion’ in Austria which was calling for German–Austrian unification, but in reality, he wanted to invade. To protect South Tyrol, which was under Italian control, Mussolini stationed soldiers at the Brenner pass, forcing Hitler to back down. This action earned him a lot of international prestige.

• In December 1934, there was a dispute between Italian and Abyssinian soldiers at the Wal Wal Oasis on the border between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland. As a result, Mussolini demanded an apology from the Abyssinian Emperor who took the dispute to the League. While the League discussed the crisis, Mussolini planned a full-scale invasion for October 1935 using tanks, aeroplanes and poison gas. The League immediately condemned Italy as the aggressor and began to impose economic sanctions and banned the sale of weapons to Italy, but vitally, they did not ban supplies of oil, coal, rubber and iron as they knew that non-members would continue to sell these to Italy anyway. Britain also feared that their Navy would be attacked by Italian forces if they closed the Suez Canal, the Italian Army's supply route to Abyssinia. British and French foreign ministers, Hoare and Laval, met in secret and agreed to divide Abyssinia in half, giving Mussolini the richer half. However, after Mussolini accepted their plan, it was leaked to the British press before it was proposed to the Abyssinian emperor, causing uproar among the British Public and resulting in the resignation of the foreign ministers. The League tried to introduce tougher sanctions on Italy after the Hoare-Laval pact had failed, but before they were put in place, Italy had conquered Abyssinia by May 1936.

• From July 1936 to April 1939, Mussolini and Hitler both supported and fought on the side of Franco, a fellow Fascist, in the Spanish Civil War. As a result, the two dictators, Hitler and Mussolini, were brought closer together. 

• In 1936, Germany and Japan signed the anti-Comintern pact, and in 1937, this was signed again, but with the addition of Italy. This basically allied Germany, Italy and Japan against the ‘threat of communism’, or put simply, against the Soviet Union.

• In 1938, Germany invaded Austria but this time, Mussolini and Hitler were true allies, and the Anschluss between Germany and Austria was welcomed by the Italian people as it strengthened Germany, and by extension, their alliance. This marks how Italian 

• In 1938, Hitler demanded that Germany be given the Sudetenland as the 3 million German speakers who lived in that area of Czechoslovakia claimed that the Czech government was not treating them fairly. As a result, Chamberlain went to assist and spoke with Germany, offering him certain parts of the Sudetenland. However, Hitler refused and war seemed imminent. Mussolini organised a meeting that led to the signing of the Munich Agreement in September 1938. This led to a massive amount of prestige for Mussolini as his actions had averted large-scale war.

• From April 7th to April 12th 1939, the Italian Military invaded and rapidly overrun Albania with its ruler, King Zog I, forced into exile, and the country incorporated into the Italian Empire as a protectorate in personal union with the Italian crown.

• On the 22nd May 1939, Germany and Italy signed the ‘Pact of Steel’— a military alliance.