Mussolini's Foreign Policy Goals and Expansionist Legacy

Introduction: Fascism and Expansionist Foreign Policy

Because of the atrocities of Hitler's anti-Semitic reign in Eastern Europe and his stated goal of world domination, many people assume that world domination is a recurrent theme in fascist foreign policy. Certainly fascist or totalitarian governments, with their strict adherence to the idea that there is only one correct way to do things, do lend themselves to world-domination ideals. However, they are not the only types of governments to pursue such ambitions. Imperial England, for example, was not ruled by a fascist government yet managed to achieve a significant degree of world domination. It is therefore important to examine Mussolini's own stated foreign policy goals before determining whether he was successful in achieving any of them, and whether any of those successes lasted beyond his defeat in World War II.

There is no question that Mussolini advocated a strong foreign policy. While his early political goals were subject to considerable vacillation depending on the prevailing political climate, the one constant was his belief that Italy should pursue a robust foreign policy. For Mussolini, this meant an expansionist approach. To make that possible, he increased the size of the Italian army from 175,000 to 275,000 men.

He needed that enlarged army because he did intend to expand into the rest of Europe. Even a cursory knowledge of Roman history reminds one that the Roman Empire was Italy's golden age. "Mussolini wanted to establish in the Mediterranean a modern Roman Empire, rivaling that of the ancient Caesars." He recognized that an expansionist foreign policy was necessary to accomplish that goal, because even when Italy entered war on the winning side, its weak foreign-policy reputation meant it did not receive its promised spoils of war. Italy was also a poor country, and expansionist policies would allow it to acquire more land and raw materials to support its people and grow its industry. Furthermore, "Fascist doctrines preached national glory. Italians should expand to show their national greatness."

Cynical observers might suggest that Mussolini's fascination with expansionist foreign policy was intended to distract people from a declining domestic situation. However, while foreign wars almost certainly did distract Italians from domestic conditions, Mussolini had advocated a strong foreign policy for a significant time before coming to power — a period when distracting people from miserable domestic conditions would not have been politically beneficial to him. It would therefore be unwise to dismiss his foreign policy interests as mere diversions for the Italian people.

Italy's Historical and Political Background

In order to understand Mussolini's foreign policy goals, it is important to understand something of Italian history. Italy as it is known today only came into existence in 1870, when the country was unified. It began with a constitutional monarchy modeled after Great Britain's. However, democratic traditions failed to develop, because the government was controlled by corrupt politicians known as party bosses who manipulated elections through bribery. Once in power, they were more interested in personal gain than in addressing the social and economic problems of the people. As a result, by 1914 Italy remained a poor and backward country. The franchise was limited to 2.5 percent of the population until after the 1913 election. Industrial progress was slow, Italy was poor in natural resources, and fertile land was scarce. Many agricultural laborers were landless and frequently unemployed, forcing millions of Italians to emigrate abroad.

Italy also failed in its efforts to emulate Great Britain as a colonial power. Part of this may have been due to the fact that, by the late 1800s and early 1900s, the age of imperialism was drawing to a close; or it may have been due to a failure of leadership. Regardless, Italy was unable to colonize Abyssinia. "Because of its lack of success in both domestic and foreign affairs, the parliamentary government became a symbol of decadence and corruption — it was neither trusted nor respected by the people."

This situation was exacerbated by Italy's entrance into the First World War. Rather than receiving the large territorial settlement it expected when entering the war, Italy obtained only a portion of the territories it had been promised. Many Italians consequently viewed their country as weak in foreign policy.

Mussolini's Rise to Power and Domestic Policy

Because of dissatisfaction with Italy's foreign and domestic policies, many Italians began to support the Socialist Party and the Catholic Popular Party, substantially altering the structure of Italian government. Labor strikes helped redistribute labor and wealth. Despite those gains, the Socialists were unable to seize power. The Socialist Party split into factions, including the Communist Party. The Fascists, led by Mussolini, exploited the threat of communist revolution to take over Italian politics. Mussolini had socialist political origins and a history as a journalist, editor, and socialist agitator. However, he did not adhere to any consistent socialist structure; he appeared to advocate whatever ideas were most popular among Italian workers. "This seemed to indicate that he was an opportunist, very interested in winning followers and power for himself."

This inconsistency also made it difficult to define Mussolini's foreign policy goals clearly. When he founded the Milan fascio in March 1919, it had no explicit platform except a belief in action and a commitment to a strong foreign policy. When Italy was driven from Fiume at the end of 1920, many Italians became convinced that a strong foreign policy was essential. In 1921, Mussolini formed the National Fascist Party and rapidly accumulated power, in part by championing ideas about a strong foreign policy that "could bring national glory to Italy."

As the Fascists, Socialists, and Communists fell into open conflict — with strikes by competing labor groups plunging the country into domestic chaos — Mussolini seized the opportunity, marched on Rome, and effectively forced the Italian king to name him Prime Minister.

To understand Mussolini's foreign policy, one must also understand his domestic program. Fascists believed that constitutional monarchies and other forms of democracy were bound to fail and therefore had to be discarded. In Mussolini's words, national strength was conceived qualitatively rather than quantitatively: the nation should be ruled by a well-disciplined party elite, guided by an inspired and unquestioned leader who would restore order and stability and lead the nation to greatness. Mussolini advocated state control of economics, of assembly, and of thought, stressing the overarching importance of the state and the obligation of every individual to place the state above themselves. It should therefore come as no surprise that Mussolini's ultimate foreign policy goal was to "revive the glories of the old Roman Empire."

While that goal may not have amounted to literal world domination, the breadth of the Roman Empire — given the technology of its era — was an achievement rarely matched by other societies. It is not unreasonable to assume that Mussolini wanted to dominate as much of the globe as he could, and he "adopted an expansionist foreign policy from the beginning of his rule."

Mussolini was ultimately a failure in domestic policy. His programs aimed at improving financial conditions for average Italians actually reduced the Italian standard of living. However, by the time those programs were revealed as failures, Mussolini had already achieved a totalitarian takeover of the government. Dissent was not permitted. The secret police and other government organizations suppressed adult opposition, and a state-controlled media strictly regulated what news Italians received. Through education, schoolchildren were indoctrinated with Fascist ideas and told that "Mussolini is always right." Millions of them were recruited into party youth organizations. In 1931, university professors were forced to swear an oath of loyalty to fascism and to teach according to its principles.

By the late 1920s, however, Mussolini recognized the need for Catholic support, since the vast majority of Italians were Catholic. Catholics had already organized in religious political groups before his takeover, making him acutely aware of the risk that they might do so again. This led to his first successful foray into foreign policy. When Mussolini came to power, a long-standing rift existed between the Papacy and the Kingdom of Italy, dating from 1870, when the Papal Kingdom was confiscated by the Italian Kingdom and the Pope refused to recognize the Italian state or to leave the Vatican.

Mussolini entered into negotiations with the Pope to heal that rift. In 1929, the two parties concluded the Lateran Agreements, consisting of a Treaty, a Concordat, and a Financial Convention. At first glance the Treaty appears to contradict Mussolini's expansionist goals, because it recognized papal sovereignty over Vatican City and granted the Holy See full diplomatic rights. However, Mussolini also secured the Papacy's official recognition of the Kingdom of Italy and, more significantly, its surrender of its claim to the greater part of Rome. In exchange for the relatively small area of Vatican City, Mussolini received an undisputed claim to Rome, gained a powerful political ally, and neutralized the risk of predominantly Catholic Italians opposing his foreign policy toward the Church. The Lateran Agreements were described as "a great personal triumph" for Mussolini. As the Pope regarded him as "a man of Providence," the agreement also raised Mussolini's prestige in the eyes of the wider world.

Conclusion: Evaluating Mussolini's Foreign Policy Record

Mussolini's defeat in World War II and his subsequent death at the hands of an Italian executioner might seem to confirm that his foreign policy goals were unsuccessful. However, it is important to assess his entire political career rather than only its end. Mussolini did succeed in expanding Italy beyond the territorial limits it had when he took office. He negotiated several key alliances that protected Italy from German aggression during the early war years, enabled Germany to gear up for conflict in Western Europe, and very likely kept Spain from joining the Allied powers. These were not trivial accomplishments. One must conclude, therefore, that Mussolini was successful in achieving a meaningful portion of his foreign policy goals — even if those successes ultimately proved short-lived.

Works Cited

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