Historians' interpretation of FP in the 1930s

Question 1

How have LW historians traditionally seen Fascist FP in the 1930s?

Answer 1

As a means by which the regime attempted to distract public attention from domestic failures.

Question 2

What do the LW historians suggest about the nature of FP in the 1930s?

Answer 2

it became MORE aggressive & reckless as dissatisfaction intensified within Italy.

Question 3

Has the original LW historians’ opinion changed in recent years?

Answer 3

In recent years, historians have modified this view.

Question 4

What do historians now think about FP in the 1930s?

Answer 4

BM did recognise that FP success would bolster his regime and that he did perhaps need new, dramatic successes, now that domestic policies such as the Corporate state were yielding poor results

                          BUT His aims had always been expansionist & aggressive, even if circumstances had caused him to disguise this.

Question 5

Why had FP become more belligerent?

Answer 5

• as the result of the frustration of the limited gains won by the Italian diplomacy in the 1920s
• BUT MAINLY due to the recognition that the Nazis’ rise had transformed the European situation & opened the way for Italian ambitions.