Abstract
On 5 January 1947, Alcide De Gasperi landed at Washington airport for his first visit to the United States. The Italian Prime Minister was welcomed only by a minor official of the State Department.1 In spite of this lukewarm reception, De Gasperi later departed as the respected and highly praised leader of a friendly country, in whose future the American administration appeared to take a deep interest.2 During the months which followed De Gasperi’s visit, as the growing contrast between East and West developed into the Cold War, Italy seemed ready to align itself with the Western world.3 Meanwhile the major Western powers showed growing interest in Italian internal affairs, as the peninsula appeared to be the weakest link in the Western ‘chain’, the next obvious prey for Soviet political expansionism.4
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Notes
E. Ortona, Anni d’America. La ricostruzione 1944/1951, Bologna, il Mulino, 1984, p. 179.
On De Gasperi’s visit see S. Serfaty, ‘Gli Stati Uniti, l’ltalia e la guerra fredda: l’anno della decisione: 1947’, in T. Bonazzi (ed.), America-Europa la circolazione delle idee, Bologna, il Mulino, 1976, pp. 143–165
S. Galante, ‘La scelta americana della Dc’, in M. Isnenghi and S. Lanaro (eds), La Democrazia Cristiana dal fascismo al 18 aprile, Venezia, Marsilio, 1978, pp. 112–163.
On post-war Italy see S. J. Woolf (ed.), The Rebirth of Italy, 1943–1950, London, Longman, 1972
A. Gambino, Storia del dopoguerra dalla liberazione al potere Dc, Roma/Bari, Laterza, 1975
L. Valiani, L ‘Italia di De Gasperi (1945–1954), Firenze, Le Monnier, 1982
E. Di Nolfo, Le paure e le speranze degli italiani (1943–1953), Milano, Mondadori, 1986.
See, for example, J. E. Miller, ‘Taking Off the Gloves: the United States and the Italian Elections of 1948’, Diplomatic History, vol. 6, no. 3, 1982, pp. 35–55
A. Varsori, ‘La Gran Bretagne e le elezioni politiche italiane del 18 aprile 1948’, Storia contemporanea, vol. 13, no. 1, 1982, pp. 1–70
P. Guillen, M. Vaïsse, E. Serra in J.-B. Duroselle and E. Serra (eds), Italia e Francia 1946–1954, Milano, Angeli, 1988.
On De Gasperi see L. Valiani, L’Italia; on Sforza: L. Zeno, Ritratto di Carlo Sforza, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1975
C. Sforza, Cinque anni a Palazzo Chigi, Rome, Atlante, 1952.
As for France see J.-B. Duroselle and E. Serra (eds), Italia; as for Britain: A. Varsori, ‘L’incerta rinascita di una tradizionale amicizia: i colloqui Bevin Sforza dell’ottobre 1947’, Storia contemporanea, vol. 16, no. 4, 1984, pp. 593–645.
J. E. Miller, The United States and Italy 1940–1950: the Politics and Diplomacy of Stabilization, Chapel Hill and London, the University of North Carolina Press, 1986
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A. Varsori, ‘Italian Diplomacy and Contrasting perceptions of American Policy after World War II (1947–50)’, Storia Nor darnericana, vol. 3, no. 2, 1986, pp. 73–92
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On Italy’s foreign policy see, among others: P. Pastorelli, La politica estera italiana del dopoguerra, Bologna, il Mulino, 1987
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The text of Bevin’s speech in: Royal Institute of International Affairs, Documents on International Affairs, 1947–48, London, RIIA, 1952, pp. 201–21.
A. Bullock, Ernest Bevin: Foreign Secretary 1945–1951, London, Heinemann, 1984, pp. 518–25.
On the Brussels Treaty see, among others, the contributions by M. Vaïsse and J. Stengers in R. Poidevin (ed.), Histoire des débuts de la construction européenne (mars 1948-mai 1950). Actes du colloque de Strasbourg (28–30 Novembre 1984), Bruxelles, Bruylant, 1986, pp. 119–42
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See: S. Galante, La politica del PCI e il Patto atlantico, Padova, Marsilio, 1973
D. Ardia, Il Partito socialista e il Patto atlantico, Milano, Angeli, 1976.
See the interesting remarks in I. Poggiolini, ‘Europeismo degasperiano e politica estera dell’Italia: un’ipotesi interpretativa (1947–1949)’ Storia delle relazioni internazionali, vol. 1, no. 1, 1985, pp. 67–94.
On US strategy see K.W. Condit, The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The Chiefs of Staff and National Policy, vol. 2, 1947–1949, Wilmington, Delaware, Michael Glazier, 1979.
See B. Vigezzi, ‘La politica estera italiana e le premesse della scelta atlantica. Governo, diplomatici, militari e le discussioni dell’estate 1948’, in B. Vigezzi (ed.), La dimensione atlantica e le relazioni internazionali nel dopoguerra (1947–1949), Milano, Jaca Book, 1987, pp. 1–189.
On the position of the political parties see G. Di Capua, Come l’Italia aderì al Patto atlantico, Roma, EBE, 1971.
ASMAE, AL, b. 1360, fasc. 1, teles, no. 24777/C, Ministero Affari Esteri to the Embassies in Washington, London, Paris, Moscow. See also: E. Di Nolfo, ‘La politica estera del Vaticano e l’Italia dal 1943 al 1948’; C. Meneguzzi Rostagni, ‘Il Vaticano e i rapporti est-ovest nel secondo dopoguerra (1945–1949)’; P. Chenaux, ‘Le Vatican et l’Europe (1947–1957)’, Storia delle relazioni internazionali, vol 4. no. 1, 1988, pp. 3–84.
On the setting up of NATO see, among others: E. Reid, Time for Fear and Hope. The making of the North Atlantic Treaty 1947–1949, Toronto, McLelland and Stewart, 1977
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O. Riste (ed.), Western Security. The Formative Years. European and Atlantic Defense 1947–1953, Oslo, Norwegian University Press, 1985
On France’s position see: P. Guillen, ‘La France et la question de la défense de l’Europe Occidentale du Pacte de Bruxelles (mars 1948) au Plan Pleven (octobre 1950)’, Storia délie relazioni internazionali, vol. 2, no. 2, 1986, pp. 305–26
L. Nuti, ‘La missione Marras, 2–22 dicembre 1948’ Storia delle relazioni internazionali, vol. 3, no. 2, 1987, pp. 343–68
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L.S. Kaplan, A Community of Interests: NATO and the Military Assistance Program, 1948–1951, Washington DC; Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical Office, 1980.
As an example see: W. LaFeber, ‘NATO and the Korean War: A Context’, Diplomatic History, vol. 13, no. 4, 1989, pp. 461–477.
ASMAE, APa, b. 476, fasc. 3, teles. no. Segr. Pol. PA 1170/C, MAE to the Embassies in Washington and Paris, 24 Aug. 1950. See also E.T. Smith, ‘From Disarmament to Rearmament: the United States and the Revision of the Italian Peace Treaty of 1947’, Diplomatic History, vol. 13, no. 3, 1989, pp. 359–382.
E. Fursdon, The European Defence Community: A History, London, Macmillan, 1980.
S. Galante, Il Partito Comunista Italiano e l’integrazione europea. Il decennio del rifiuto: 1947–1957, Padova, Liviana, 1988, pp. 61–112.
On the Trieste question see, among others: D. De Castro, La questione di Trieste. L’azione politica e diplomatica italiana dal 1943 al 1954, Trieste, LINT, 1981
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See in particular J. E. Miller, ‘Roughhouse Diplomacy: the United States Confronts Italian Communism, 1945–1958’, Storia delle relazioni internazionali, vol. 5, no. 2, 1989, pp. 279–312.
J.-P. Rioux, La France de la Quatrième République, vol. II, L’expansion et l’impuissance 1952–1958, Paris, Seuil, 1983.
On the crisis of the EDC and Mendès-France’s policy see, in particular, the essays by A. Grosser, R. Girault. M. Vaïsse, P. Melandri in F. Bédira and J.-P. Rioux (eds). Pierre Mendès et le mendesisme, Paris, Fayard, 1985.
A. Varsori, ‘L’azione diplomatica italiana dal fallimento delia CED all’istituzione délia UEO (1954–1955)’. in CHRIPA, La France et l’Italie dans les Annés Cinquante. Grenoble. Université des Sciences Sociales de Grenoble, 1988, pp. 63–94.
G.-H. Soutou, ‘La France, l’Allemagne et les accords de Paris’, Relations Internationales, no. 52, 1987, pp. 451-70; J.W. Young, ‘German Rearmament and the European Defence Community’, in J. W. Young (ed.), The Foreign Policy of the Churchill’s Peacetime Administration 1951–1955, Leicester University Press, 1988, pp. 81-107; S. Dockrill, ‘Britain and the Settlement of the West German Rearmament Question in 1954’, in M. Dockrill and J.W. Young (eds), British Foreign Policy 1945–56, London, Macmillan, 1989, pp. 149–72.
See, among others: A. Adamthwaite,’ suez Revisited’, in M. Dockrill and J.W. Young (eds), British Foreign Policy 1945–56, pp. 225-45; R. Girault, ‘La France entre l’Europe et l’Afrique’, in E. Serra (ed.), The Relaunching of Europe and the Treaties of Rome, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 1989, pp. 351–78.
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Varsori, A. (1992). Italy and Western Defence 1948–55: The Elusive Ally. In: Heuser, B., O’Neill, R. (eds) Securing Peace in Europe, 1945–62. St Antony’s/Macmillan Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21810-3_11
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