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Rome and Moscow Seek a Closer Alliance in the 1920s

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The Rise of Bolshevism and its Impact on the Interwar International Order

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Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to analyse how, putting aside ideological contradictions, relations between Rome and Moscow developed after signing the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation on 7 February 1924, which restored diplomatic and consular relations between the two countries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Andrea Graziosi, L’Urss di Lenin e Stalin. Storia dell’Unione Sovietica, 1914–1945 (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2007), 42–55.

  2. 2.

    Silvio Pons, La rivoluzione globale. Storia del comunismo internazionale, 1917–1991 (Torino: Einaudi, 2012), 5–57. On this matter, see also Kevin McDermott, Jeremy Agnew (eds.), The Comintern: a History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996); and Wladisław Hedeler, Aleksandr Vatlin, Die Weltpartei aus Moskau. Der Grundungskongress der Kommunistischen Internationale 1919. Protokoll und neue Dokumente (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2008).

  3. 3.

    On Soviet foreign policy, see Alastair Kocho-Williams, Russia’s International Relations in the Twentieth Century (London: Routledge, 2012); Gabriel Gorodetsky, Soviet Foreign Policy, 1917–1991: a Retrospective (London: Routledge, 2013). As concerns the Twenties in particular, consider especially Mikhail Narinskij, Sous la direction de L’Urss et l’Europe dans les années 20, Actes du colloque organisé à Moscou les 2 et 3 octobre 1997 par l’Institut d’Histoire Universelle de l’Academie des Sciences de Russie (Paris: Presses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2000).

  4. 4.

    Valentine Lomellini, La “grande paura rossa”. L’Italia delle spie bolsceviche (1917–1922), (Milano: FrancoAngeli, 2015), 273.

  5. 5.

    As concerns these years, see Matteo Pizzigallo, Mediterraneo e Russia nella politica italiana (1922–1924) (Milano: Giuffré, 1983).

  6. 6.

    Relations between Turkey and Soviet Russia had stabilised with the signing of the Treaty of Kars on 16 March 1921.

  7. 7.

    Narodnyj Kommissariat Inostrannych Del.

  8. 8.

    The text of the Treaty is in Dokumenty Vnešnej Politiki SSSR (hereafter DVP), Tom (from now T.) 7, Dokument (hereafter Dok.) 39, Dogovor o torgovle i moreplavanii meždu Sojuzom Sovetskich Socialističeskich Respublik i Italiej, 7 fevralja 1924, 68–88.

  9. 9.

    Archiv Vnešnej Politiki Rossijskoj Federacii, Istoriko-Dokumental’nyj Departament, Moskva (hereafter AVPRF), Fond 4—Čičerina (hereafter F 4), opis’ 20 (hereafter op.), papka 155 (hereafter pap.), delo 49 (hereafter d.), Beseda c Ital’janskim Poslom Manzoni, Moskva, 26 fevralja 1924, 9.

  10. 10.

    On the Italian–Soviet economic relations after the signing of the Treaty, see Pizzigallo, Mediterraneo e Russia, 193, Giorgio Petracchi, La Russia rivoluzionaria nella politica italiana: le relazioni italo-sovietiche 1917–25 (Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1982), 248; Rosaria Quartararo, Italia-Urss 1917–1941. I rapporti politici (Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 2012), 51–60.

  11. 11.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Pervyj Zamnarkom Litvinov Jurenevu, Moskva, 5 nojabrja 1924, 126–129.

  12. 12.

    Pons, La rivoluzione globale, 44.

  13. 13.

    On the Italian–Afghan relations, see Luciano Monzali, Un re afghano a Roma, Amanullah e l’Afghanistan nella politica estera italiana (1919–1943) (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2012).

  14. 14.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 13 marta 1924, 13–14.

  15. 15.

    As concerns in particular the relationship between Italy and Saudi Arabia, refer to Matteo Pizzigallo, La diplomazia dell’amicizia. Italia e Arabia Saudita (1932–1942) (ESI: Napoli, 2000). Although it does not overlook the Persian Gulf, in order to contextualise Italy’s foreign policy in the area refer to the book by Enrico De Leone, Le relazioni italo-yemenite negli ultimi ottant’anni (Padova: CEDAM, 1956).

  16. 16.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 27 marzo 1924, 22–23.

  17. 17.

    The Italian presence in China was limited to the territorial concession of Tientsin, an important area south of Beijing, giving on to the sea and not too far from the Russian city of Vladivostok. The Italians had acquired it in recognition for the help offered to China during the repression of the Boxer uprising in the early 1900s. See on this issue Daniele Comberiati, ‘La colonia cinese: le rappresentazioni culturali e letterarie della concessione italiana di Tientsin nella letteratura e nella cultura italiana del Novecento’, Forum Italicum: a Journal of Italian Studies, vol. 48, n. 3, 2014, in www.journals.sagepub.com; Roberto Festorazzi, ‘Tianjin. Glorie militari italiane nell’Estremo Oriente’, Limes, n. 8, 2014. In general, as concerns Italy’s foreign policy in China, refer to Giorgio Borsa, Tentativi di penetrazione dell’Italia fascista in Cina (1932–1937), in Giorgio Borsa (ed.), Europa e Asia tra modernità e tradizione (Milano: Franco Angeli, 1994), 239–290: Guido Samarani, Laura De Giorgi, Lontane, Vicine. Le relazioni fra Cina e Italia nel Novecento (Roma: Carocci, 2011).

  18. 18.

    Charbin is the Russian name of the Chinese city of Harbin, capital of Manchuria.

  19. 19.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 5 aprelja 1924, 37.

  20. 20.

    As concerns Persia’s position hemmed in between the games of major powers, see A. Banani, The modernization of Iran (1921–1941) (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961); and Stephanie Cronin, The Army and the creation of the Palhavi state 1921–1926 (London: Tauris, 1997).

  21. 21.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 11 aprelja 1924, p. 40.

  22. 22.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 43, Jurenev Pervomu Zamnarkomu tov. M.M. Litvinovu, Rim, 17 Maja 1924, 111–118.

  23. 23.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 49, Čičerin, Sidanie c Ital’janskim Poslom, 4 dekabrja 1924, 39.

  24. 24.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. Jurenev Pervomu Zamnarkomu tov. M.M. Litvinovu, Rim, 17 Maja 1924, pp. 108–110.

  25. 25.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Litvinov tovarišu K.K Jurenevu, 1 marta 1924, pp. 18–19.

  26. 26.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 1 maja 1924, pp. 59–60, Litvinov tovarišu K.K Jurenevu, 5 nojabrja 1924, pp. 126–129.

  27. 27.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 43, Jurenev Pervomu Zamnarkomu tov. M.M. Litvinovu, Rim, 27e Maja 1924, pp. 134–141.

  28. 28.

    DVP SSSR, T.7, Dok. 177, Telegramma Narodnogo Kommissara Inostrannych Del SSSR Polnomočnomu Predstavitelju SSSR v Italii K-K. Jurenevu, 21 Junija 1924, p. 390 e n.193, Telegramma Narodnogo Kommissara Inostrannych Del SSSR Polnomočnomu Predstavitelju SSSR v Italii K-K. Jurenevu, 25 Julija 1924, p. 407.

  29. 29.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 23 julija 1924, p. 75.

  30. 30.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Čičerin tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, 3 sentjabrja 1924, p. 90.

  31. 31.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, delo 44, Jurenev Pervomu Zamnarkomu tov. M.M Litvinovu, Rim, 20 sentjabrja 1924, 11–15.

  32. 32.

    DVP SSSR, T. 7, Dok. 295, Pis’mo Zamestitelja Narodnogo Kommissara Inostrannych Del SSSR Polnomočnomu Predstavitelju SSSR v Italii K-K. Jurenevu, 24 dekabrja 1924, 589.

  33. 33.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 155, d. 46, Litvinov tovarišu K.K. Jurenevu, Moskva, 1 oktobrja 1924, 95–100.

  34. 34.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 158, d. 85, Litvinov Polnomočnomu Predstavitelju CCCR v Italii, tov. K.K. Jurenevu, 28 fevralja 1925, 52–57.

  35. 35.

    DVP SSSR Tom 8, Dok. 57, Soobšenjie Polnomočnogo Predstavitelja SSSR v Italii o besede s Predsedatelem Soveta Ministrov i Ministrom Inostrannych Del Italii Mussolini, 9 fevralja 1925, 121–123.

  36. 36.

    On this point, see AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 157, d. 84, “Pis’ma Polpredstva po Dogovoru, 2.1.1925–23.11.1925”, d. 85, “Perepiska NKID Torgovou Dogovorum 2.1.1925–25.11.1925”, d. 86 “Šifrovki po Torgovou Dogovoru, 25.9.1923–29.12.1923”, d. 87, “Raznaja Perepiska po Dogovoru, 13.1.1925–20.2.1925”.

  37. 37.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 157, d. 87, Litvinov v Politbjuro ZK RKP, Ob Italii, 13 janvarja 1925.

  38. 38.

    Pietro Pastorelli, Italia e Albania, 1924–1927: origini diplomatiche del Trattato di Tirana del 22 novembre 1927 (Firenze: Biblioteca della Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali, 1967), 278.

  39. 39.

    On the Locarno conference, see Matteo L. Napolitano, Mussolini e la Conferenza di Locarno (1925). Il problema della sicurezza nella politica estera italiana (Urbino: Montefeltro, 1996).

  40. 40.

    Documenti Diplomatici Italiani (hereafter DDI), Serie VII, volume (hereafter vol.) 4, Documento (hereafter Doc.) 175, L’ambasciatore a Mosca, Manzoni, al Presidente del Consiglio e Ministro degli Esteri, Mussolini, Mosca, 13 November 1925, 128–129.

  41. 41.

    Anna Di Biagio, Coesistenza e isolazionismo. Mosca, il Komintern e l’Europa di Versailles (1918–1928) (Roma: Carocci, 2004), 174–176; Pons, La rivoluzione globale, 65.

  42. 42.

    On the figure of Dino Grandi, see the works of Paolo Nello, Dino Grandi. La formazione di un leader fascista (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1987); Paolo Nello, Un fedele disubbidiente. Dino Grandi da Palazzo Chigi al 25 luglio (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1993).

  43. 43.

    Paolo Spriano, Storia del Partito Comunista Italiano. Gli anni della clandestinità (Torino: Einaudi, 1969), 61–72.

  44. 44.

    AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 158, d. 99, Polpred SSSR v Italii, Keržencev tov. Litvinovu, Rim, 7 aprelja 1926.

  45. 45.

    Pseudonym of Platon Michailovič Lebedev.

  46. 46.

    DVP SSSR, T. 9, Doc. 10, Soobšenjie Polnomočnogo Predstavitelja SSSR v Italii o besede s Predsedatelem Soveta ministrov i Ministrom Inostrannych Del Italii Mussolini i General’nym Sekretarem Ministerstva Inostrannych Del Italii Kontarini, Rim, 8 janvarja 1926, 15–18.

  47. 47.

    DVP SSSR, T. 9, Dok. 136, Zapis’ besedy Zamestitelja Narodnogo Komissara Inostrannych Del SSSR s Poslom Italii v SSSR Manzoni, Moskva, 21 aprelja 1926, 245–247.

  48. 48.

    DDI, Serie VII, Vol. 4, Doc. 366, Manzoni, Ambassador to Moscow, to the Head of Government and Foreign Minister, Mussolini, Moscow, 14 June 1926.

  49. 49.

    DDI, Serie VII, Vol. 4, Doc. 417, The Head of Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mussolini to the Ambassador to Moscow, Manzoni, Rome, 12 September 1926, 321–322.

  50. 50.

    Petracchi, La Russia rivoluzionaria, 256–257.

  51. 51.

    The negative and worried reaction of the Soviet ambassador to the news of the signing of the agreement between Italy and Romania is in AVPRF, F 4, op. 20, pap. 158, d. 99, Polpred SSSR v Italii Keržencev Tov. Litvinovu, Rim, 16 sentiabrja 1926, 87–91. The official note of protest may be found in DVP SSSR, T. 9, Dok. 285, Note of Polnomočnogo Predstavitelja SSSR Italii Predsedatelju Soveta ministrov i Ministru Inostrannych Del Italii Mussolini, Moskva, 6 oktjabrja 1926, 480–481.

  52. 52.

    DDI, Serie VII, Vol. 4, Doc. 452, The Head of Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mussolini to the Ambassador to Moscow, Manzoni, Rome, 7 October 1926, 351.

  53. 53.

    DVP SSSR, Tom 9, Dok. 285, Nota Polnomočnogo Predstavitelja SSSR Italii Predsedatelju Soveta ministrov i Ministru Inostrannych Del Italii Mussolini, 6 oktjabrja 1926, pp. 480–481.

  54. 54.

    DDI, Serie VII, vol. 4, Doc. 540, Il Capo del Governo e Ministro degli Esteri Mussolini all’Ambasciatore a Mosca, Manzoni, Roma, 13 December 1926, 419.

  55. 55.

    DDI, Serie VII, vol. 4, Doc. 542, L’Ambasciatore a Mosca, Manzoni, al capo del Governo e Ministro degli Esteri, Mussolini, Mosca, 14 December 1926, 419–420.

  56. 56.

    Tensions were so high that the English Cabinet evaluated the possibility of breaking off diplomatic relations, Stephanie Salzmann, Great Britain, Germany and the Soviet Union: Rapallo and After, 1922–1934 (Suffolk and Rochester: The Boydell Press, 2003), 80–87.

  57. 57.

    DDI, Serie VII, vol. 4, Doc. 580, Il Capo del Governo e Ministro degli Esteri Mussolini al Ministro a Bucarest Durazzo, Roma, 16 January 1927, 452–453.

  58. 58.

    DDI, Serie VII, vol. 5, Doc. 54, Il Capo del Governo e Ministro degli Esteri Mussolini al Delegato alla Società delle Nazioni Scaloja, e all’Ambasciatore a Londra Della Torretta, Roma, 7 March 1927.

  59. 59.

    DVP SSSR, T. 10, Dok. 43, Telegramma Polnomočnogo Predstavitelja SSSR v Narodnyj Kommissariat Inostrannych Del SSSR, Moskva, 7 marta 1927, 75–76 e DVP SSSR, T. 10, Dok. 58, Nota Polnomočnogo Predstavitelja SSSR v Italii Predsedatelju Soveta ministrov i Ministru Inostrannych Del Italii Mussolini, Moskva, 17 marta 1927, 220.

  60. 60.

    DDI, Serie VII, vol. 5, Doc. 281, L’Ambasciatore a Mosca, Cerruti, al capo del Governo e Ministro degli Esteri, Mussolini, Mosca, 19 June 1927, 276.

  61. 61.

    DDI, Serie VII, vol. 5, Doc. 288, Il Capo del Governo e Ministro degli Esteri, Mussolini, all’ambasciatore a Mosca, Cerruti, Roma, 23 June 1927.

  62. 62.

    The Soviet Union had been accused of financing the strikes that had spread in Great Britain during 1926. On this matter, see Kocho-Williams Alastair, Russia’s International Relations in the Twentieth Century (New York: Routledge, 2013), 49–50; Gabriel Gorodetsky, The Precarious Truce: Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1924–1927 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). But see also Anthony Best, ‘We are virtually at War with Russia: Britain and the Cold War in East Asia, 1923–1940’, Cold War History, Vol. 12, n. 2, 2012, 205–225, which draws attention to the theme of Soviet–British rivalry in the Asian theatre.

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    Elena Dundovich

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    Valentine Lomellini

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Dundovich, E. (2020). Rome and Moscow Seek a Closer Alliance in the 1920s. In: Lomellini, V. (eds) The Rise of Bolshevism and its Impact on the Interwar International Order. Security, Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35529-6_3

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