Tuesday, June 26, 2007

What was The Stresa Conference, and What was Its Importance to WWII

The ANNOTICO Report                        

 

We already know that the Victors write History (of course cast themselves in the most favorable light), and while those Historians tend to make Fiction/ Propaganda out of Fact, the Media make Fairy Tale out of Fiction (they call it Literary license).

 

While Anti Italians, or those wishing to deflect responsibility from themselves, for anything negative in WWII, or with other nefarious agendas, distort beyond recognition, Italy and Mussolini's actions between 1922-1943.

 

The Stressa Conference in Italy in April 1935, ITALY, Britain, France Met to Attempt to Curb Hitler. Hitler had announced plans to ignore the Versailles Treaty, and quadruple his army, increase its Air Force and Navy, with submarines.

 

Mussolini took a tough hard line against Hitler (with his main concern of Hitler's intentions toward Austria, and then....) , while Britain 'kept the door open' with Germany in hopes of obtaining satisfactory agreements.

 

Within two months the UK had signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, by which Germany was given the green light to increase the size of its navy.  The UK had not first informed its Stresa partners , which enraged Mussolini, and the front was seriously damaged.

 

While the USA was virulently Anti Communist, as was Britain, and France, Both Germany on Russia's West Border, and Japan on Russia's East border, also were concerned about the USSR's intentions and concluded The Anti-Comintern Pact  on November 25, 1936.

 

The pact, which was directed against the Communist International (Comintern) in general, and the Soviet Union in particular.

"recognizing that the aim of the Communist International, known as the Comintern, is to disintegrate and subdue existing States by all the means at its command; convinced that the toleration of interference by the Communist International in the internal affairs of the nations not only endangers their internal peace and social well-being, but is also a menace to the peace of the world desirous of co-operating in the defense against Communist sub­versive activities"

In case of an attack by the Soviet Union against Germany or Japan, the two countries agreed to consult on what measures to take "to safeguard their common interests". They also agreed that neither of them would make any political treaties with the Soviet Union.

In 1937,  Italy joined the Pact, thereby forming the group that would later be known as the Axis Powers.

Italy's decision was partially a reaction against Britain and France "reneging" on the Hoare-Laval Agreement, accepting Italy's annexation of two thirds of Ethiopia, and Britain's "betrayal" of the Stresa Front, the Franco-British initiative of 1935 designed to curb Hitler's Military Buildup. In particular,all three nations tried to block "German expansionism", especially the annexation of Austria, which was also in Italy's best interests to prevent.

Italy was also driven into Germany's sphere when  Anthony Eden became Foreign Secretary of Britain in 1935. Previous to that  Eden was British minister for League of Nations Affairs ...While Eden supported the policy of non-interference in the Spanish Civil War, and supported Neville Chamberlain in appeasements to Germany, and did not protest  Hitler's reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936. YET in February 1938, he RESIGNED  because he could not accept PM Chamberlain's mere opening of negotiations with Italy.

This is made clear in an excerpt of an Interview of Bob Santamaria by Robin Hughes, April 23, 1997 http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/

santamaria/interview2.html

Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria (14 August 1915 - 25 February 1998), Australian political activist and journalist, was one of the most influential political figures in 20th century Australian history, although he never held public office, he was the unofficial leader and guiding influence of the Democratic Labor Party. Santamaria was born in Melbourne, the son of a greengrocer who was an immigrant from Sicily. He was educated at  elite private schools, and at Melbourne University, where he graduated in law.

His MA thesis was titled Italy changes shirts: the origins of Italian fascism.. He also was a a strong supporter and wrote about Mussolini's regime in Italy, but denied that he had ever been a supporter of fascism. He always disliked and opposed Hitler and Nazism. Whilst being a strong supporter of Mussolini up until 1936, he attributed Mussolini's late alliance with Hitler to the failed policies of Anthony Eden, and expressed regret that Mussolini went with Hitler......

The person whom I hold as responsible for the choice that Mussolini ultimately made  - was Anthony Eden. When Mussolini invaded Abyssinia, the invasion was quite unjustifiable, but Anthony Eden made a kind of crusading polemic against it to drive Mussolini out of the ranks of civilised Europeans. But Mussolini had always been very clear in the danger which Hitler represented and Mussolini had formed, with Britain and with France, an alliance called the Stresa Front and if the Stresa Front had been maintained, I don't think Hitler could have gone to war in the end. And so the ... what I regarded as the ill-judged actions in all of the circumstances of Anthony Eden, pushed Mussolini in the direction of Hitler. Now I'm not exonerating Mussolini. But it's got to be understood in its historical context.

Eden later was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 to 1957. He is mainly remembered for his role in the Suez Crisis of 1956, which was politically disastrous from a British perspective. Eden is generally ranked among the least successful British Prime Ministers of the 20th century.

The Axis Powers originally had the SAME objectives as the Allies, to Stop Communism, except the Axis Powers were geographically closer, and in greater jeopardy of the USSR expansionist designs.

Poland's strategic position, and it's Refusal to join the Axis, ( and enrage Russia), set the stage a series of actions, the results of which were unpredictable, and always full of unintended consequences. (Ask Geo W Bush about Iraq). Poland's invasion by Germany, and splitting Poland in two with Russia, gave Germany direct access to the "Evil Empire".

Stresa Front

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Stresa Front was an agreement made between French foreign minister Pierre Laval, British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Italian leader Benito Mussolini in April 1935. Its aim was to reaffirm the Locarno Treaties, and to declare that the independence of Austria "would continue to inspire their common policy". They also agreed to resist any future attempt by the Germans to change the Treaty of Versailles.

The Stresa Front takes its name from the Stresa Conference in Italy, where it was negotiated. Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, was able to cut a dashing figure by arriving at the conference via speedboat.

The Stresa Front was triggered by Germany's declaration of its intention to build up an air force, to increase the size of its army to 36 divisions, (400,000 men - four times the army allowed by Versailles) and to introduce conscription, in March 1935.

The Stresa Front could be seen as a failure due to its vague terms and the fact that it wasn't clear what its aims were and how they should be upheld. This was designed to be vague and it ignored all references to Germany as Britain was adopting a dual policy. The tough hard line was provided by Mussolini, while Britain 'kept the door open' with Germany in order to obtain agreements. The Front omitted any references to Germany as not to antagonise Hitler and end Anglo-German negotiations. This fact could make the Stresa Front be seen as a mild success. Hitler had used tactics that made Britain and France guess at what his next move would be. However, because of the vague terms, it kept Hitler guessing at what Britain would do. However Britain didn't realize the advantage it had over Germany and this was lost with the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement

Another reason for its failure was that neither Britain, France or Italy wanted to invade Germany and the only real way in which German rearmament could be ceased was by a full scale invasion of Germany. However the British government was loathe to go with this option as they perceived that the British public opinion was that of anti-war sentiment.

The Front was not successful. Within two months the UK had signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, by which Germany was given the green light to increase the size of its navy to 35% of the Royal Navy and to build submarines. The UK had not discussed this with its Stresa partners and the front was seriously damaged. This highlighted the fact that the countries that made up the Stresa Front were pulling in different directions, and weakened the front. It collapsed completely with Italy's invasion of Abyssinia.

Mussolini had ambitions of controlling Abyssinia for a long time and it was a well known fact. When Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement it ended the Stresa Front as it enraged Mussolini. This was because Britain had signed the agreement without first informing him. This was particularly damaging as Mussolini knew that Italy was a small power when compared to Britain and France and this enraged him so much that it prompted action in Abyssinia. Mussolini had held back on his invasion plans as Abyssinia bordered French and British Somaliland and he didn't want to anger his allies. However he saw that Britain had betrayed him and it removed all doubts about the invasion. He also believed that such a move ended the conditions that were agreed in the Stresa Front.

 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:

Italia USA: http://www.ItaliaUSA.com [Formerly Italy at St Louis] (7 years)

Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)

Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net