Published bi-weekly by the Research Department of the FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION, 18 East 41st St., New York, N. Y. MUS Italian Foreign and Colonial Policy USSOLINI'S vigorous pronouncements Mussolini's success in arousing the en- The materials out of which the Italian But Mussolini's energy is not the only day Italian interest are practically identical with those of pre-fascist days. The purpose of this report is to analyze objectively the basic factors which determine Italian foreign policy and to review briefly Italy's political activity in recent years. It is obviously impossible, however, to touch upon the underlying motives which may or may not influence specific diplomatic departures or policies within the limited space of this report. As a result political events and trends are cited without any apology for their character or any final judgment of their significance with respect to the larger question of world peace. BASIC FACTORS SHAPING Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century Italy's foreign and colonial policy has been determined largely by her situation in the Mediterranean, by her unfavorable economic position and by her emigration requirements. Her shortage of essential raw materials and fuels, as well as her dependence upon imported foodstuffs for domestic consumption on the one hand, and the problem of disposing of her large surplus population on the other, have been the two basic economic factors influencing her external policy. A survey of Italy's position with regard to raw materials shows more specifically that she lacks within her own borders practictically every mineral essential to her economic development. She has neither iron nor copper, gold nor tin. Mercury and sulphur, the only two minerals which are now mined in Italy to any considerable extent, are relatively unimportant to her economic life. Equally critical is the shortage of fuels. Italy has no important coal deposits and no petroleum. For the former she is dependent upon England and Germany; for the latter upon England and Russia. Although the development of her hydroelectric resources may ultimately supply adequate power, that day is still far in the future. In the matter of foodstuffs Italy likewise finds herself dependent upon foreign sources. In spite of intensive cultivation of every available acre of farm land and governmental stimulation of agricultural production by the creation of farm credits and the erection of a tariff on imported wheat, Italian production falls far short of meeting domestic needs. The following table shows the intensity of agricultural development in Italy. Only about 8 per cent of the total land area is classified as unproductive. Italy's dependence upon foreign countries for her raw materials and foodstuffs is of fundamental importance to her national security, as she would be at the mercy of any power able to maintain an effective blockade. PRESSURE OF POPULATION IN ITALY The second basic factor in determining Italian policy is the serious pressure of a large surplus population. During the past fifty years the population of Italy has risen steadily until it now exceeds forty-one million. The Italian emigration movement began in the decade of the seventies and increased steadily until 1914. In the period just before the war approximately four hundred thousand Italians emigrated from Italy each year, more than half going to the United States or South America. After the war the unsettled political situation in Europe and the world-wide economic crisis acted as a check on Italian emigration. In 1924 the Immigration Act of the United States virtually closed America to Italian immigrants and diverted large numbers of Italians to France, where rehabilitation of the devastated areas had created a demand for labor. The present industrial depression in France, however, McGuire, Italy's International Economic Position, page 493. IMPORTS EXPORTS 6,586.1 8,358.2 6,555.9 4,611.0 3,915.9 1,405.3 2,223.8 541.5 1,727.7 569.2 1.175.6 409.2 1,120.5 219.0 2,851.4 2,161.2 is curtailing immigration. During the five years between 1919 and 1923 emigration was less than half what is was during the five year period before the war. From 1921 to 1925 the population of Italy increased at the rate of more than 400,000 per annum. At the present time neither Europe nor South America is absorbing this surplus population. Italy's colonies in Africa and her possessions in the eastern Mediterranean likewise fail to provide an outlet. As shown by the following table, less than thirty thousand Italians have settled in the colonies. |