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Introduction

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Book cover Britain, Italy and the Origins of the Cold War

Part of the book series: Cold War History Series ((CWH))

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Abstract

From the moment Mussolini had forsaken ‘non-belligerency’ and had embarked on his ‘parallel war’ against the British Empire it was just a matter of time when Italy would have to pay for the ‘curse’ Garibaldi had so sternly warned it against.1 The combined Royalist and Fascist coup that deposed Mussolini led to the unconditional surrender of Italy in September 1943, and brought with it the division of the country and the direct control of the Southern Kingdom under the administration of Britain and America.2 Britain, because of its logistical superiority in the Mediterranean theatre of war, was initially the ‘senior’ partner in this relationship and thus the extremely harsh ‘Long Armistice Terms’ forced on the Italians by the Allies in September 1943 were to reflect the British government’s punitive attitude towards Italy.3 The Armistice regime provided for the total occupation and subjugation of Italy through the Anglo-American dominated Allied Military Government (AMGOT/AMG). Soon, however, the British and Americans in AMGOT found themselves with a dilemma. Should they govern Italy as occupiers or as liberators? Some historians such as J. R. M. Butler saw this problem as cultural.

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Notes

  1. Giuseppe Garibaldi stated that ‘there should be a curse upon Italy if she were to break away from her friendship with Britain.’ On Mussolini’s ‘parallel war’ see Knox, M., Mussolini Unleashed, 1939–43: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy’s Last War, Cambridge, 1982, pp. 53–4, 88–9 and 272–89; Kogan, N., Italy and the Allies, Cambridge, 1956; Woodward, Sir L., British Foreign Policy during the Second World War, Vols. II and III, London, 1971.

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  1. University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Effie G. H. Pedaliu (Senior Lecturer in International History)

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© 2003 Effie Pedaliu

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Pedaliu, E.G.H. (2003). Introduction. In: Britain, Italy and the Origins of the Cold War. Cold War History Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230597402_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230597402_1

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-42989-9

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