Authors

Luca Fiorito¹;  ¹ Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy

Discussion

The purpose of this paper is to examine the intersections between Fascist racial policies and Italian foreign relations with south-eastern Europe during the period from 1938 to 1940. This study relies on primary sources from the Italian Foreign Ministry, focusing specifically on the cases of Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Slovakia. 

I’ll show how starting from late 1937, the regime meticulously monitored developments along the Yugoslav border, underscoring the growing importance of the racial aspect linked to the refugee issue on both the Italian and Yugoslav fronts. Following the implementation of racial policies in Italy, the Hungarian case reveals that the Italian diplomatic corps recognized the global influence of its domestic policies, viewing racial policy as a facet of its cultural soft power projection abroad. In a number of cases, eastern European States – particularly noticeable is the case of Slovakia – and movements look with favor on the Italian model of racism, as it seems to offer a more "benevolent" alternative to German policies. 

The thesis argued, therefore, is that Italy was aware that its racism, by a section of international opinion, was considered less radical than German racism and that fascism therefore identified its racial policies as an option for cultural penetration on the European chessboard to counteract the growing German influence in south-eastern Europe, aiming at placing Italy in a hegemonic cultural and political position in the Danube basin and the Adriatic.