The United States And Fascist Italy: The Rise Of American Finance In Europe

454 Pages·2015·2.7 MB·English

by  Gian Giacomo Migone, Molly Tambor [Translator]

TheUnitedStatesandFascistItaly
TheRiseofAmericanFinanceinEurope
OriginallypublishedinItalianin1980,GliStatiUnitieilfascismo.Alle
originidell’egemoniaamericanainItaliaisregardedtodayasacrucial
textontherelationshipbetweentheUnited StatesandItalyduringthe
interwaryears.Asidefromtheadditionoftwonewprefaces–onebythe
authorand oneby thebook’stranslator, MollyTambor–the original
texthasremainedunchanged,sothatAnglophonereadersnowhavethe
opportunitytoengagewiththisclassicwork.
By analyzing the enduring relationship between the United States –
especially its financial establishment – and Fascist Italy up until
Mussolini’s conquest of Ethiopia in 1935, this book provides answers
tosomekeyquestionsabouttheinterconnectednessofAmerica’sriseto
hegemonicglobalfinancialpowerinthetwentiethcenturyanditssup-
portofItalianFascismduringthistime.
Gian Giacomo Migone was Professor of History of Euroatlantic
Relations at the University of Torino, Italy. He is the author of
Problemi di storia nei rapporti tra Italia e Stati Uniti (1971) and
BanchieriAmericanieMussolini(1979),aswellasofnumerousessays
concerning Euro-Atlantic relations before, during, and after the Cold
War.In1989 hewasLaurodeBosisLecturerofItalianCivilizationat
HarvardUniversity.AmemberoftheItalianSenatefrom1992to2001,
he chaired its Foreign Relations Committee for seven years, as well as
theAdvisoryBoardoftheUnitedNationsSystemStaffCollegeandthe
CivilianAffairsCommitteeoftheNATOParliamentaryAssembly.Heis
the founder and first editor of L’ Indice dei libri del mese, an Italian
culturalmonthly.
MollyTamborisAssistantProfessorofEuropeanHistoryatLongIsland
University Post. She is the author of The Lost Wave: Women and
DemocracyinPostwarItaly(2014).
The United States and Fascist Italy
The Rise of American Finance in Europe
GIAN GIACOMO MIGONE
UniversitàdeglistudidiTorino
Translatedby
MOLLY TAMBOR
LongIslandUniversity
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107002456
ThetranslationofthisworkhasbeenfundedbySEPS
SegretariatoEuropeoPerLePubblicazioniScientifiche

ViaVald’Aposa7–40123Bologna–Italy
[email protected]–www.seps.it
©GianGiacomoMigone1980,2015
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
FirstpublishedinItalianasGliStatiUnitieilfascismo.Alleoriginidell’egemoniaamericana
inItaliabyFeltrinelliEditore1980
FirstEnglishedition2015
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Migone,GianGiacomo.
[StatiUnitieilfascismo.English]
TheUnitedStatesandfascistItaly:theriseofAmericanfinanceinEurope/GianGiacomo
Migone;translatedbyMollyTambor.
pages cm
isbn978-1-107-00245-6(hardback)
1. UnitedStates–Foreignrelations–Italy. 2. Italy–Foreignrelations–United
States. 3. Fascism–Italy–History. 4. UnitedStates–Foreigneconomicrelations–20th
century. I. Title.
e183.8.i8m5413 2015
327.73045–dc23
2015002698
isbn978-1-107-00245-6Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
urlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Cover:IlBeccoGiallo,1928
Everydiscourseonpowerisimplicitlyadiscourseonwhatis
outsidethatpower;thatis,adiscourseonadifferentand
alternativepower.
DomenicoJervolino

Contents
Abbreviations pageix
PrefacetotheEnglishEdition:“Jeneregretterien” xi
PrefacetotheItalianEdition:Sources,words,anddebts xxxvii
Translator’sPreface xlv
Introduction:TheOriginsofAmericanHegemonyinEurope 1
AmericanEconomicPoweraftertheFirstWorldWar 1
ClassConflictintheUnitedStates 4
TheDefeatoftheAmericanWorkingClass 9
AmericanExpansioninEurope 13
AmericanPolicyforEuropeanStabilization 22
1 TheUnitedStatesandtheRiseofFascisminItaly 28
UnitedStates’PolicyandtheIsolationofItalybeforeFascism 28
AmericanReactionstotheRiseofFascism 36
TheMatteottiCrisisandtheManipulationofthePress 50
AmericanReactionstoMussolini’sEarlyForeignPolicy 68
TheShapingofItalianForeignPolicy 77
Mussolini’sPolicytowardtheUnitedStates 82
2 UnitedStatesEconomicPolicytowardItaly 86
TheQuestionofWarDebt 86
TheRoleoftheHouseofMorgan 90
ItalianWarDebt:Background 94
TheStartofNegotiations 105
TheVolpiMission 117
ExplainingtheAccord 131
AmericanInvestmentsinItaly 141
TheMorganBankandInvestments 150
vii
viii Contents
AmericanInvestmentsinEurope 165
TheStabilizationoftheLira 170
3 TheUnitedStatesandItalyConfronttheGreatDepression 192
TheEconomicCrisisandInternationalRelations 192
HooverandStimson’sForeignPolicy 199
ItalianForeignPolicyfromMussolinitoGrandi 202
TheLondonNavalConference 210
TheWorldDisarmamentConference 222
EconomicCollaborationbetweentheUnitedStatesandItaly
intheFaceoftheCrisis 239
Grandi’sVisittoWashington 257
TheLausanneConference 266
TheSignificanceofGrandi’sPolicies 269
4 RooseveltandFascistItaly,fromtheLondonEconomic
ConferencetotheItalo-EthiopianWar(1933–1936) 287
ForeignPolicyduringtheRooseveltAdministration 287
RooseveltandItalianFascism 298
WarinEthiopiaChallengesthePrincipleofCollectiveSecurity 309
TheRoleoftheUnitedStates 313
ThePositionoftheRooseveltAdministration 317
Italo-AmericanTradeandtheOilQuestion 326
TheDebateontheEmbargoofRawMaterials 336
TheNeutralityActof1936 342
TheSolidifyingofPoliticalFactions 344
Italian-AmericansandtheEthiopianWar 349
TheOppositionofExporters 356
AmericanDiplomatsandAppeasement 360
TheMorganBankandAppeasement 368
TheOriginsofAmericanOppositiontotheDictatorships 379
Conclusion 389
Index 397
Abbreviations
AADS Albertode’StefaniArchive
AALP AlbertoPirelliArchive
AC-DM DwightMorrowArchive,AmherstCollege
AC-GC GelasioCaetaniPapers,ArchivioCaetani
ACS-FAS AgenziaStefaniPapers,ArchivioCentraledelloStato
ACS-GVM GiuseppeVolpidiMisurataPapers,ArchivioCentrale
delloStato
ACS-MCP MinistryofPopularCulturePapers,ArchivioCentrale
delloStato
ADG DinoGrandiArchive(manyofthepapersinthis
archivearecollectedindraftsforasubsequently
publishedvolume;thepertinentsectionisindicatedin
Romannumerals)
AGF GiovanniFummiArchive
AMAE ArchivesduMinistèredesAffairesEtrangères,Paris
ASMAE-AAW PoliticalAffairsArchive,ArchivoStoricodelMinistero
degliAffariEsteri,Rome
ASMAE-AG ArchiveoftheCabinet,ArchivioStoricodelMinistero
degliAffariEsteri,Rome
ASMAE-ASG ArchiveoftheSecretaryGeneral,ArchivioStoricodel
MinisterodegliAffariEsteri,Rome
BE BankofEnglandArchive
BIAG GeneralArchiveoftheBancad’Italia
BIAGSRE GeneralArchiveoftheBancad’Italia,Foreign
RelationsSection
BIAGUS GeneralArchiveoftheBancad’Italia,ResearchOffice
ix