Easter Accords

Last updated
Easter Accords
SignedApril 16, 1938 (1938-04-16)
Location Chigi Palace, Rome
RatifiedNovember 16, 1938 [1]
Signatories
Parties
Languages

The Anglo-Italian Agreements of 1938, also called the Easter Pact or the Easter Accords (Italian: Patto or Accordi di Pasqua), were a series of agreements concluded between the British and the Italian governments in Rome on 16 April 1938 to facilitate the Italian government's co-operation in keeping the existing world order and to prevent it from allying with Germany.

Contents

The agreements were registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 15 March 1939. [2]

Background

Since 1935, the British and French governments had been courting the Italian government under Mussolini in the hope of preventing the formation of an alliance between Italy and Nazi Germany. That concern led to the British and the French responses to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia and the Italian involvement in the Spanish Civil War to be weak and ineffectual.

Additionally, Italy had been broadcasting anti-British propaganda and supplying arms to Arab rebels in British Palestine. [3] [4]

Meanwhile, Italy sought to turn Britain away from France so that Britain would remain neutral when Italy would decide to attack France. That policy would last until the Italians entered the Second World War in June 1940.

Terms

In the several agreements signed on the same day, the British and the Italian governments undertook to observe the order in the Mediterranean and to refrain from any actions against the sovereignty of the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, where the British government had a foothold in Aden while the Italian government controlled Somalia, across the Straits of Aden. They also undertook to uphold the freedom of navigation in the Suez Canal and to preserve the peace between their colonial possessions in East Africa. Ethiopia was not named in the agreements, but it was clear the British government intended to ignore Italian control there. The Italian government undertook to withdraw its forces from Spain to facilitate the restoration of peace in that country.

Aftermath

The accords were largely a failure for both sides. Italy failed to drive a wedge in relations between France and Britain and the appeasement policy towards the Italian government did not prevent the formation of a German-Italian alliance, which was concluded in May 1939 as the Pact of Steel.

Notes

  1. Miller, Dawn Marie (1997). "Italy Through the Looking Glass: Aspects of British Policy and Intelligence Concerning Italy, 1939-1941" (PDF). National Library of Canada. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  2. "League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 195, pp. 78-115". World Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  3. Strang, G. Bruce (2021-01-02). "Mésentente Cordiale: Italian Policy and the Failure of the Easter Accords, 1937-1938". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 32 (1): 31–59. doi:10.1080/09592296.2021.1883859. ISSN   0959-2296. S2CID   232765662.
  4. Arielli, Nir (2008). "Italian Involvement in the Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936-1939". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 35 (2): 187–204. doi:10.1080/13530190802180597. ISSN   1353-0194. JSTOR   20455584. S2CID   145144088.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact</span> 1939 neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union with a secret protocol that partitioned Central and Eastern Europe between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Unofficially, it has also been referred to as the Hitler–Stalin Pact, Nazi–Soviet Pact, or Nazi–Soviet Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pact of Steel</span> Military alliance between fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during World War II

The Pact of Steel, formally known as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, was a military and political alliance between Italy and Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Comintern Pact</span> 1936 treaty signed by Germany and Japan

The Anti-Comintern Pact, officially the Agreement against the Communist International was an anti-Communist pact concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on 25 November 1936 and was directed against the Communist International (Comintern). It was signed by German ambassador-at-large Joachim von Ribbentrop and Japanese ambassador to Germany Kintomo Mushanokōji. Italy joined in 1937, but it was legally recognised as an original signatory by the terms of its entry. Spain and Hungary joined in 1939. Other countries joined during World War II.

The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the aftermath of the First World War. It was intended to settle the Adriatic question, i.e. Italian claims over territories promised to the country, in return for its entry into the war, against Austria-Hungary; claims that were made on the basis of the 1915 Treaty of London. The wartime pact promised Italy large areas of the eastern Adriatic. The treaty, signed on 12 November 1920 in Rapallo, Italy, generally redeemed the promises of territorial gains in the former Austrian Littoral by awarding Italy territories generally corresponding to the peninsula of Istria and the former Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, with the addition of the Snežnik Plateau, in addition to what was promised by the London treaty. The articles regarding Dalmatia were largely ignored. There Italy received the city of Zadar and several islands. Other provisions of the treaty contained safeguards for the rights of Italian nationals remaining in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and provisions for commissions to demarcate the new border, and facilitate economic and educational cooperation. The treaty also established the Free State of Fiume, the city-state consisting of the former Austro-Hungarian Corpus Separatum that consisted of Rijeka and a strip of coast giving the new state a land border with Italy at Istria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Causes of World War II</span> Causes of World War II

The causes of World War II have been given considerable attention by historians. The immediate precipitating event was the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939, and the subsequent declarations of war on Germany made by Britain and France, but many other prior events have been suggested as ultimate causes. Primary themes in historical analysis of the war's origins include the political takeover of Germany in 1933 by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party; Japanese militarism against China, which led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Second Sino-Japanese War; Italian aggression against Ethiopia, which led to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the consent of Western countries to Germany's actions on the annexation of Austria and the partition of Czechoslovakia and Germany's initial success in negotiating the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union to divide the territorial control of Eastern Europe between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of events preceding World War II</span>

This timeline of events preceding World War II covers the events that affected or led to World War II.

The Franco-Polish Alliance was the military alliance between Poland and France that was active between the early 1920s and the outbreak of the Second World War. The initial agreements were signed in February 1921 and formally took effect in 1923. During the interwar period the alliance with Poland was one of the cornerstones of French foreign policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balkan Pact</span> 1934 treaty among various Balkan nations to maintain the post-WWI status quo

The Balkan Pact, or Balkan Entente, was a treaty signed by Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia on 9 February 1934 in Athens, aimed at maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region after the end of World War I. To present a united front against Bulgarian designs on their territories, the signatories agreed to suspend all disputed territorial claims against one another and their immediate neighbours following the aftermath of the war and a rise in various regional irredentist tensions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German–Polish declaration of non-aggression</span> 1934 international treaty

The German–Polish declaration of non-aggression, also known as the German–Polish non-aggression pact, was an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic that was signed on 26 January 1934 in Berlin. Both countries pledged to resolve their problems by bilateral negotiations and to forgo armed conflict for a period of 10 years. The agreement effectively normalised relations between Poland and Germany, which had been strained by border disputes arising from the territorial settlement in the Treaty of Versailles. Germany effectively recognised Poland's borders and moved to end an economically-damaging customs war between the two countries that had taken place over the previous decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vlora War</span> 1920 conflict between Italy and Albania

The Vlora War was a military conflict in the Vlora region of Albania between the Kingdom of Italy and Albanian nationalists, who were divided into small groups of fighters. The war lasted three months until an armistice, whose terms forced Italy to give up plans to turn Albania into a mandate and relinquish Vlorë. In exchange, Italy retained a diplomatic protection over Albania to guarantee the country's independence and was allowed to annex the island of Saseno. This settlement was confirmed within the League of Nations by the Conference of Ambassadors a year later. The Vlora War is seen as a turning point in the establishment of Albanian independence.

The military alliance between the United Kingdom and Poland was formalised by the Anglo-Polish Agreement in 1939, with subsequent addenda of 1940 and 1944, for mutual assistance in case of a military invasion from Nazi Germany, as specified in a secret protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remilitarisation of the Rhineland</span> 1936 treaty violation by Adolf Hitler

The remilitarisation of the Rhineland began on 7 March 1936, when military forces of the German Reich entered the Rhineland, which directly contravened the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties. Neither France nor Britain was prepared for a military response, so they did not act. After 1939, commentators often said that a strong military move in 1936 might have ruined the expansionist plans of Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany. However, recent historiography agrees that both public and elite opinion in Britain and France strongly opposed a military intervention, and neither had an army prepared to move in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italy–United Kingdom relations</span> Bilateral relations

The bilateral relations between the Italian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are warm and exceptionally strong. This relationship is also known as Anglo–Italian relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian invasion of Albania</span> 1939 pre-WWII Italian invasion of Albania

The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime minister and dictator Benito Mussolini. Albania was rapidly overrun, its ruler King Zog I went into exile in neighboring Greece, and the country was made a part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate in personal union with the Italian Crown.

The Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was a bilateral treaty between France and the Soviet Union with the aim of enveloping Nazi Germany in 1935 to reduce the threat from Central Europe. It was pursued by Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet foreign minister, and Louis Barthou, the French foreign minister, who was assassinated in October 1934, before negotiations had been finished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Fengtian War</span> 1925–1926 war in northeastern China

The Anti-Fengtian War was the last major civil war within the Republic of China's northern Beiyang government prior to the Northern Expedition. It lasted from November 1925 to April 1926 and was waged by the Guominjun against the Fengtian clique and their Zhili clique allies. The war ended with the defeat of the Guominjun and the end of the provisional executive government. The war is also known as either Guominjun-Fengtian War, or the Third Zhili–Fengtian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania</span> German diplomatic demand on Lithuania

On 20 March 1939, Nazi Germany's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop presented an oral ultimatum to Juozas Urbšys, foreign minister of Lithuania. Germany demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region which had been detached from Germany after World War I, or the Wehrmacht would invade Lithuania and the de facto Lithuanian capital Kaunas would be bombed. The Lithuanians had been expecting the demand after years of rising tension between Lithuania and Germany, increasing pro-Nazi propaganda in the region, and continued German expansion. It was issued just five days after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. The 1924 Klaipėda Convention had guaranteed the protection of the status quo in the region, but the four signatories to that convention did not offer any material assistance. The United Kingdom and France followed a policy of appeasement, while Italy and Japan openly supported Germany, and Lithuania accepted the ultimatum on 23 March 1939. It proved to be the last territorial acquisition for Germany before World War II, producing a major downturn in Lithuania's economy and escalating pre-war tensions for Europe as a whole.

International relations (1919–1939) covers the main interactions shaping world history in this era, known as the interwar period, with emphasis on diplomacy and economic relations. The coverage here follows the diplomatic history of World War I and precedes the diplomatic history of World War II. The important stages of interwar diplomacy and international relations included resolutions of wartime issues, such as reparations owed by Germany and boundaries; American involvement in European finances and disarmament projects; the expectations and failures of the League of Nations; the relationships of the new countries to the old; the distrustful relations between the Soviet Union and the capitalist world; peace and disarmament efforts; responses to the Great Depression starting in 1929; the collapse of world trade; the collapse of democratic regimes one by one; the growth of economic autarky; Japanese aggressiveness toward China; fascist diplomacy, including the aggressive moves by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany; the Spanish Civil War; the appeasement of Germany's expansionist moves toward the Rhineland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, and the last, desperate stages of rearmament as another world war increasingly loomed.

The Bérard-Jordana Agreement, also called Berard-Jordan Agreement in English, was a political treaty signed by France and Spain in Burgos on 25 February 1939. Its name is based on the two principal signatories, Léon Bérard for France and General Francisco Gómez-Jordana Sousa Jordana for Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italo-German protocol of 23 October 1936</span> 1936 treaty between Italy and Germany

On 23 October 1936, a nine-point protocol was signed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in Berlin. It was the first concrete expression of the Italo-German rapprochement that began earlier that year. It was signed by the foreign ministers Galeazzo Ciano and Konstantin von Neurath. On the same day in Berlin, the Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan was initialed by Ambassador-at-Large Joachim von Ribbentrop and Ambassador Kintomo Mushanokoji.