I haven’t mentioned that France is having a major colonial war in the Riff region of Morocco. Now I’ve mentioned it. Also, major upheavals in China.
Italy is refusing to adhere to a French-British security compact unless there’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ in it for Italy. At the very least, it wants Britain to help protect the Brenner Pass on the Austro-Italian border. One element in the proposed Geneva Protocol which is especially pissing off Germany is the new French claim to a right to oppose by military means any union between Germany & Austria. Germany would also be required to negotiate arbitration deals with Poland and Czechoslovakia, which would allow France to send troops through Germany if those countries create trouble. The NYT’s source “close to Foreign Minister Stresemann” calls it an insecurity compact.
Why does Mussolini remind me so much of Trump? He is pissed because this security compact between England, France and Germany ignores Italy entirely. "By withholding this adherence it is recognized that Signor Mussolini is playing a card by which he hopes to win English participation in a security compact for the Brenner Frontier, which for Italy is a far more important consideration than the Rhine." And I don't see how Germany could possibly accept this "compact" anyway.
ReplyDeleteMussolini, like Trump, physically postures in what he thinks of as a dominance pose. He also plays on national resentment at the lack of respect Italy gets because of its weak military performance during World War I and because it's run by a comical buffoon.
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