225-573: Appeasement , in an international context , is a diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power with intention to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy between 1935 and 1939 of the British governments of Prime Ministers Ramsay MacDonald , Stanley Baldwin and most notably Neville Chamberlain towards Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy . Under British pressure, appeasement of Nazism and Fascism also played
450-804: A pan-German from a very young age and had promoted a Pan-German vision of a Greater Germanic Reich from the beginning of his career in politics. He wrote in Mein Kampf (1924) that he would attempt a union of his birth country Austria with Germany by any means possible and by force if necessary. By early 1938, Hitler had consolidated his power in Germany and was ready to implement his long-held plan. Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg wished to pursue ties with Italy but turned to Czechoslovakia , Yugoslavia and Romania (the Little Entente ). To that end, Hitler took violent exception. In January 1938,
675-711: A plebiscite on the issue for 13 March. Hitler demanded for the plebiscite to be cancelled. The German Propaganda Ministry issued press reports that riots had broken out in Austria and that large parts of the Austrian population were calling for German troops to restore order. On 11 March, Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg that demanded him to hand over all power to the Austrian Nazis or face an invasion. The British Ambassador in Berlin, Nevile Henderson , registered
900-616: A "fraudulent state", must be broken up completely. Later in the day, Hitler resiled by saying that he was willing to accept the cession of the Sudetenland by 1 October. On 24 September, Germany issued the Godesberg Memorandum , which demanded cession by 28 September or war. The Czechoslovak government rejected those demands, France ordered mobilisation and Britain mobilised the Royal Navy . On 26 September, Hitler made
1125-635: A 46- hectare concession from China in Tianjin (see Italian concession in Tianjin ). These foreign colonies and lands came under Italian control at different times and remained so over different periods. The Kingdom of Italy was a constitutional monarchy . Executive power belonged to the monarch , who governed through appointed ministers . The legislative branch was a bicameral Parliament comprising an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies . The kingdom maintained as its constitution
1350-412: A burden on finances or a change in territory required the approval of the chambers to be effective. The king appointed to all state offices, sanctioned and promulgated the laws, which as well as the government acts had to be countersigned by the responsible ministers, and issued the decrees and regulations necessary for the execution of the laws. Justice was administered in his name, and he alone had
1575-491: A crop failure caused by insects, and Italy became the largest wine exporter in Europe. After France's recovery in 1888, Italian wine exports collapsed, causing a wave of unemployment and bankruptcies. From the 1860s, Italy invested heavily in the development of railways , with its rail network more than tripling between 1861 and 1872, then doubling again by 1890. Gio. Ansaldo & C. from the former Kingdom of Sardinia provided
1800-580: A discrete field until 1919, when it was first offered as an undergraduate major by Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom . The Second World War and its aftermath provoked greater interest and scholarship in international relations, particularly in North America and Western Europe , where it was shaped considerably by the geostrategic concerns of the Cold War . The collapse of
2025-798: A distinct field of study began in Britain . IR emerged as a formal academic discipline in 1919 with the founding of the first IR professorship: the Woodrow Wilson Chair at Aberystwyth , University of Wales (now Aberystwyth University ), held by Alfred Eckhard Zimmern and endowed by David Davies . International politics courses were established at the University of Wisconsin in 1899 by Paul Samuel Reinsch and at Columbia University in 1910. By 1920, there were four universities that taught courses on international organization . Georgetown University 's Walsh School of Foreign Service
2250-670: A focus on the history of IR in the early modern , colonial , and Cold War periods. The first university entirely dedicated to the study of IR was the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies , which was founded in 1927 to form diplomats associated to the League of Nations . In 1922, Georgetown University graduated its first class of the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) degree, making it
2475-427: A given issue-area". Not all approaches to regime theory, however, are liberal or neoliberal; some realist scholars like Joseph Grieco have developed hybrid theories which take a realist based approach to this fundamentally liberal theory. (Realists do not say cooperation never happens, just that it is not the norm; it is a difference of degree). The constructivist framework rests on the fundamental assumption that
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#17327646702042700-527: A group of undergraduates passed a motion saying that they would not fight for King and country, which persuaded some in Germany that Britain would never go to war. Baldwin told the House of Commons that in 1933, he had been unable to pursue a policy of rearmament because of the strong pacifist sentiment in the country. In 1935, eleven million responded to the League of Nations " Peace Ballot " by pledging support for
2925-593: A large fraction of its naval power to the Mediterranean Sea , which would weaken its positions against Germany and Japan. In 1938, the Royal Navy approved appeasement regarding Munich because it calculated that Britain then lacked the political and military resources to intervene and to maintain an imperial defence capability simultaneously. Public opinion in Britain throughout the 1930s was frightened by
3150-523: A major cholera epidemic killed at least 55,000 people. Government action was blocked by strong political and economic opposition from the large landowners. Another commission of inquiry in 1910 found similar problems. Around 1890 there was also an overproduction crisis in the Italian wine industry , almost the only successful sector in agriculture. In the 1870s and 1880s, viticulture in France suffered from
3375-591: A monarch or noble class. A state wherein the nation is sovereign would thence be termed a nation-state, as opposed to a monarchy or a religious state; the term republic increasingly became its synonym. An alternative model of the nation-state was developed in reaction to the French republican concept by the Germans and others, who instead of giving the citizenry sovereignty, kept the princes and nobility, but defined nation-statehood in ethnic-linguistic terms, establishing
3600-537: A naval fleet into the Mediterranean , but in November 1935, British Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare and French Prime Minister, Pierre Laval had secret discussions in which they agreed to concede two thirds of Abyssinia to Italy . However, the press leaked the content of the discussions, and a public outcry forced Hoare and Laval to resign. In May 1936, undeterred by sanctions, Italy captured Addis Ababa ,
3825-424: A powerful force but I can't feel that it's either unnatural or immoral! I cannot myself doubt that these fellows are genuine haters of Communism, etc.! And I daresay if we were in their position we might feel the same!" Most Conservative MPs were also in favour, but Churchill said that their supporters were divided and in 1936 led a delegation of leading Conservative politicians to express to Baldwin their alarm about
4050-590: A protest with the German government against the use of coercion against Austria. Schuschnigg, realising that neither France nor the United Kingdom would actively support him, resigned in favour of Seyss-Inquart, who then appealed to German troops to restore order. On 12 March, the German Wehrmacht crossed the Austrian border. They met no resistance and were greeted by cheering Austrians. The invasion
4275-623: A purely anarchical system. Rather, liberal theory assumes that states are institutionally constrained by the power of international organisations, and mutually dependent on one another through economic and diplomatic ties. Institutions such as the United Nations , the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the International Court of Justice are taken to, over time, have developed power and influence to shape
4500-470: A role in French foreign policy of the period but was always much less popular there than in the United Kingdom . In the early 1930s, appeasing concessions were widely seen as desirable because of the anti-war reaction to the trauma of World War I (1914–1918), second thoughts about the perceived vindictive treatment by some of Germany during the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , and a perception that fascism
4725-594: A role in shifting U.S. policy to favour China over Japan during the late 1930s. Some historians, such as David Thomson , assert that the League's "inactivity and ineffectualness in the Far East lent every encouragement to European aggressors who planned similar acts of defiance". The 1934 Anglo-German Payments Agreement stabilised economic relations between Britain and Germany, guaranteeing German interest repayments on bonds arising from World War I reparations and deepening British economic ties to Germany, particularly in
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#17327646702044950-583: A school dedicated to teaching international affairs, was founded in Geneva , Switzerland. This was rapidly followed by establishment of IR at universities in the US. The creation of the posts of Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at LSE and at Oxford gave further impetus to the academic study of international relations. Furthermore, the International History department at LSE developed
5175-621: A single political body. Constructivism is also present in the analysis of international law , where norms of conduct such as the prohibition of chemical weapons , torture , and the protection of civilians in war , are socialised into international organisations, and stipulated into rules. Prominent constructivist IR scholars include Michael Barnett , Martha Finnemore , Ted Hopf , Peter Katzenstein , Kathryn Sikkink , and Alexander Wendt . Post-structuralism theories of international relations (also called critical theories due to being inherently critical of traditional IR frameworks) developed in
5400-612: A speech at the Sportpalast in Berlin in which he claimed that the Sudetenland was "the last territorial demand I have to make in Europe", and he gave Czechoslovakia an ultimatum of 28 September at 2:00pm to cede the territory to Germany or to face war. In the atmosphere of growing conflict, Mussolini persuaded Hitler to put the dispute to a four-power conference. On 29 September 1938, Hitler, Chamberlain, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier and Mussolini met in Munich. Czechoslovakia
5625-615: A speech attacking Czechoslovakia and there was an increase of violence by Sudeten Nazis against Czechoslovak and Jewish targets. Chamberlain, faced with the prospect of a German invasion, flew to Berchtesgaden on 15 September to negotiate directly with Hitler, who now demanded that Chamberlain accept not Sudeten self-government within Czechoslovakia but the absorption of the Sudeten lands into Germany. Chamberlain became convinced that refusal would lead to war. The geography of Europe
5850-461: A speech that he delivered to his Commanders in Chief: "Our enemies have leaders who are below the average. No personalities. No masters, no men of action.... Our enemies are small fry. I saw them in Munich". On 1 September 1939, German forces started their invasion of Poland . Britain and France joined the war against Germany but initially averted serious military involvement during the period known as
6075-488: A state, that the sovereign power(s) have absolute power over their territories, and that such a power is only limited by the sovereign's "own obligations towards other sovereigns and individuals". Such a foundation of sovereignty is indicated by a sovereign's obligation to other sovereigns, interdependence and dependence to take place. While throughout world history there have been instances of groups lacking or losing sovereignty, such as African nations prior to decolonization or
6300-555: A subdiscipline of political science, the focus of IR studies lies on political, diplomatic and security connections among states, as well as the study of modern political world history. In many academic institutions, studies of IR are thus situated in the department of politics/social sciences. This is for example the case in Scandinavia, where international relations are often simply referred to as international politics (IP). In institutions where international relations refers to
6525-512: A telegram to Chamberlain that said, "Good man" and he later told the American ambassador in Rome, William Phillips , "I am not a bit upset over the final result". As a result of the annexation of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia lost 800,000 citizens, much of its industry and its mountain defences in the west. The rest of Czechoslovakia was left weak and powerless to resist subsequent occupation. In
6750-483: A war would have cost Germany much blood but the decision by France and Britain not to defend Czechoslovakia in the event of war and the exclusion from the equation of the Soviet Union, which Chamberlain distrusted, meant that the outcome would have been uncertain. The event forms the main part of what became known as Munich betrayal ( Czech : Mnichovská zrada ) in Czechoslovakia and the rest of Eastern Europe, as
6975-409: Is dependency theory and the core–periphery model , which argue that developed countries, in their pursuit of power, appropriate developing states through international banking, security and trade agreements and unions on a formal level, and do so through the interaction of political and financial advisors, missionaries, relief aid workers, and MNCs on the informal level, in order to integrate them into
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7200-537: Is a prominent solidarist, while Hedley Bull and Robert H. Jackson are perhaps the best known pluralists. Some English school theoreticians have used historical cases in order to show the influence that normative frameworks have on the evolution of the international political order at various critical junctures. International relations are often viewed in terms of levels of analysis . The systemic level concepts are those broad concepts that define and shape an international milieu, characterized by anarchy . Focusing on
7425-466: Is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns all activities among states—such as war , diplomacy , trade , and foreign policy —as well as relations with and among other international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), international legal bodies , and multinational corporations (MNCs). International relations
7650-420: Is considerably different from the type of rights envisioned under natural law , Francisco de Vitoria , Hugo Grotius , and John Locke offered the first accounts of universal entitlement to certain rights on the basis of common humanity. In the 20th century, in addition to contemporary theories of liberal internationalism , Marxism has been a foundation of international relations. International relations as
7875-404: Is dealt with in more detail below. IR theory, however, has a long tradition of drawing on the work of other social sciences . The use of capitalizations of the "I" and "R" in international relations aims to distinguish the academic discipline of international relations from the phenomena of international relations. Many cite Sun Tzu 's The Art of War (6th century BC), Thucydides ' History of
8100-593: Is generally classified as a major multidiscipline of political science , along with comparative politics , political methodology , political theory , and public administration . It often draws heavily from other fields, including anthropology , economics , geography , history , law , philosophy , and sociology . There are several schools of thought within IR, of which the most prominent are realism , liberalism , and constructivism . While international politics has been analyzed since antiquity , it did not become
8325-430: Is only a subjective judgment, divorced from the facts as they are and informed by prejudice and wishful thinking. Major theorists include E. H. Carr , Robert Gilpin , Charles P. Kindleberger , Stephen D. Krasner , Hans Morgenthau , Kenneth Waltz , Robert Jervis , Stephen Walt , and John Mearsheimer . In contrast to realism, the liberal framework emphasises that states, although they are sovereign, do not exist in
8550-551: Is the oldest continuously operating school for international affairs in the United States, founded in 1919. In 1927, the London School of Economics ' department of international relations was founded at the behest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Philip Noel-Baker : this was the first institute to offer a wide range of degrees in the field. That same year, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies ,
8775-524: Is what states make of it". By this he means that the anarchic structure that realists claim governs state interaction is in fact a phenomenon that is socially constructed and reproduced by states. Constructivism is part of critical theory, and as such seeks to criticise the assumptions underlying traditional IR theory. Constructivist theory would for example claim that the state leaders of the United States and Soviet Union were socialised into different roles and norms, which can provide theoretical insights to how
9000-588: The Austrian Nazis attempted a putsch following which some were imprisoned. Hitler summoned Schuschnigg to Berchtesgaden in February and demanded, with the threat of military action, for him to release imprisoned Austrian Nazis and to allow them to participate in the government. Schuschnigg complied and appointed Arthur Seyss-Inquart , a pro-Nazi lawyer, as interior minister . To forestall Hitler and to preserve Austria's independence, Schuschnigg scheduled
9225-611: The BBC was sustained and egregious. For example, Lord Halifax told radio producers not to offend Hitler and Mussolini, and they complied by censoring anti-fascist commentary made by Labour and Popular Front MPs. The BBC also suppressed the fact that 15,000 people protested the prime minister in Trafalgar Square as he returned from Munich in 1938 (10,000 more than welcomed him at 10 Downing Street ). The BBC radio producers continued to censor news of persecution of Jews even after
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9450-612: The British House of Commons , Chamberlain said, "The hard fact is that nothing could have arrested what has actually happened [in Austria] unless this country and other countries had been prepared to use force". The American reaction was similar. The international reaction to the events of 12 March 1938 led Hitler to conclude that he could use even more aggressive tactics in his plan to expand the Third Reich. The Anschluss paved
9675-623: The Franco-Prussian War . To keep the large Prussian Army at bay, France abandoned its positions in Rome – which protected the remnants of the Papal States and Pius IX – to fight the Prussians. Italy benefited from Prussia's victory against France by taking over the Papal States from French authority. The Kingdom of Italy captured Rome after several battles and guerrilla-like warfare by Papal Zouaves and official troops of
9900-552: The German Empire and Austria-Hungary were broken up in 1918, Austria was left as a rump state with the temporary adopted name Deutschösterreich (" German-Austria "), with the vast majority of Austrians wanting to join Germany. However, the victors' agreements of World War I (the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain ) strictly forbade union between Austria and Germany without League consent, as well as
10125-557: The German occupation of Czechoslovakia . Slovakia separated and became a German satellite state . In March 1939, Chamberlain foresaw a possible disarmament conference between himself, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin . British Home Secretary , Samuel Hoare , said, "These five men, working together in Europe and blessed in their efforts by the President of the United States of America , might make themselves eternal benefactors of
10350-536: The German-Soviet Pact . Without any material international support, Lithuania had no choice but to accept the ultimatum. Lithuanian diplomacy characterized the concession as a "necessary evil" to enable Lithuania to preserve its independence, and it maintained the hope that it was merely a temporary retreat. By August 1939, Hitler was convinced that the democratic nations would never put up any effective opposition to him. He expressed his contempt for them in
10575-533: The International Brigades to fight Franco. By the height of the Spanish conflict in 1937, the majority of young pacifists had modified their views to accept that war could be a legitimate response to aggression and fascism. Czechoslovakia did not concern most people until mid-September 1938, when they began to object to a small democratic state being bullied. Nevertheless, the initial response of
10800-690: The Italian Social Republic , and reappointed Mussolini as dictator. Consequentially, Italy descended into civil war , with the Italian Co-belligerent Army and resistance movement contending with the Social Republic's forces and its German allies. Shortly after the surrender of all fascist forces in Italy , civil discontent prompted an institutional referendum , which established a republic and abolished
11025-670: The Kingdom of Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War . In exchange, Prussia would allow Italy to annex Austria-controlled Veneto . King Emmanuel agreed to the alliance, and the Third Italian War of Independence began. Italy fared poorly in the war with a badly-organized military against Austria, but Prussia's victory allowed Italy to annex Veneto . At this point, one major obstacle to Italian unity remained: Rome. In July 1870, Prussia went to war with France, igniting
11250-511: The League of Nations could prevent them; or that they were caused by large-scale armaments, in which case disarmament was the remedy; or that they were caused by national grievances, in which case the grievances should be redressed peacefully. Many thought that the Versailles Treaty had been unjust, that the German minorities were entitled to self-determination, and that Germany was entitled to equality in armaments. Appeasement
11475-688: The Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity , reflect a growing consensus that environmental degradation requires coordinated international responses , shaping diplomatic priorities and global governance frameworks. Within the study of international relations, there exists multiple theories seeking to explain how states and other actors operate within the international system. These can generally be divided into three main strands: realism, liberalism, and constructivism. The realist framework of international relations rests on
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#173276467020411700-668: The Phoney War . After the German invasion of Norway , opinion turned against Chamberlain's conduct of the war. He resigned after the Norway Debate in the British House of Commons, and on 10 May 1940 Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. In July, after the Fall of France , when Britain stood almost alone against Germany, Hitler offered peace. Some politicians both inside and outside the government were willing to consider
11925-582: The Statuto Albertino , the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible solely to the king. However, by this time, a king couldn't appoint a government of his choosing or keep it in office against the express will of Parliament. Members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected through a plurality voting system in single-member districts. A candidate needed
12150-668: The Sudeten German Party , led by Konrad Henlein , agitated for autonomy and then threatened, in Henlein's words, "direct action to bring the Sudeten Germans within the frontiers of the Reich". An international crisis ensued. France and Britain advised Czechoslovak acceptance of Sudeten autonomy. The Czechoslovak government refused and ordered a partial mobilisation in expectation of German aggression. Lord Runciman
12375-511: The Suez Canal , which would have stopped arms to Abyssinia, but thinking that would be too harsh a measure, failed to do so. Earlier, in April 1935, Italy had joined Britain and France in protest against German rearmament . France was anxious to placate Mussolini to keep him away from an alliance with Germany. Britain was less hostile to Germany and set the pace in imposing sanctions and moved
12600-461: The Treaty of Versailles . Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini had imperial ambitions in Abyssinia . Italy was already in possession of the neighbouring Eritrea and Somalia . In December 1934, there was a clash between Royal Italian Army and Imperial Ethiopian Army troops at Walwal , near the border between British and Italian Somaliland , in which Italian troops took possession of
12825-606: The Wehrmacht into the Rhineland . He gambled on Britain not getting involved but was unsure of how France would react. The action was opposed by many of his advisers. His officers had orders to withdraw if they met French resistance. France consulted Britain and lodged protests with the League but took no action. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin said that Britain lacked the forces to back its guarantees to France and that in any case, public opinion would not allow so. In Britain, it
13050-404: The pardon and mitigation of punishment. The first state coat of arms of the kingdom was adopted from Sardinia-Piedmont. It included the coat of arms of the House of Savoy in the middle and four Italian flags dating from 1848. On 4 May 1870, by royal decree, two lions in gold , which now carried the shield , a crowned knight's helmet, which bore the Military Order of Savoy , the Order of
13275-470: The peerage who were soft on Hitler. The appointment of Churchill as Prime Minister after the Norway Debate hardened opinion against appeasement and encouraged the search for those responsible. Three British journalists, Michael Foot , Frank Owen and Peter Howard , writing under the name of "Cato" in their book Guilty Men , called for the removal from office of 15 public figures they held accountable, including Chamberlain. The book defined appeasement as
13500-404: The post-war consensus against appeasement have tended to obscure the fact that "his contemporary criticism of totalitarian regimes other than Hitler's Germany was at best muted". It was not until May 1938 that he began "consistently to withhold his support from the National Government 's conduct of foreign policy in the division lobbies of the House of Commons". He seems "to have been convinced by
13725-572: The state budget , though proceeding with great caution. The government secured the support of large companies and banks. Most criticism the project came from conservatives, with a majority of the public supporting the soundness of public finances. The state budget, which from 1900 had an annual income of around 50 million lire, was to be additionally strengthened by the nationalization of the railways. In March 1905, after serious labor unrest among railroad workers, Giolitti resigned due to illness, and suggested his fellow party member Alessandro Fortis to
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#173276467020413950-405: The telephone system was nationalized. The Fortis government remained in office until the beginning of 1906. It was followed from 8 February to 29 May by a brief government under Sidney Sonnino . Finally, Giolitti entered his third term. In this he dealt mainly with the economic situation in southern Italy, due both to long-term demographic and economic factors, as well as natural disasters such as
14175-409: The "critical" component of theory was derived significantly from their attempt to overcome the limits of positivism. Modern-day proponents such as Andrew Linklater , Robert W. Cox , and Ken Booth focus on the need for human emancipation from the nation-state. Hence, it is "critical" of mainstream IR theories that tend to be both positivist and state-centric. Further linked in with Marxist theories
14400-493: The "deliberate surrender of small nations in the face of Hitler's blatant bullying". It was hastily written and has few claims to historical scholarship, but Guilty Men shaped subsequent thinking about appeasement, and it is said that it contributed to the defeat of the Conservatives in the 1945 general election . International relations International relations ( IR , and also referred to as international studies , international politics , or international affairs )
14625-450: The 1904 law for the development of Naples , prepared by economist and later prime minister Nitti. In 1898, in order to make the steel-industry completely independent from foreign coal imports, the Neapolitan engineer Ernesto Stassano invented the Stassano furnace , the first indirect-arc electric furnace . By 1917, Italian iron and steel plants operated 88 indirect-arc furnaces, manufactured by Stassano, Bassanese and Angelini. In 1899
14850-482: The 1930s appeasement policies ever since they occurred. Historians' assessments have ranged from condemnation (" Lesson of Munich ") for allowing Hitler's Germany to grow too strong to the judgment that Germany was so strong that it might well win a war and that postponing a showdown was in the best interests of the West. Appeasement policy, the policy of appeasing Hitler and Mussolini, operating jointly at that time, during 1937 and 1938 by continuous concessions granted in
15075-417: The 1980s from postmodernist studies in political science . Post-structuralism explores the deconstruction of concepts traditionally not problematic in IR (such as "power" and "agency") and examines how the construction of these concepts shapes international relations. The examination of "narratives" plays an important part in poststructuralist analysis; for example, feminist poststructuralist work has examined
15300-443: The 1990s opened up a space for gendering International Relations. Because feminist IR is linked broadly to the critical project in IR, by and large most feminist scholarship have sought to problematize the politics of knowledge construction within the discipline—often by adopting methodologies of deconstructivism associated with postmodernism/poststructuralism. However, the growing influence of feminist and women-centric approaches within
15525-459: The Abyssinian capital, and proclaimed Victor Emmanuel III as Emperor of Ethiopia . In July the League abandoned sanctions. The episode, in which sanctions were incomplete and appeared to be easily given up, seriously discredited the League. Under the Versailles Settlement , the Rhineland was demilitarised . Germany accepted that arrangement under the Locarno Treaties of 1925. Hitler claimed that it threatened Germany and, on 7 March 1936, sent
15750-408: The British public to the Munich agreement was generally favourable. As Chamberlain left for Munich in 1938, the whole House of Commons cheered him noisily. On 30 September, on his return to Britain, Chamberlain delivered his famous "peace for our time" speech to delighted crowds. He was invited by the royal family onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace before he had reported to Parliament. The agreement
15975-469: The British received assurance that the General Staff's offer to launch the coup still stood with key private sector police and army support, even though Beck had resigned his post. Chamberlain ultimately ceded to all of Hitler's demands at Munich because he believed Britain and Nazi Germany were "the two pillars of European peace and buttresses against communism". Czechoslovakia had a modern well-prepared military, and Hitler, on entering Prague , conceded that
16200-515: The Chamber of Deputies. The highest state administration was divided into the following ministries, with their headquarters in Rome: Due to the war, a number of other short-lived ministries were created during the First and Second World War . The Court of Auditors of the Kingdom had an independent status. The King of Italy was formally the holder of state power, but he could only exercise
16425-622: The Conservative Party, speaking for powerful landed and financial interests in the country, would welcome Hitler and the German Army if they believed that such was the only alternative to the establishment of Socialism in this country". British public opinion had been strongly opposed to war and rearmament in the early 1930s, but that began to shift by mid-decade. At a debate at the Oxford Union Society in 1933,
16650-599: The Crown of Italy , the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Order of the Annunciation around its collar, were added. The motto FERT was deleted. The lions carried lances that held the national flag. From the helmet fell a royal cloak, which was supposed to protect the nation. Above the coat of arms was the star of Italy (Italian Stella d’Italia ). The newly adopted national coat of arms of 1 January 1890 removed
16875-639: The Czech part more or less corresponding to the Czech Crown lands as they had existed within Austria-Hungary and earlier. The new country included Bohemia , Moravia , and Slovakia and had border areas with a majority-German population that was known as the Sudetenland and areas with significant numbers of other ethnic minorities (notably Hungarians , Poles and Ruthenians ). In April 1938,
17100-555: The Czechoslovak view was that Britain and France had pressured it to cede territory to prevent a major war, which would involve Western Europe. The Western view is that the pressure was done to save Czechoslovakia from total annihilation. Rumours had reached the Lithuanian government to the effect that Germany had specific plans to take over Klaipėda . On 12 March 1939, Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys represented Lithuania at
17325-726: The Dalmatian islands (except Krk and Rab ), according to the secret London Pact of 1915. After the refusal by President Woodrow Wilson to acknowledge the London Pact and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, with the Treaty of Rapallo in 1920 Italian claims on Northern Dalmatia were abandoned. During World War II, the Kingdom gained additional territory in Slovenia ( province of Lubiana ) and Dalmatia ( Governatorate of Dalmatia ) from Yugoslavia after its breakup in 1941. The Kingdom established and maintained until
17550-601: The Fascist Party an absolute majority of the Chamber seats. Between 1925 and 1943, Italy was a quasi- de jure Fascist dictatorship, as the constitution formally remained in effect without alteration while the monarchy formally accepted Fascist policies and institutions. In 1928 the Grand Council of Fascism took control of government administration, and in 1939 the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations replaced
17775-632: The German bombing offensive but were not yet ready and so appeasement was necessary to cause a delay. Specifically, regarding the fighters, the RAF warned the government in October 1938 that the German Luftwaffe bombers would probably get through: "the situation... will be definitely unsatisfactory throughout the next twelve months". In France, the Armée de l'Air intelligence section closely examined
18000-515: The Gotthard tunnel 90% of miners came from northern Italy, while at the Lötschberg tunnel 97% were Italian, chiefly from the south. In addition to the now completed nationalization of the railways, the planned nationalization of insurance was tackled and thetrade war with France, which had lasted since 1887, ended. Giolitti thereby interrupted Crispi's pro-German foreign policy and thus enabled
18225-658: The Holy See against the Italian invaders. Italy's unification was completed and its capital moved to Rome. Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, Cavour, and Mazzini are remembered as Italy's Four Fathers of the Fatherland . Garibaldi was elected in 1871 in his home city of Nice to the French National Assembly , where he tried to promote the cession of the city from France to the newborn Italian unitary state. He
18450-636: The Italian government reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church through the Lateran Treaties , which granted independence to the Vatican City . The following decade presided over an aggressive foreign policy , with Italy launching successful military operations against Ethiopia in 1935, Spain in 1937, and Albania in 1939. This led to economic sanctions, departure from the League of Nations , growing economic autarky , and
18675-624: The Italian republican drive for unification in Southern Italy. However, the Northern Italy monarchy of the House of Savoy in the Kingdom of Sardinia , whose government was led by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , also had ambitions of establishing a united Italian state. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe, an unsuccessful First Italian War of Independence , led by King Charles Albert of Sardinia ,
18900-510: The Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula . Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the political and social Italian unification movement, or Risorgimento , emerged to unite Italy consolidating the different states of the peninsula and liberate it from foreign control. A prominent radical figure
19125-711: The Kingdom of Sardinia ceded Savoy and Nice to France, an event that caused the Niçard exodus , that was the emigration of a quarter of the Niçard Italians to Italy. In 1860–1861, Garibaldi led the drive for unification in Naples and Sicily (the Expedition of the Thousand ), while the House of Savoy troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States . Teano
19350-437: The League again. In October 1935 Mussolini launched an attack on Abyssinia. The League declared Italy to be the aggressor and imposed sanctions, but coal and oil were not included since blocking them, it was thought, would provoke war. Albania , Austria and Hungary refused to apply sanctions, and Germany and the United States were not in the League. Nevertheless, the Italian economy suffered . The League considered closing off
19575-506: The Luftwaffe. However, General Joseph Vuillemin , air force chief of staff, warned that it was far inferior and consistently opposed war against Germany. The Labour Party opposed the fascist dictators on principle but until the late 1930s also opposed rearmament and had a significant pacifist wing. In 1935, its pacifist leader, George Lansbury , resigned after a party resolution in favour of sanctions against Italy, which he opposed. He
19800-601: The Munich Agreement in spite of their awareness of Hitler's vulnerability at the time. In August 1938, General Ludwig Beck relayed a message to Lord Halifax to explain that most of the German General Staff had prepared a coup against the Fuhrer for if there was "proof that England will fight if Czechoslovakia is attacked". When Chamberlain received the news, he dismissed it out of hand. In September,
20025-738: The Napoleonic precedent, so their harmonization was relatively straightforward. The next challenge was to develop a parliamentary legislative system. Cavour and most liberals up and down the peninsula highly admired the British system , which became the model for Italy. Harmonizing the Navy ( Regia Marina ) and the Royal Italian Army was much more complex, chiefly because the systems of recruiting soldiers and selecting and promoting officers were so different and grandfathered exceptions to
20250-498: The Peloponnesian War (5th century BC), Chanakya 's Arthashastra (4th century BC), as the inspiration for realist theory, with Hobbes ' Leviathan and Machiavelli 's The Prince providing further elaboration. Similarly, liberalism draws upon the work of Kant and Rousseau , with the work of the former often being cited as the first elaboration of democratic peace theory . Though contemporary human rights
20475-448: The Peloponnesian War , written by Thucydides , is considered a foundational text of the realist school of political philosophy. There is debate over whether Thucydides himself was a realist; Richard Ned Lebow has argued that seeing Thucydides as a realist is a misinterpretation of a more complex political message within his work. Amongst others, philosophers like Machiavelli , Hobbes , and Rousseau are considered to have contributed to
20700-590: The Royal Decree of 17 July 1861 which specified the exchange of pre-unification coins into lire and the fact that local coins continued to be legal tender in their respective provinces of origin. In the entire period from 1861 to 1940, Italy experienced considerable economic growth despite several economic crises and the First World War. Unlike most modern nations, where industrialization was undertaken by large corporations , industrial growth in Italy
20925-467: The Sardinian government to declare a united Italian kingdom on 17 March 1861. Victor Emmanuel II , since March 1849 King of Sardinia, then became the first king of a united Italy, and the capital was moved from Turin to Florence. The title of "King of Italy" had been out of use since the abdication of Napoleon I of France on 6 April 1814. Following the unification of most of Italy, tensions between
21150-423: The Soviet Union and subsequent rise of globalization in the late 20th century have presaged new theories and evaluations of the rapidly changing international system . Depending on the academic institution, international relations or international affairs is either a subdiscipline of political science or a broader multidisciplinary field encompassing global politics , law, economics or world history. As
21375-671: The Sudeten German leader, Henlein, in the spring of 1938, that a satisfactory settlement could be reached if Britain managed to persuade the Czech government to make concessions to the German minority". In Britain, the Royal Navy generally favoured appeasement although it was during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1937 that it was confident it could easily defeat the Royal Italian Navy in open warfare. However, it favoured appeasement because it did not want to commit
21600-580: The UK and France amounts to the complete surrender of the Western Democracies to the Nazi threat of force. Such a collapse will bring peace or security neither to the UK nor to France". He and a few other Conservatives who refused to vote for the Munich settlement were attacked by their local constituency parties. However, Churchill's subsequent leadership of Britain during the war and his role in creating
21825-618: The Western powers. When asked for details, he did not reply. Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland had persuaded him that the international community would not resist him, and it put Germany in a powerful strategic position. Many historians argue that the British policy of non-intervention was a product of the Establishment's anti-communist stance. Scott Ramsay (2019) instead argues that Britain demonstrated " benevolent neutrality " and
22050-455: The ability of states to control and limit war in their international relations. Early adherents include Woodrow Wilson and Norman Angell , who argued that states mutually gained from cooperation and that war was so destructive as to be essentially futile. Liberalism was not recognized as a coherent theory as such until it was collectively and derisively termed idealism by E. H. Carr . A new version of "idealism" that focused on human rights as
22275-499: The aim of establishing a base of heavy industry. In the 1880s industrialisation moved into high gear, which lasted until 1912/13 and reached its peak under Giolitti . Industrial plants soon clustered around areas of hydropower energy. Between 1887 and 1911 hydroelectricity became the main source of energy, with over sixty plants constructed. From 1881 to 1887, Italy's textile, mechanical, steel, iron, and chemical industries grew by an average 4.6 percent annually. The backbone of
22500-504: The alliance with Vienna remained purely formal, due in part to Italy's desire to acquire Trentino and Trieste from Austria-Hungary. As a result, Italy accepted the British invitation to join the Allied Powers during World War I , as the western powers promised territorial compensation (at the expense of Austria-Hungary) for participation that was more generous than Vienna's offer in exchange for Italian neutrality. Victory in
22725-495: The area of trade. Herbert von Dirksen , the German ambassador to Britain, in 1938 characterised the agreement, alongside the 1935 naval agreement, as carrying "the swaying structure of foreign relations [between the UK and Germany] even in critical periods". The 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement had Britain permit Germany to begin rebuilding the German Navy , including its U-boats , despite Germany having repeatedly violated
22950-586: The automobile industry commenced when Giovanni Agnelli bought the designs and patents of the Ceirano brothers and founded the Fiat automobile works. In 1906 another automobile factory was built in the Portello district of Milan for the French entrepreneur Alexandre Darracq and the headquarters of his Italian branch Società Anonima Italiana Darracq . In 1910, the company brought the first successful model onto
23175-420: The basis of the legitimacy of international law was advanced by Hans Köchler . Major theorists include Montesquieu , Immanuel Kant , Michael W. Doyle , Francis Fukuyama , and Helen Milner . Liberal institutionalism (some times referred to as neoliberalism) shows how cooperation can be achieved in international relations even if neorealist assumptions apply (states are the key actors in world politics,
23400-494: The broader multidisciplinary field of global politics, law, economics and history, the subject may be studied across multiple departments, or be situated in its own department, as is the case at for example the London School of Economics. An undergraduate degree in multidisciplinary international relations may lead to a more specialised master's degree of either international politics, economics, or international law . In
23625-431: The capitalist system, strategically appropriating undervalued natural resources and labor hours and fostering economic and political dependence. Feminist IR considers the ways that international politics affects and is affected by both men and women and also at how the core concepts that are employed within the discipline of IR (e.g. war, security, etc.) are themselves gendered. Feminist IR has not only concerned itself with
23850-692: The capture of Rome in 1870 from French forces of Napoleon III , Papal troops, and Zouaves , relations between Italy and the Vatican remained sour for the next sixty years, with the Popes declaring themselves to be prisoners in the Vatican . The Catholic Church in Italy frequently protested the anti-clerical actions of the secular Italian governments, refused to meet with envoys from the King, and urged Roman Catholics not to vote in Italian elections. Not until 1929
24075-415: The challenges of bureaucratic coordination. Italy has a long history of different coinage types . Italian unification highlighted the confusion of the pre-unification Italian monetary system which was mostly based on silver monometallism and therefore in contrast with the gold monometallism in force in the Kingdom of Sardinia and in the major European nations. To reconcile the various monetary systems it
24300-433: The circumstances and wherever the location in which it occurred". Chamberlain's policy in many respects continued the policies of MacDonald and Baldwin and was popular until the failure of the Munich Agreement to stop Hitler in Czechoslovakia. "Appeasement" had been a respectable term between 1919 and 1937 to signify the pursuit of peace. Many believed after the First World War that wars were started by mistake, in which case
24525-705: The claim. The results of an October 1938 Gallup poll , which showed 86% of the public believed Hitler was lying about his future territorial ambitions, was censored from the News Chronicle at the last minute by the publisher, who was loyal to Chamberlain. For the few journalists who were asking challenging questions about appeasement, primarily members of the foreign press, Chamberlain often froze them out or intimidated them. When asked at press conferences about Hitler's abuse of Jews and other minority groups, he went so far as to denounce these reports as "Jewish-Communist propaganda ". Chamberlain's direct manipulation of
24750-655: The completion of the Simplon Tunnel in 1906. Shortly after the railway began its triumphal march through Switzerland , each region wanted its own north-south connection and with the construction of the railway tunnels on the Gotthard 14,998 km (1872–1880), Simplon 19,803 km (1898–1906) and Lötschberg 14,612 km (1907–1913), three major Alpine crossings were realized that were important for Switzerland and neighboring European countries. The workforce of these monumental projects were largely Italians: at
24975-672: The conflict between the nations was conducted during the Cold War. E.g., prominent US policy makers frequently spoke of the USSR as an 'evil empire', and thus socialised the US population and state apparatus into an anti-communist sentiment, which defined the norms conducted in US foreign policy. Other constructivist analyses include the discourses on European integration; senior policy-making circles were socialised into ideas of Europe as an historical and cultural community, and therefore sought to construct institutions to integrate European nations into
25200-533: The conflicts between states in the early European state-system; the causes of the First and Second World Wars , as well as the behavior of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War . In settings such as these the realist framework carries great interpretative insights in explaining how the military and economic power struggles of states lead to larger armed conflicts. History of
25425-507: The connections existing between sovereign nation-states . This makes the establishment of the modern state system the natural starting point of international relations history. The establishment of modern sovereign states as fundamental political units traces back to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 in Europe . During the preceding Middle Ages , European organization of political authority
25650-427: The consolidation of newly independent nation-states within the non-West , such as Brazil and India. In recent decades, IR has increasingly addressed environmental concerns such as climate change , deforestation , and biodiversity loss , recognizing their implications for global security and diplomacy. Once peripheral, these issues have gained prominence due to their global impact . Multilateral agreements, like
25875-634: The construction of the new Italian ocean liner SS Rex , which set a transatlantic sea voyage record of four days in 1933, and the development of the seaplane Macchi-Castoldi M.C.72 , which was the world's fastest seaplane in 1933. In 1933, Italo Balbo completed a flight across the Atlantic in a seaplane to the World's Fair in Chicago . The flight symbolized the power of the Fascist leadership and
26100-524: The coronation of Pope Pius XII in Rome. On Urbšys's return to Lithuania, he stopped in Berlin with the hope of clarifying the growing rumours. On 20 March, just five days after the German occupation of Prague , German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop agreed to meet Urbšys but not the Lithuanian Ambassador to Berlin, Kazys Škirpa , who was asked to wait in another room. The conversation lasted for about 40 minutes. Ribbentrop demanded
26325-683: The creation of foreign policy. The liberal framework is associated with analysis of the globalised world as it emerged in the aftermath of World War II . Increased political cooperation through organisations such as the UN , as well as economic cooperation through institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund , was thought to have made the realist analysis of power and conflict inadequate in explaining
26550-421: The disadvantaged regions of the south followed. However, their implementation mostly failed due to the resistance of the large landowners. Nevertheless, there was a significant improvement in the economic situation of smallholders . In 1911, 55.4% of the Italian population worked in agriculture and 26.9% in industry . Strong social tensions came to light, Italy's social legislation took last place in Europe,
26775-497: The discipline is inherently masculine in nature. For example, in her article "Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals" Signs (1988), Carol Cohn claimed that a highly masculinized culture within the defense establishment contributed to the divorcing of war from human emotion. Feminist IR emerged largely from the late 1980s onward. The end of the Cold War and the re-evaluation of traditional IR theory during
27000-488: The disputed territory, and about 150 Abyssinians and 50 Italians were killed. Italy demanded apologies and compensation from Abyssinia, which appealed to the League, with Emperor Haile Selassie famously appealing in person to the assembly in Geneva . The League persuaded both sides to seek a settlement under the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 , but Italy continued troop movements, and Abyssinia appealed to
27225-416: The economic and material aspects. It makes the assumption that the economy trumps other concerns, making economic class the fundamental level of analysis. Marxists view the international system as an integrated capitalist system in pursuit of capital accumulation . Thus, colonialism brought in sources for raw materials and captive markets for exports, while decolonialization brought new opportunities in
27450-621: The end of World War II colonies, protectorates, military occupations and puppet states beyond its borders. These included Eritrea , Italian Somaliland , Libya , Ethiopia (annexed by Italy from 1936 to 1941), Albania (an italian protectorate since 1939), British Somaliland , part of Greece , Corsica, southern France with Monaco , Tunisia , Kosovo and Montenegro (all territories occupied in World War II) Croatia (Italian and German client state in World War II), and
27675-483: The eruption of Vesuvius in 1906 and the earthquake in Messina , Calabria , and Palmi in 1908. Entire villages were depopulated and centuries-old regional cultures disappeared. Nevertheless, there was a slight economic upswing in the south afterwards. The government, which had initially discouraged emigration to avoid labor shortages , now gave its approval to the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Italians from
27900-458: The establishment of a Sudeten German paramilitary organisation , which proceeded to carry out terrorist attacks on Czechoslovak targets. On 22 September, Chamberlain flew to Bad Godesberg for his second meeting with Hitler and said that he was willing to accept the cession of the Sudetenland to Germany. He was startled by the response of Hitler that the cession of the Sudetenland was not enough and that Czechoslovakia, which Hitler had described as
28125-524: The export of fruit, vegetables and wine to France. He also boosted the cultivation of sugar beets and their processing in the Po Valley and encouraged heavy industry to gain a foothold in the south as well. However, the latter was not very successful. In 1908, some laws limiting working hours for women and children up to 12 hours were passed with the support of the Socialist MPs. Special laws for
28350-475: The failure of the League of Nations and the failure of collective security . The League of Nations was set up in the aftermath of World War I in the hope that international co-operation and collective resistance to aggression might prevent another war. Members of the League were entitled to the assistance of other members if they came under attack. The policy of collective security ran in parallel with measures to achieve international disarmament and, if possible,
28575-545: The first graduate-only school of international affairs in the United States. In 1965, Glendon College and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs were the first institutions in Canada to offer an undergraduate and a graduate program in international studies and affairs, respectively. The lines between IR and other political science subfields is sometimes blurred, in particular when it comes to
28800-481: The first Italian built locomotives with the FS Class 113 and the later FS Class 650 . The first railway section on the island of Sicily was inaugurated on 28 April 1863 with the Palermo – Bagheria line. By 1914 the Italian railway had around 17,000 km of railways. During the Fascist dictatorship, enormous sums were invested in new technological achievements, especially in military technology. But large sums of money were also spent on prestige projects such as
29025-465: The first fully-fledged international system. Analyses of the foreign policies of sovereign city states have been done in ancient times, as in Thycydides ' analysis of the causes of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta , as well as by Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince , published in 1532, where he analyzed the foreign policy of the renaissance city state of Florence . The contemporary field of international relations, however, analyzes
29250-410: The first international relations graduate program in the United States. This was soon followed by the establishment of the Committee on International Relations (CIR) at the University of Chicago , where the first research graduate degree was conferred in 1928. The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy , a collaboration between Tufts University and Harvard University , opened its doors in 1933 as
29475-420: The following months, Czechoslovakia was broken up and ceased to exist, as Germany occupied the Sudetenland; Hungary took part of Slovakia, including Carpathian Ruthenia ; and Poland annexed Trans-Olza . On 15 March 1939, the German Wehrmacht moved into the remainder of Czechoslovakia, and from Prague Castle , Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia to be the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , completing
29700-520: The foreign policies of individual states. Furthermore, the existence of the globalised world economy makes continuous military power struggle irrational, as states are dependent on participation in the global trade system to ensure their own survival. As such, the liberal framework stresses cooperation between states as a fundamental part of the international system. States are not seen as unitary actors, but pluralistic arenas where interest groups, non-governmental organisations, and economic actors also shape
29925-403: The form of dependence. A prominent derivative of Marxian thought is critical international relations theory which is the application of " critical theory " to international relations. Early critical theorists were associated with the Frankfurt School , which followed Marx's concern with the conditions that allow for social change and the establishment of rational institutions. Their emphasis on
30150-551: The fundamental assumption that the international state system is an anarchy , with no overarching power restricting the behaviour of sovereign states. As a consequence, states are engaged in a continuous power struggle, where they seek to augment their own military capabilities, economic power, and diplomacy relative to other states; this in order to ensure the protection of their political system, citizens, and vital interests. The realist framework further assumes that states act as unitary, rational actors, where central decision makers in
30375-454: The fur coat and the lances and the crown on the helmet was replaced by the Iron Crown of the Lombards . The whole group stood under a canopy , crowned with the Italian royal crown, above which was the banner of Italy. The flagpole was carried by a golden crowned eagle . On 11 April 1929, Mussolini replaced the two Savoy lions with lictor's bundles . Only after his dismissal in 1944 was the old coat of arms from 1890 restored. The birth of
30600-466: The general system persisted for decades. The disorganization helps explain the dismal performance of the Italian navy in the 1866 war . Uniformizing the diverse education systems also proved complicated. Shortly before his death, Cavour appointed Francesco De Sanctis as minister of education, an eminent scholar from the University of Naples who proved an able and patient administrator. The addition of Veneto in 1866 and Rome in 1870 further complicated
30825-424: The hope of reaching a point of saturation when the dictators would be willing to accede to international collaboration.... It came to an end when Hitler seized Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939, in defiance of his promises given at Munich, and Prime Minister Chamberlain, who had championed appeasement before, decided on a policy of resistance to further German aggression. Chamberlain's policy of appeasement emerged from
31050-425: The human race". In effect, the British and French had by the Munich negotiations pressured their ally Czechoslovakia to cede part of its territory to a hostile neighbour in order to preserve peace. Churchill likened the negotiations at Berchtesgarten , Bad Godesberg and Munich to a man demanding £1, then, when it is offered, demanding £2, then when it is refused settling for £1.17s.6d. British leaders committed to
31275-530: The inaugural issue of World Politics , Frederick S. Dunn wrote that IR was about "relations that take place across national boundaries" and "between autonomous political groups in a world system". Dunn wrote that unique elements characterized IR and separated it from other subfields: international politics is concerned with the special kind of power relationships that exist in a community lacking an overriding authority; international economics deals with trade relations across national boundaries that are complicated by
31500-476: The industrial and technological progress the state had made under the Fascists. During the 1860s and 1870s, Italian manufacturing was backward and small-scale, while the oversized agrarian sector was the backbone of the national economy. The country lacked large coal and iron deposits. In the 1880s, a severe farm crisis led to the introduction of more modern farming techniques in the Po Valley , while from 1878 to 1887 protectionist policies were introduced with
31725-444: The industrial boom was, next to the labor force, institutions of higher learning such as the Politecnico founded in Milan in 1863 by Francesco Brioschi and the Technical School for Engineers in Turin established four years earlier. Steelworks were established with state and private capital, notably from the Credito Mobiliare : in 1884 in Terni and in 1897 in Piombino using iron-ore from Elba . The relative backwardness of
31950-732: The international policy communities (for example at the World Bank and the United Nations) is more reflective of the liberal feminist emphasis on equality of opportunity for women. Prominent scholars include Carol Cohn , Cynthia Enloe , Sara Ruddick , and J. Ann Tickner . International society theory, also called the English school, focuses on the shared norms and values of states and how they regulate international relations. Examples of such norms include diplomacy, order, and international law . Theorists have focused particularly on humanitarian intervention, and are subdivided between solidarists, who tend to advocate it more, and pluralists, who place greater value in order and sovereignty. Nicholas Wheeler
32175-492: The international system could remain stable in the absence of a hegemon, thus rebutting hegemonic stability theory. Regime theory is derived from the liberal tradition that argues that international institutions or regimes affect the behaviour of states (or other international actors). It assumes that cooperation is possible in the anarchic system of states, indeed, regimes are by definition, instances of international cooperation. While realism predicts that conflict should be
32400-425: The international system is anarchic, and states pursue their self interest). Liberal institutionalists highlight the role of international institutions and regimes in facilitating cooperation between states. Prominent neoliberal institutionalists are John Ikenberry , Robert Keohane , and Joseph Nye . Robert Keohane's 1984 book After Hegemony used insights from the new institutional economics to argue that
32625-467: The international system is built on social constructs; such as ideas , norms , and identities . Various political actors, such as state leaders , policy makers , and the leaders of international organisations, are socialised into different roles and systems of norms, which define how the international system operates. The constructivist scholar Alexander Wendt , in a 1992 article in International Organization , noted in response to realism that "anarchy
32850-406: The king as his successor. On 28 March Victor Emmanuel III appointed Fortis as the new prime minister, making him the first Jewish head of government worldwide. With Law 137 of 22 April 1905 he sanctioned the nationalization of the railways through a public recruitment process under the control of the Court of Audit and the supervision of the Ministries of Public Works and Finance. At the same time,
33075-517: The left said that Chamberlain looked forward to a war between Germany and the Soviet Union . Attlee claimed in one political speech in 1937 that the National Government had connived at German rearmament "because of its hatred of Russia". British communists, following the party line defined by Joseph Stalin , argued that appeasement had been a pro-fascist policy and that the British ruling class preferred fascism to socialism. The Communist MP Willie Gallacher said that "many prominent representatives of
33300-412: The major party, but were unable to form a government in a parliament split among the three factions of Socialists, Christian populists , and classical liberals . Elections took place in 1919, 1921 and 1924: on this last occasion, Mussolini abolished proportional representation, replacing it with the Acerbo Law , by which the party that won the largest share of votes got two-thirds of the seats, which gave
33525-435: The market with the 24 HP and the brand name ALFA on the radiator grille. While automobiles were only affordable by few its popularity and fascination rose rapidly, and one of the first sports car racing events in the world, the Targa Florio , held annually in the mountains of Sicily was established in 1906. In the financial sector, Prime Minister Giolitti was mainly concerned with increasing pensions and restructuring
33750-488: The matter, and the United Kingdom and France expressed sympathy for Lithuania but chose not to offer any material assistance and followed a well-publicized policy of appeasement. The British treated the issue in the same way as the earlier Sudeten Crisis and made no plans to assist Lithuania or the other Baltic States if they were attacked by Germany. The Soviets supported Lithuania in principle but did not wish to disrupt their relations with Germany since they were contemplating
33975-525: The monarchy in 1946. The Kingdom of Italy covered and at times exceeded the land area of present-day Italy. The Kingdom gradually extended its area through the Italian unification until 1870. In 1919 it annexed Trieste and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol . The Triple Entente promised to grant to Italy – if the state joined the Allies in World War I – several regions, including former Austrian Littoral , western parts of former Duchy of Carniola , Northern Dalmatia and notably Zara , Šibenik and most of
34200-516: The monarchy was abolished, following civil discontent that led to an institutional referendum on 2 June 1946 . This resulted in a modern Italian Republic . The kingdom was established through the unification of several states over a decades-long process, called the Risorgimento . That process was influenced by the Savoy -led Kingdom of Sardinia , which was one of Italy's legal predecessor states . In 1866, Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia and, upon its victory, received
34425-422: The name "German-Austria", which reverted to "Austria" after the emergence of the First Republic of Austria in September 1919. The constitutions of both the Weimar Republic and the First Republic of Austria, included the aim of unification, which was supported by democratic parties. However, the rise of Hitler dampened the enthusiasm of the Austrian government for such a plan. Hitler, an Austrian by birth, had been
34650-443: The need for war if necessary. It was influential and widely read. Although she argued against the policy of "peace at almost any price", she did not take a personal tone, unlike Guilty Men two years later. Once Germany invaded Poland and so ignited World War II , consensus was that appeasement was responsible. The Labour MP Hugh Dalton identified the policy with wealthy people in the City of London , Conservatives and members of
34875-459: The neglect of agriculture, which declined after 1873. The Italian parliament initiated an investigation in 1877, which lasted eight years and blamed the lack of mechanization and modern farming techniques, and the failure of landowners to develop their lands. In addition, most farm laborers were temporary inexperienced short-term workers ( braccianti ). Farmers without a steady income were forced to subsist on meager food. Disease spread rapidly and
35100-442: The norm in international relations, regime theorists say that there is cooperation despite anarchy. Often they cite cooperation in trade, human rights and collective security among other issues. These instances of cooperation are regimes. The most commonly cited definition of regimes comes from Stephen Krasner , who defines regimes as "principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actor expectations converge in
35325-411: The occupation of Iraq during the Iraq War , there is still a need for sovereignty in terms of assessing international relations. The concept of power in international relations can be described as the degree of resources, capabilities, and influence in international affairs. It is often divided up into the concepts of hard power and soft power , hard power relating primarily to coercive power, such as
35550-403: The offer, but Churchill refused to do so. Chamberlain died on 9 November the same year. Churchill delivered a tribute to him in which he said, "Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save
35775-442: The political and administrative systems of the seven different major components under a unified set of policies. The different regions were proud of their traditions and could not easily be fitted into the Sardinian model. Cavour started planning for integration, but died (on 6 June 1861) before it was fully developed – indeed, the challenge is thought to have hastened his early death . The regional administrative bureaucracies followed
36000-494: The presence of both chambers. According to the law of 17 March 1861, his title was: " By the grace of God and by the will of the nation, King of Italy and King of Albania (only from 1939 to 1943) and Emperor of Ethiopia (only from 1936 to 1943)". He awarded the five Orders of Knighthood of Savoy and exercised constitutional sovereign rights. He commanded the land, sea and air power; he declared wars, concluded peace, alliance, trade and other treaties, of which only those that entailed
36225-407: The proportion employed in agriculture fell below 50% around the turn of the century. However, not everyone benefited from these developments, as southern agriculture in particular suffered from the hot arid climate , while in the north malaria hampered cultivation of low-lying areas on the Adriatic coast. The government's focus on foreign and military policy in the early years of the state led to
36450-470: The prospect of German terror bombing of British cities, which had started during the First World War. The media emphasised the dangers, and the general consensus was that defence was impossible and, as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had said in 1932, " The bomber will always get through ". However, the Royal Air Force had two major weapons systems in the works: better interceptors ( Hurricanes and Spitfires ) and especially radar . They promised to counter
36675-409: The rarely if ever fulfilled ideal that all people speaking one language should belong to one state only. The same claim to sovereignty was made for both forms of nation-state. In Europe today, few states conform to either definition of nation-state: many continue to have royal sovereigns, and hardly any are ethnically homogeneous. The particular European system supposing the sovereign equality of states
36900-477: The real-world problems that international relations studies is supposed to contribute to solving. Constructivist theory (see above) is the most prominent strand of post-structuralism. Other prominent post-structuralist theories are Marxism, dependency theory, feminism, and the theories of the English school. See also Critical international relations theory . Marxist theories of IR reject the realist/liberal view of state conflict or cooperation; instead focusing on
37125-473: The realist philosophy. However, while their work may support realist doctrine, it is not likely that they would have classified themselves as realists in this sense. Political realism believes that politics, like society, is governed by objective laws with roots in human nature . To improve society, it is first necessary to understand the laws by which society lives. The operation of these laws being impervious to our preferences, persons will challenge them only at
37350-442: The reduction of armaments by international agreement. On the other hand, the same survey also found that 58.7% of British voters favoured "collective military sanctions" against aggressors, and public reaction to the Hoare-Laval Pact with Mussolini was extremely unfavorable. Even the left wing of the pacifist movement quickly began to turn with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and many peace-balloters began signing up for
37575-463: The region of Veneto . Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power . In the last two decades of the 19th century, Italy developed into a colonial power , and in 1882 it entered into a Triple Alliance with the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire , following strong disagreements with France about their respective colonial expansions. Although relations with Berlin became very friendly,
37800-404: The regional population was not only Chinese but was multi-ethnic. The Republic of China appealed to the League of Nations and to the United States for assistance. The League of Nations Council asked the parties to withdraw to their original positions to permit a peaceful settlement. The United States reminded them of their duty under the Kellogg–Briand Pact to settle matters peacefully. Japan
38025-407: The relations of these different types of states is disputed. "Levels of analysis" is a way of looking at the international system, which includes the individual level, the domestic state as a unit, the international level of transnational and intergovernmental affairs, and the global level. What is explicitly recognized as international relations theory was not developed until after World War I , and
38250-403: The relationship between the institutionalization of IR as an academic discipline and the demands of national governments. Robert Vitalis [ ar ] 's book White World Order, Black Power Politics details the historical imbrication of IR in the projects of colonial administration and imperialism, while other scholars have traced the emergence of international relations in relation to
38475-421: The return of Klaipėda to Germany and threatened military action. Urbšys relayed the verbal ultimatum to the Lithuanian government. Because the ultimatum was never set down in writing and did not include a formal deadline, some historians downplay its importance and describe it as a "set of demands", rather than as an ultimatum. However, it was made clear that force would be used should Lithuania resist, and Lithuania
38700-405: The right of legislation in conjunction with the national parliament, and the government was de facto responsible to parliament. According to the Salic Law , the throne was inherited in the male line of the royal House of Savoy . The king and his house professed allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church . He came of age at the age of 18 and, upon assuming power, took an oath to the constitution in
38925-443: The risk of failure. Realism, believing as it does in the objectivity of the laws of politics, must also believe in the possibility of developing a rational theory that reflects, however imperfectly and one-sidedly, these objective laws. It believes also, then, in the possibility of distinguishing in politics between truth and opinion—between what is true objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and illuminated by reason, and what
39150-419: The role that "women" play in global society and how they are constructed in war as "innocent" and "civilians". Rosenberg's article "Why is there no International Historical Sociology" was a key text in the evolution of this strand of international relations theory. Post-structuralism has garnered both significant praise and criticism, with its critics arguing that post-structuralist research often fails to address
39375-587: The royalists and republicans erupted. In April 1861, Garibaldi entered the Italian parliament and challenged Cavour's leadership, accusing him of dividing Italy, and threatened a civil war between the Kingdom in the North and his forces in the South. On 6 June 1861, the Kingdom's strongman Cavour died. During the ensuing political instability, Garibaldi and the republicans became increasingly revolutionary in tone. Garibaldi's arrest in 1862 set off worldwide controversy. In 1866, Otto von Bismarck , Minister President of Prussia , offered Victor Emmanuel II an alliance with
39600-440: The signing of military alliances with Germany and Japan . Fascist Italy entered World War II as a leading member of the Axis Powers in 1940 and despite initial success, was defeated in North Africa and the Soviet Union . Allied landings in Sicily led to the fall of the Fascist regime and the new government surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. German forces occupied northern and central Italy, established
39825-401: The socialists were opposed not only to social policy but also to colonial expansion. Prime Minister Francesco Crispi financed the colonial policy with tax increases and austerity measures. The internal political differences culminated in the Bava Beccaris massacre in Milan. There, on 7 May 1898, there were mass demonstrations against rising bread prices. General Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris , after
40050-409: The south continued to be a central problem for the state. Various solutions were proposed for the so-called " Southern question " by Francesco Saverio Nitti , Gaetano Salvemini and Sidney Sonnino, but the government only acted in special problem areas such as Naples . The ILVA group of Genoa , with the political and financial backing of the Italian state, built the Bagnoli steel plant as part of
40275-466: The south. This was motivated by fear of increasing social tensions and monetary instability. In 1906 the government lowered the national interest tax rate from 5% to 3.75%. This move eased the burden on the state's required finances, reduced the fears of state bondholders , and encouraged the growth of heavy industry . The subsequent budget surplus made it possible to finance major government work projects which massively reduced unemployment , such as
40500-578: The speed of German rearmament and the fact that Britain was falling behind. Baldwin rejected their sense of urgency and declared that he would not get Britain to war with anybody "for the League of Nations or anybody else" and that if there were to be any fighting in Europe, "I should like to see the Bolshies and Nazis doing it". Amongst Conservatives, Churchill was unusual in believing that Germany menaced freedom and democracy, that British rearmament should proceed more rapidly and that Germany should be resisted over Czechoslovakia. His criticism of Hitler began from
40725-481: The start of the decade, but Churchill was slow to attack fascism overall because of his own vitriolic opposition to communists, " international Jews " and socialism generally. Churchill's sustained warnings about fascism commenced only in 1938 after Francisco Franco , who was receiving aid from Italy and Germany during the Spanish Civil War , decimated the left in Spain . The week before Munich, Churchill warned, "The partition of Czechoslovakia under pressure from
40950-430: The state and its creditors. It consisted of a president, three section presidents, 24 councilors of state and the service staff, and was appointed by the king on the proposal of the Council of Ministers. There was brief experimentation in 1882 with multi-member districts, and after World War I proportional representation was introduced with large, regional, multi-seat electoral constituencies. The Socialists became
41175-420: The state apparatus ultimately stand for most of the state's foreign policy decisions. International organizations are in consequence merely seen as tools for individual states used to further their own interests, and are thought to have little power in shaping states' foreign policies on their own. The realist framework is traditionally associated with the analysis of power-politics, and has been used to analyze
41400-411: The strength of the Luftwaffe and decided the German pursuit planes and bombers were the best in the world and that the Germans were producing 1000 warplanes a month. It perceived decisive German air superiority and so it was pessimistic about its ability to defend Czechoslovakia in 1938. Guy La Chambre , the civilian air minister, optimistically informed the government that the air force could stop
41625-513: The study of conflict , institutions , political economy and political behavior . The division between comparative politics and international relations is artificial, as processes within nations shape international processes, and international processes shape processes within states. Some scholars have called for an integration of the fields. Comparative politics does not have similar " isms " as international relations scholarship. Critical scholarship in international relations has explored
41850-415: The support of 50% of votes and 25% of all enrolled voters to be elected in the first round of ballots. Seats not adjudicated on the first ballot, were filled through a runoff held shortly after the first ballots. In addition to this, there was a Council of State , which had consultative powers and decided on conflicts of jurisdiction between administrative authorities and courts, as well as on disputes between
42075-411: The systemic level of international relations is often, but not always, the preferred method for neo-realists and other structuralist IR analysts. Preceding the concepts of interdependence and dependence, international relations relies on the idea of sovereignty. Described in Jean Bodin 's Six Books of the Commonwealth in 1576, the three pivotal points derived from the book describe sovereignty as being
42300-422: The territory's sovereign borders. These principles underpin the modern international legal and political order. The period between roughly 1500 to 1789 saw the rise of independent sovereign states , multilateralism , and the institutionalization of diplomacy and the military. The French Revolution contributed the idea that it was the citizenry of a state, defined as the nation, that were sovereign, rather than
42525-486: The traditional focus of IR on states, wars, diplomacy and security, but feminist IR scholars have also emphasized the importance of looking at how gender shapes the current global political economy. In this sense, there is no clear cut division between feminists working in IR and those working in the area of International Political Economy (IPE). From its inception, feminist IR has also theorized extensively about men and, in particular, masculinities. Many IR feminists argue that
42750-419: The truth of the matter was that by controlling the press he was merely ensuring that the press was unable to reflect public opinion. The journalist Shiela Grant Duff 's Penguin Special, Europe and the Czechs , was published and distributed to every MP on the day that Chamberlain returned from Munich. Her book was a spirited defence of the Czech nation and a detailed criticism of British policy and confronted
42975-461: The uncontrolled actions of sovereign states; and international law is law that is based on voluntary acceptance by independent nations. The terms "International studies" and " global studies " have been used by some to refer to a broader multidisciplinary IR field. Studies of international relations started thousands of years ago; Barry Buzan and Richard Little considered the interaction of ancient Sumerian city-states, starting in 3,500 BC , as
43200-414: The unification period as continuing past 1871, including activities during the late 19th century and the First World War (1915–1918), and reaching completion only with the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 4 November 1918. This more expansive view of the unification is presented at the Central Museum of the Risorgimento . A major challenge for the prime ministers of the new Kingdom of Italy was integrating
43425-444: The use of force, and soft power commonly covering economics , diplomacy , and cultural influence. However, there is no clear dividing line between the two forms of power. Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian : Regno d'Italia , Italian: [ˈreɲɲo diˈtaːlja] ) was a state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy , until 10 June 1946, when
43650-454: The war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations , but it did not receive all the territories it was promised . In 1922, Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy, ushering in an era of National Fascist Party government known as " Fascist Italy ". Authoritarian rule was enforced, crushing all political opposition while promoting economic modernization, traditional values, and territorial expansion . In 1929,
43875-463: The war broken out, as Chamberlain still held out hopes of a quick armistice and did not want to inflame the atmosphere. As Richard Cockett noted: [Chamberlain] had successfully demonstrated how a government in a democracy could influence and control the press to a remarkable degree. The danger in this for Chamberlain was that he preferred to forget that he exercised such influence, and so increasingly mistook his pliant press for real public opinion...
44100-408: The way for Munich in September 1938 because it indicated the likely non-response of Britain and France to future German aggression. How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas masks here because of a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing. Under the Versailles Settlement, Czechoslovakia was created with the territory of
44325-413: The wilderness whose wise counsels were largely ignored, with almost catastrophic consequences for the nation in 1939–40". More recently, however, historians have questioned the accuracy of that simple distinction between appeasers and anti-appeasers. "Few appeasers were really prepared to seek peace at any price; few, if any, anti-appeasers were prepared for Britain to make a stand against aggression whatever
44550-493: The workings of the international system. The intellectual basis of liberal theory is often cited as Immanuel Kant 's essay Perpetual Peace from 1795. In it, he postulates that states, over time, through increased political and economic cooperation, will come to resemble an international federation—a world government ; which will be characterised by continual peace and cooperation. In modern times, liberal international relations theory arose after World War I in response to
44775-403: The world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged". As the policy of appeasement failed to prevent war, those who advocated it were quickly criticised. Appeasement came to be seen as something to be avoided by those with responsibility for the diplomacy of Britain or any other democratic country. By contrast, the few who stood out against appeasement were seen as "voices in
45000-399: Was "better Hitlerism than Communism ". In France, right-wingers were sometimes accused of believing "Better Hitler than Blum " in reference to the French Socialist Prime Minister Léon Blum at the time. Anti-communism was a motive of a close ally of Chamberlain, Lord Halifax , who said after he had visited Göring and met Hitler in Germany in 1936 and 1937: "Nationalism and Racialism is
45225-414: Was a useful form of anti-communism . However, by the time of the Munich Agreement , which was concluded on 30 September 1938 between Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, the policy was opposed by the Labour Party and by a few Conservative dissenters such as future Prime Minister Winston Churchill , Secretary of State for War Duff Cooper , and future Prime Minister Anthony Eden . Appeasement
45450-420: Was accepted by most of those responsible for British foreign policy in the 1930s; by leading journalists and academics; and by members of the British royal family such as King Edward VIII and his successor, George VI . Anti-communism was sometimes acknowledged as a deciding factor, as mass labour unrest resurfaced in Britain, and news of Stalin's bloody purges disturbed the West. A common upper-class slogan
45675-413: Was based on a vaguely hierarchical religious order. Contrary to popular belief, Westphalia still embodied layered systems of sovereignty, especially within the Holy Roman Empire . More than the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 is thought to reflect an emerging norm that sovereigns had no internal equals within a defined territory and no external superiors as the ultimate authority within
45900-401: Was decided to mint coins that nominally had 900‰ fine silver, but which in fact they contained 835‰ so as to approach the real exchange rate between gold and silver which was approximately 1 to 14.38. Exactly four months after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy , the government introduced the new national currency, the Italian lira . The legal tender of the new currency was established by
46125-411: Was decided to opt for bimetallism , taking inspiration from the French franc model, from which the dimensions of the coins and the exchange rate of 1 to 15.50 between gold and silver were taken. The Italian monetary system, however, differed from the French one in two aspects: silver coins could be exchanged in unlimited quantities with the State, but limited quantities between private individuals and it
46350-430: Was declared on Austria . In 1855, the Kingdom of Sardinia became an ally of Britain and France in the Crimean War , giving Cavour's diplomacy legitimacy in the eyes of the great powers. The Kingdom of Sardinia again attacked the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, with the aid of France , resulting in liberating Lombardy . On the basis of the secret Plombières Agreement (21 July 1858),
46575-543: Was exported to the Americas, Africa, and Asia via colonialism and the "standards of civilization". The contemporary international system was finally established through decolonization during the Cold War . However, this is somewhat over-simplified. While the nation-state system is considered "modern", many states have not incorporated the system and are termed "pre-modern". A handful of states have moved beyond insistence on full sovereignty, and can be considered "post-modern". The ability of contemporary IR discourse to explain
46800-410: Was mostly due to small and medium-sized family businesses. Political unification did not automatically bring about economic integration , because of the sharp contrasts in culture, politics, and economic practices among the various regions. Italy managed to industrialize in several steps, although the country remained the most backward economy among the great powers (except for the Russian Empire ) and
47025-532: Was not to be a party to these talks, nor was the Soviet Union. The four powers agreed that Germany would complete its occupation of the Sudetenland but that an international commission would consider other disputed areas. Czechoslovakia was told that if it did not submit, it would stand alone. At Chamberlain's request, Hitler readily signed an agreement for between the United Kingdom and Germany. Chamberlain returned to Britain and promised " peace for our time ". Before Munich, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had sent
47250-529: Was prevented from speaking, which led the Garibaldini to riots called the " Niçard Vespers ". Fifteen of the Nice rebels were tried and sentenced. Economic conditions in united Italy were poor. The country lacked transportation facilities (see here ) and industry, and suffered from extreme poverty (especially in the Mezzogiorno ) and high illiteracy. Only a small wealthy elite had the right to vote. The unification movement relied largely on foreign powers' support and continued to do so afterwards. Following
47475-460: Was replaced by Clement Attlee , who at first opposed rearmament by advocating the abolition of national armaments and a world peacekeeping force under the direction of the League of Nations. However, with the rising threat from Nazi Germany and the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations, that policy eventually lost credibility, and in 1937, Ernest Bevin and Hugh Dalton persuaded the party to support rearmament and oppose appeasement. A few on
47700-439: Was sent by Chamberlain to mediate in Prague and persuaded the Czechoslovak government to grant autonomy. Germany escalated the dispute, with the country's press carrying stories of alleged atrocities against Sudeten Germans, and Hitler ordering 750,000 troops to the Czechoslovak border . In August, Henlein broke off negotiations with the Czechoslovak authorities. At a Nazi party rally in Nuremberg on 12 September, Hitler made
47925-480: Was simply hedging its bets by avoiding the favouring of one side or the other. The goal was that in a European war Britain would enjoy the "benevolent neutrality" of whichever side won in Spain. In 1937, Stanley Baldwin resigned as Prime Minister. He was replaced by Neville Chamberlain , who pursued a policy of appeasement and rearmament. Chamberlain's reputation for appeasement rests in large measure on his negotiations with Hitler over Czechoslovakia in 1938 . When
48150-472: Was strongly supported by the British upper class , including royalty , big business (based in the City of London ), the House of Lords , and media such as the BBC and The Times . As alarm grew about the rise of fascism in Europe, Chamberlain resorted to attempts at news censorship to control public opinion . He confidently announced after Munich that he had secured " peace for our time ". Academics, politicians and diplomats have intensely debated
48375-400: Was such that Britain and France could forcibly prevent the German occupation of the Sudetenland only by the invasion of Germany. Chamberlain, therefore, returned to Britain and agreed to Hitler's demands. Britain and France told the Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš to hand over to Germany all territory with a German majority. Hitler increased his aggression against Czechoslovakia and ordered
48600-671: Was supported by most of the press, with only Reynold's News and the Daily Worker dissenting. In Parliament, the Labour Party opposed the agreement. Some Conservatives abstained in the vote, but the only MP to advocate war was the Conservative Duff Cooper , who had resigned from the government to protest the agreement. Positive opinion of appeasement was shaped partly by media manipulation . The German correspondent for The Times , Norman Ebbutt , charged that his persistent reports about Nazi militarism had been suppressed by his editor, Geoffrey Dawson . Historians such as Richard Cockett , William Shirer and Frank McDonough have confirmed
48825-459: Was the Roman question resolved and positive relations restored between the Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican, after the signing of the Lateran Pacts . Some of the states that had been targeted for unification ( terre irredente ), Trentino-Alto Adige and the Julian March , did not join the Kingdom of Italy until 1918 after Italy had defeated Austria-Hungary at the end of the First World War . For this reason, historians sometimes describe
49050-524: Was the first major test of the Wehrmacht's machinery. Austria became the German province of Ostmark , with Seyss-Inquart as governor. A plebiscite was held on 10 April and officially recorded the support of 99.73% of the voters for the Anschluss. Although the Allies had prohibited the union of Austria and Germany, their reaction to the Anschluss was mild. Even the strongest voices against annexation, particularly those of Fascist Italy , France and Britain (the " Stresa Front "), were not backed by force. In
49275-501: Was the patriotic journalist Giuseppe Mazzini , member of the secret revolutionary society of Carbonari and founder of the influential political movement Young Italy in the early 1830s. Mazzini favoured a unitary republic and advocated a broad nationalist movement. His prolific output of propaganda helped to spread the unification movement. The most famous member of Young Italy was the revolutionary and general Giuseppe Garibaldi , renowned for his extremely loyal followers, who led
49500-438: Was the site of the famous meeting of 26 October 1860 between Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II , last King of Sardinia, in which Garibaldi shook Victor Emanuel's hand and hailed him as King of Italy ; thus, Garibaldi sacrificed republican hopes for the sake of Italian unity under a monarchy. Cavour agreed to include Garibaldi's Southern Italy allowing it to join the union with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. This allowed
49725-421: Was thought that the Germans were merely walking into "their own backyard". Hugh Dalton , a Labour Party MP who usually advocated stiff resistance to Germany, said that neither the British people nor Labour would support military or economic sanctions. In the Council of the League, only the Soviet Union proposed sanctions against Germany. Hitler, who was invited to negotiate, proposed a non-aggression pact with
49950-402: Was to be based on economic sanctions against an aggressor. The policy appeared to be ineffectual when confronted by the aggression of dictators, notably Germany's Remilitarization of the Rhineland and Italy 's Benito Mussolini 's invasion of Abyssinia . In September 1931, the Empire of Japan , a member of the League of Nations, invaded Manchuria , in northeast China , by claiming that
50175-432: Was undeterred and went on to occupy the whole of Manchuria. The League set up a commission of inquiry that condemned Japan, and the League duly adopted the report in February 1933. In response, Japan resigned from the League and continued its advance into China, with neither the League nor the United States taking any action. However, the U.S. issued the Stimson Doctrine and refused to recognize Japan's conquest, which played
50400-411: Was very dependent on foreign trade , especially the international markets through which it imported coal and exported grain . After unification, Italy had a predominantly agricultural society, with 60 percent of the labor force employed in agriculture. Advances in technology increased export opportunities for Italian agricultural produce after a period of crisis in the 1880s. With industrialization,
50625-459: Was warned not to seek help from other nations. A clear deadline was not given, but Lithuania was told to make a speedy decision and that any clashes or German casualties would inevitably provoke a response from the German military . Lithuania secretly informed the signatories of the Klaipėda Convention about those demands since technically, Lithuania could not transfer Klaipėda without the signatories' approvals. Italy and Japan supported Germany in
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