Exporting Fascism : Italian Fascists and Britain's Italians in the 1930s

How did Italians living in Britain respond to Mussolini’s fascism? What links did ex-pat fascists forge with the British Right? To what extent did Italophilia exist in Britain during the Mussolini years? Exporting Fascism addresses these questions, which have long been ignored by historians. While there is much material available about Nazi sympathizers in the United Kingdom, there is comparatively very little about Italophile fascist sympathizers. The author uncovers the policy of Mussolini’s government to transform Italian communities abroad into ‘little Fascist Italies’. Ambassador Dino Grandi had great success in the fascistization campaign of Italian emigrants through such means as Italian community newspapers and fascist summer camps and schools. The author also examines the links forged between Italian fascism and the British Right. Specifically, she uncovers the Italophilia that dominated the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in the first half of the 1930s, later to be replaced with an admiration for National Socialism. She also examines the BUF’s activities within Italy, which have thus far remained almost entirely unknown. Exporting Fascism sheds new light on a neglected aspect of the international fascist movement at the dawn of the Second World War. How did Italians living in Britain respond to Mussolini's fascism? What links did ex-pat fascists forge with the British Right? To what extent did Italophilia exist in Britain during the Mussolini years? Exporting Fascism addresses these questio ns, which have long been ignored by historians. While there is much material available about Nazi sympathizers in the United Kingdom, there is comparatively very little about Italophile fascist sympathizers. The author uncovers the policy of Mussolin i's government to transform Italian communities abroad into 'little Fascist Italies'. Ambassador Din Preliminaries......Page 2 Contents......Page 4 Acknowledgements......Page 5 List of Abbreviations......Page 6 Introduction......Page 8 1 The ‘Education of the Italians’ in Britain, 1932–34......Page 14 2 Anglo-Italian Fascism, 1932–34......Page 44 3 Toward a Corporativist Community......Page 74 4 A ‘Wonderful Colonisation’......Page 104 5 Resistance and Decline......Page 136 6 The End of an Era: Grandi between London and the Axis, 1938–39......Page 166 Conclusion......Page 194 Bibliography......Page 202 Index......Page 218