WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN: AN EXAMINATION OF ANGLO-ITALIAN RELATIONSHIPS DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR by Alessandra E. Tiberi Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History Acadia University April, 2014 ©Copyright by Alessandra E. Tiberi, 2014 This thesis by Alessandra E. Tiberi is accepted in its present form by the Department of History & Classics as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours Approved by the Thesis Supervisor ______________________________ ____________________________ Dr. Paul Doerr Date Approved by the Head of Department ______________________________ ____________________________ Dr. Paul Doerr Date Approved by the Honours Committee ______________________________ ____________________________ Dr. Matthew Lukeman Date ii I, Alessandra E. Tiberi, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. Signature of Author Date iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents, Janet Hutchinson and Fino Tiberi, for their support and enthusiasm, without which I would never have made it this far. I acknowledge my brothers as well, for showing interest in my topic and helping me suss out what I wanted to say I would also like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Paul Doerr, for inspiring me to write a thesis. His guidance, support, and advice have been invaluable throughout this process. He was also instrumental in helping me obtain the primary documents I relied on for this project. Thanks also goes to Dr. Stephen Henderson, my second reader, and the rest of the professors in the Acadia History department. All of them have been founts of knowledge, understanding, and advice for the last year. A heartfelt thanks has to be extended to all my friends here at Acadia for making sure I ate, slept, and pulled myself away from my books for at least half an hour a day. Thank you also for putting up with my discussion of diplomats and foreign policy. I know it was of interest to absolutely no one, but thank you for humouring me nonetheless. Finally, I would like to thank the other History Honour’s students for their camaraderie, sense of humour, and shoulder to cry on throughout this adventure. Against all odds, we have pulled through and completed this. iv Table of Contents Title page i Approval Page ii Permission for Duplication iii Acknowledgement Page iv Table of Contents v Abstract Page vi Introduction 1 Chapter One 3 Background 3 British Interests 6 Historiography 9 Nyon Historiography 24 Chapter Two 30 Relations to 1937 30 The Abyssinia Crisis 33 The Spanish Civil War 36 Non-Intervention 39 Mediterranean Problems 41 The Gentleman’s Agreement 44 After the Agreement 48 Conclusion 51 Chapter Three 53 Summer 1937 54 The Nyon Conference 59 Eden Resigns 66 The Easter Agreement 71 Conclusion 73 Conclusion 76 Bibliography 79 v Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to examine Britain’s foreign policy during the Spanish Civil War, paying close attention to how its policy shaped, and was shaped by, Italian action in Spain. Particular attention is paid to the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1937, the Nyon Conference of 1937, and the Easter Agreement of 1938. The first chapter of this work provides some background into the Spanish Civil War, and looks at various international reactions to the event, including that of Britain. The first chapter will also look at the historiography of British foreign policy during the Spanish Civil War, focusing on the myriad of reasons British policy makers had for choosing non-intervention. The historiography of the Nyon Conference of 1937 will also be considered. The second chapter briefly studies Anglo-Italian relations following the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935 and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, before assessing how British policy towards the Italians played out during the first two years of the Spanish Civil War. The third chapter examines the Nyon Conference of September 1937 and how it represented the one break in the policy of conciliation towards Italy that Britain had been following. It also deals with the growing tensions between Neville Chamberlain and Anthony Eden that arose over how to deal with Italy, and how the resignation of Anthony Eden in 1938 affected Anglo-Italian relations for the rest of the Spanish Civil War. vi Introduction The Spanish Civil War is a topic almost forgotten in most history classes. In studies of the 1930s, it tends to be overlooked as a sideshow in a relatively unimportant country while the bigger drama of German rearmament and British appeasement played out. Yet the Spanish Civil War was not a wholly domestic affair—it managed to capture international attention and influence the relations between the Great Powers of the 1930s. As George Orwell wrote: “The outcome of the Spanish war was settled in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin — at any rate not in Spain.”1 The importance of British foreign policy during the Civil War is significant to understanding how some of the alliances of the Second World War—especially that of Germany and Italy—came about. Britain’s desire to prevent Italy from intervening in the Spanish Civil War competed with a desire to maintain good relations with Italy at any cost. The ‘bias’ towards Italy present in Britain’s policy during this period unwittingly shaped other international alliances that would play prominent roles in coming years. In terms of historiography, British foreign policy during the Spanish Civil War has tended to be neglected. The lack of scholarly work devoted solely to this aspect of British foreign policy can be attributed to two major factors. First, there is the tendency to see said policy as an extension of appeasement played out in a relatively unimportant country. The Spanish Civil War is seen, as has previously been mentioned, as a sideshow to the bigger problem of German rearmament. The second trend is to view British policy in the larger context of international intervention in the Civil War, comparing how policy makers in Britain acted in relation to those in Germany, France or Italy. British foreign 1 George Orwell, “Looking Back on the Spanish War,” in England, Your England and Other Essays (London: Secker and Warburg, 1953), 169. 1 policy between 1936 and 1939 is important to study outside the context of both of these relationships, however, as it offers insight into how Britain shaped its policy around Italy to the detriment of other aspects of foreign policy. The first chapter of this thesis provides background to the Spanish Civil War, drawing attention to the reactions of the international community to the conflict. This background is important to consider, as the issue of the Spanish Civil War consumed British policy makers between July 1936 and March 1938.2 It will also look at some of the factors that influenced the British in choosing their policy of non-intervention. The chapter will also examine the historiography both of British foreign policy during the Spanish Civil War and the Nyon Conference of 1937. The second chapter will discuss Anglo-Italian relations up to 1937, focusing especially on the effects that increasing Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War had on their diplomatic relations with Britain. The third chapter will focus on the Nyon Conference, and how it demonstrated a break in the diplomatic pattern Britain had established towards Italy during this period. The growing division in opinion regarding Italy that occurred between Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden will be explored as well, especially its eventual implications on foreign policy. Analyzing each of these aspects will demonstrate how British foreign policy towards Italy affected and shaped the alliances present during the Second World War. 2 Jill Edwards, The British Government and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 (London: MacMillan, 1979), xiii. 2 Chapter One Background By the 1930s, Spain had declined so far from its former position of prestige that the Great Powers of Europe hardly ever cast an eye towards its affairs and the country played a relatively small role in world politics.3 Spain was a backwards country, far removed from the machinations of the rest of Europe. The establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931, which replaced the Alfonist monarchy, drew the attention of the great powers back into Spain for a variety of reasons, commercial and economic, but also in relation to international issues such as disarmament and Mediterranean security.4 It was, however, the increasing ideological polarization between the Left and the Right in Spain, at a time when the same polarization was occurring throughout the rest of Europe, that drew the most attention. The Spanish Left was composed of anarchists (Federación Anarquista Ibérica), socialists and labour unions (Partido Socialista Obrero de Español), communists, and various other small parties. The Right was composed of primarily monarchist parties, much of the Spanish military, the Catholic Church, and the Spanish Fascist Party, known as the Falange Espanol.5 The Republic, when it came to power in 1931, had to deal with problems deeply ingrained in Spanish society, such as agrarian reform, the issue of relations between the state and the Catholic Church, and the economic problems plaguing the country.6 However, the Republic tried to attempt too much domestic reform at once, alienating 3 Glyn Stone, Spain, Portugal and the Great Powers, 1931-1941 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 1. 4 Stone, Spain, Portugal and the Great Powers, 1. 5 Stone, Spain, Portugal and the Great Powers, 2.