Franco-Italian Agreement
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The Franco-Italian Agreements (often called ''Mussolini-Laval Accord'') were signed in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
by both French
Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...
and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
on 7 January 1935.


History

After its victory in
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, it was agreed that Italy would not receive territories from the defeated German colonial empire. These territories were to be divided between
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,
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and the
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, but Italy would be rewarded some bordering areas from the British and French colonial possessions. That was considered by Italians to be very little compensation for their sacrifices in the bloody war, which was one of the reasons of the rise to power in Italy of Mussolini's
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
. The British ceded Oltregiuba (today
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) from
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to
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in 1924, but the French delayed their contribution some years until 1935, under Laval's leadership, and gave only a small amount of territory in
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and a desert area in the French Sahara. Laval had succeeded
Louis Barthou Jean Louis Barthou (; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the French Third Republic, Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as prime minister saw the ...
as Foreign Minister after the latter's assassination in
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on 9 October 1934, along with King
Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I Karađorđević (, ; – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier ( / ), was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until his assassinati ...
. Laval borrowed the idea of his predecessor of a system of collective security to contain the threat of
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
in Europe. On 4 January 1935 Laval went to
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, the capital of
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, to meet Mussolini. It was the beginning of a diplomatic offensive intended to contain
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by a network of alliances. He proposed a treaty to Mussolini to define disputed parts of French Somaliland (now
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) as part of
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, redefine the official status of Italians in French
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and give Italy a mainly-free hand to occupy
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during the
Abyssinia Crisis The Abyssinia Crisis, also known in Italy as the Walwal incident, was an international crisis in 1935 that originated in a dispute over the town of Walwal, which then turned into a conflict between Fascist Italy and the Ethiopian Empire (then co ...
. Italy was also to receive the
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, which was to be moved from French-ruled
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
to Italian-ruled
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
(that issue would have some implications in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and in the later
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between Libya and Chad). In exchange for those concessions, France hoped for Italian support against German aggression, which did not occur. The agreements were confirmed by a law of the French Parliament on 26 March 1935. The French and the Italian Parliaments ratified the 1935 agreement. Since the instruments of ratification were not exchanged, ICJ named the agreement as "Non-ratified".1994 ICJ Case Concerning The Territorial Dispute (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Chad)
Page: Top:19; Bottom:17 The agreement had the following main terms: * A small territory in
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south of Eritrean Rahayta was to be given to
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea (, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Società di Navigazione Rubattino, Rubattino Shippin ...
. * The village of Aozou and the surrounding Aozou strip in French Africa
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
was to be given to
Italian Libya Libya (; ) was a colony of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica, Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitan ...
. * Italy was given a free hand by the French government to occupy
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
.


References


Sources

* G. Bruce Strang: ''Imperial Dreams: The Mussolini-Laval Accords of January 1935''. In: ''The Historical Journal'' 44, September 2001, 3, , pp. 799–809. *R. Festorazzi ''Laval Mussolini. L'impossibile Asse'', Milano: Mursia, *Langer, William L. ed., ''An Encyclopaedia of World History'', (1948), Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. Pg. 990.


See also

*
Stresa Front The Stresa Front was an agreement made in Stresa, a town on the banks of Lake Maggiore in Italy, between French prime minister Pierre-Étienne Flandin (with Pierre Laval), British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Italian prime minister Benit ...
{{Authority control Modern history of Italy 1935 in Italy 1935 in France Interwar-period treaties Treaties concluded in 1935 Treaties of the French Third Republic Treaties of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) France–Italy relations Treaties involving territorial changes Pierre Laval Benito Mussolini