From the invasion of Abyssinia to the end of World War II, Italy experienced a decade of war. This conference aims to re-evaluate the history of the Italian experience during this ten-year period with a unifying perspective that places the Italian Fascist regime and its foreign and military enterprises in an entirely internationalised framework of analysis. It will bring an international focus upon the Italian role in the break-down of the international system and appeasement, and will analyse the consequences of Italian militarism on a global scale. It will explore comparative and transnational histories of the Italian occupations of France, the Balkans, Greece, and Albania, as well as the Allied occupation of Italy following the defeat.

The conference will seek to place particular emphasis upon the significance of the Mediterranean region in the wider history of the Second World War, exploring the broader implications of Italy’s actions in Africa and the Middle East. It will also look at Italian diplomatic, military and economic relations with Britain, the United States, and Nazi Germany, as well as those with other states such as Vichy France and Spain.

Possible topics might include:

-   Italian Fascism’s ideology and militarism

-   The Abyssinian crisis and its regional consequences

-   Italy’s geopolitical revisionism in the Mediterranean

-   Italian Fascist military participation in the Spanish Civil War

-   Italy’s role in appeasement

-   Italian foreign relations, especially with Germany, France, Britain, United States, Spain

-   Italy’s political and military role in the Middle East and North Africa

-   The war in the Mediterranean

-   Italian occupations in World War Two

-   The Allied Italian campaign, 1943-45

-   Memories and representations of Italy’s decade of war.

This conference aims to bring together scholars working in the fields of military, political, diplomatic, international, colonial, transnational, and comparative history, and encourages inter-disciplinary contributions. The conference organisers aim to publish selected papers in an edited volume and a journal special issue.

The Organisers invite proposals for 20-25 minute papers on any aspect of the conference theme. Proposals for panels of two or three papers are particularly welcome. Paper proposals should comprise an abstract of 250-300 words and a one-page CV.

Please send proposals to Dr Marco Maria Aterrano (Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’) and Dr Karine Varley (University of Strathclyde) at: italywarconference@gmail.com .

Conference Venue:  University of Strathclyde (exact location tba)

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Contact:

Dr Karine Varley

School of Humanities

University of Strathclyde

Lord Hope Building

141 St James Road

Glasgow G4 0LT

United Kindom

karine.varley@strath.ac.uk