Anglo-Italian Armament Trade Competition in Iraq: The Italian Air Force Mission to Iraq, 1937-40

摘要

This article seeks to shed light on a largely neglected episode in the history of Anglo-Italian imperial competition in the Middle East. Although reference has often been made to the military and commercial aspects of the Italian Air Force Mission to Iraq, very little research has been conducted to uncover the political and strategic consequences of this in the context of Anglo-Italian imperial competition. The Air Force Mission to Iraq was an important aspect of the imperial policy pursued by the Fascist regime, the ultimate goal of which was to supplant British influence in the region. Yet, although the Italian government succeeded in exploiting Arab resentment towards British policies and asserted the position of its own aeronautical industry in a market tightly controlled by Britain, the ambitious programme ultimately failed because Iraq was not prepared to enter into direct conflict with His Majesty's Government. The final upshot is a delineation not only of the long-term clash of interests that separated Britain and Italy in the Middle East, but also the strengths and limits of Fascist Italy's imperial policies in the region.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2012.697614