This edited collection offers the first systematic account in English of Italy's international position from Caporetto - a major turning-point in Italy's participation in the First World War - to the end of the liberal regime in Italy in 1922. It shows that after the 'Great War', not only did Italy establish itself as a regional power but also achieved its post-unification ambition to be recognised, at least from a formal viewpoint, as a great power. This subject is addressed through multiple perspectives, covering Italy's relations and mutual perceptions vis-a-vis the Allies, the vanquished nations, and the 'New Europe'. Fourteen contributions by leading historians reappraise Italy's role in the construction of the post-war international order, drawing on extensive multi-archival and multi-national research, combining for the first time documents from American, Austrian, British, French, German, Italian, Russian and former Yugoslav archives.

Bringing together the work of scholars from Eastern and Western Europe, this volume re-examines the crucial moments in the five years leading up to the Cold War. With the aid of new evidence from the official records of former Communist countries, this fresh analysis of diplomatic relations, economic imperialism, and cultural influences on great, middle, and small-rank European powers reveals how and why the victors failed to reach an agreement on post-war order in Europe--a failure that resulted in a conflict that shaped the second half of the 20th century.

The book, which is the outcome of an international conference held under the auspices of the University of Florence, aims at sketching out, through the contributions by distinguished scholars from various nationalities, the origins and characteristics of the system which has been imposed on Europe between the end of the Second World War and the mid-1950s, as well as at analysing the most important consequences of the events which, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the 'end of the cold war', have radically transformed the European scene.

This edited collection offers a new approach to the study of Italy's foreign policy from the 1960s to the end of the Cold War, highlighting its complex and sometimes ambiguous goals, due to the intricacies of its internal system and delicate position in the fault line of the East-West and North-South divides. According to received opinion, during the Cold War era Italy was more an object rather than a factor in active foreign policy, limiting itself to paying lip service to the Western alliance and the European integration process, without any pretension to exerting a substantial international influence. Eleven contributions by leading Italian historians reappraise Italy's international role, addressing three complex and intertwined issues, namely, the country's political-diplomatic dimension; the economic factors affecting Rome's international stance; and Italy's role in new approaches to the international system and the influence of political parties' cultures in the nation's foreign policy.

This edited collection offers the first systematic account in English of Italy's international position from Caporetto - a major turning-point in Italy's participation in the First World War - to the end of the liberal regime in Italy in 1922. It shows that after the 'Great War', not only did Italy establish itself as a regional power but also achieved its post-unification ambition to be recognised, at least from a formal viewpoint, as a great power. This subject is addressed through multiple perspectives, covering Italy's relations and mutual perceptions vis-a-vis the Allies, the vanquished nations, and the 'New Europe'. Fourteen contributions by leading historians reappraise Italy's role in the construction of the post-war international order, drawing on extensive multi-archival and multi-national research, combining for the first time documents from American, Austrian, British, French, German, Italian, Russian and former Yugoslav archives.

This edited collection offers a new approach to the study of Italy's foreign policy from the 1960s to the end of the Cold War, highlighting its complex and sometimes ambiguous goals, due to the intricacies of its internal system and delicate position in the fault line of the East-West and North-South divides. According to received opinion, during the Cold War era Italy was more an object rather than a factor in active foreign policy, limiting itself to paying lip service to the Western alliance and the European integration process, without any pretension to exerting a substantial international influence. Eleven contributions by leading Italian historians reappraise Italy's international role, addressing three complex and intertwined issues, namely, the country's political-diplomatic dimension; the economic factors affecting Rome's international stance; and Italy's role in new approaches to the international system and the influence of political parties' cultures in the nation's foreign policy.

Bringing together the work of scholars from Eastern and Western Europe, this volume re-examines the crucial moments in the five years leading up to the Cold War. With the aid of new evidence from the official records of former Communist countries, this fresh analysis of diplomatic relations, economic imperialism, and cultural influences on great, middle and small-rank European power, reveals how and why the victors failed to reach an agreement of postwar order in Europe, a failure that resulted in a conflict that shaped the second half of the twentieth century.

The book, which is the outcome of an international conference held under the auspices of the University of Florence, aims at sketching out, through the contributions by distinguished scholars from various nationalities, the origins and characteristics of the system which has been imposed on Europe between the end of the Second World War and the mid-1950s, as well as at analysing the most important consequences of the events which, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the 'end of the cold war', have radically transformed the European scene.

The Mediterranean sea has been a key geopolitical territory in the global international relations of the twentieth century; of crucial importance to the US, the Middle East and in the history of the EU. As Cold War documents become declassified and these archives become accessible to western historians, this volume reassesses the secret war waged over three decades for control of the Mediterranean Sea. An 'American lake' in the 1950s, a battlefield for influence in the Cold War of the 1960s, and an increasingly important political arena for the oil-rich Gulf States in the 1970s, the Mediterranean offers a focal point around which the major themes and narratives of Cold War history were constructed. "Detente in Cold War Europe" draws together detailed analyses of the major moments of post-WWII history through the prism of the Mediterranean - including the signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, the Jordan crisis of 1970, the Soviet role in the Yom Kippur war, the Cyprus emergency of 1974, US-Soviet detente and US-Israeli relations under President Nixon. This book is a vital work for historians of the twentieth century and for those seeking to understand the importance of the Mediterranean in the political history of the Cold War.

The Mediterranean sea has been a key geopolitical territory in the global international relations of the twentieth century; of crucial importance to the US, the Middle East and in the history of the EU. As Cold War documents become declassified and these archives become accessible to western historians, this volume reassesses the secret war waged over three decades for control of the Mediterranean Sea. An 'American lake' in the 1950s, a battlefield for influence in the Cold War of the 1960s, and an increasingly important political arena for the oil-rich Gulf States in the 1970s, the Mediterranean offers a focal point around which the major themes and narratives of Cold War history were constructed. "Detente in Cold War Europe" draws together detailed analyses of the major moments of post-WWII history through the prism of the Mediterranean - including the signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, the Jordan crisis of 1970, the Soviet role in the Yom Kippur war, the Cyprus emergency of 1974, US-Soviet detente and US-Israeli relations under President Nixon. This book is a vital work for historians of the twentieth century and for those seeking to understand the importance of the Mediterranean in the political history of the Cold War.