Italian Fascism and Spanish Second Republic: institutions and cultural policies

di Rubén Domìnguez Méndez
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 36 (2011), p. 125

The tactics used by Primo de Rivera to put pressure on France, through a hypothetical military alliance with fascism, are cleared by the Republic. Mussolini do not accept this political evolution aware of the reading that can be done in Italy of the spanish events. Thus was born his interest to support any initiative to provocate an internal crisis in the Republic and return to a different position on the Italian foreign policy. The Italian scheme needs to Spanish parties that want to develop a coherent fascist political project; but their numerical importance is relative. To change this situation fascism starts a program based on four points: a) introduction of information favorable to fascism in public opinion, b) creation of an Italian Cultural Institute and new committees of the Dante Alighieri Society, c) development of Italian schools in Spain and d) integration of ideology in academic and university.