Gaining a Foothold in the Weimar Republic: Giuseppe Renzetti’s Activities in the years 1925-1927

Abstract

The article studies Giuseppe Renzetti’s activities in the Weimar Republic in the mid-1920s. Besides adding to Renzetti’s colorful yet often opaque biographical picture, this article seeks to contribute to studies on the dissemination and propaganda of Fascism abroad and to the political culture of the Weimar Republic. Likewise, actors such as the fasci italiani all’estero, the German Foreign Office (Auswartiges Amt) or German newspapers can be highlighted. Based on a thorough analysis of Renzetti’s personal papers and documents today stored at the Auswartiges Amt, the article stresses how equally bustling and inauspicious Renzetti’s activities were, revealing the process which led to Renzetti’s designation as political intermediary.