Soviet Diplomats and Journalists in Fascist Italy: Impressions about B. Mussolini Regime

Abstract

The author sees the purpose of this study in introducing to the scientific circulation the materials published by Soviet journalists and diplomats based on the results of their stay in fascist Italy. This topic is of particular relevance due to the fact that modern people’s ideas about the cultures of other countries are often superficial and are influenced by stereotypes. The ideological confrontation between Rome and Moscow of the time left a special imprint on these texts: criticizing the fascist regime, the authors of the publications portrayed the Italian people as their victims. The essays and reports considered in the text of the work were written by direct witnesses of the events that took place on the Apennines in the 1920-1930s, which makes them important sources of information regarding the history of Italy and Soviet-Italian relations. The memoirs conceived by the First Plenipotentiary of Soviet Russia in Italy V. Vorovsky, could have been an outstanding historical document, but his premature death thwarted these plans. The first journal publication following a visit by the Soviet correspondent to Italy was a report on the visit of the destroyers Nezamozhnik and Petrovsky to Naples in 1925. Boris Zilpert’s essay on the Italian press was published in the «Journalist» in 1926. It was written based on the conversations in Rome with colleagues. The materials of A. Keen, D. Ilimsky, I. Robin are of considerable value for the purposes of historic and cultural studies. S. Ignatiev in his writings was able to illuminate the situation in the Italian colony of Eritrea. In the 1920s Soviet domestic press also actively collaborated with Italian journalists (G. Giogo, C. Rossi). Almost all materials of the Soviet press of the period under review emphasized the alienness of the fascist regime to the national character of the Italian people. Authors focused their attention on the Nazis’ violation of civil rights and freedoms, the imposition of militarism, and the persecution of communists. The Za rubezhom magazine posted translations of the materials of the foreign press that were written in the similar vein. The author comes to the conclusion that the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini was criticized in the Soviet press from humanistic positions.