To Build a Navy with the Help of Adversary: Italian-Turkish Naval Arms Trade, 1929-32

Abstract

Italian-Turkish relations in the inter-war years oscillated between antagonism and friendship. In 1935, Turkish Foreign Minister Tevfik Ru tu Aras described the evaluation of Italian-Turkish relations in stages of 'warmth', 'cooling off' and 'frost'.I The 'warmth' in the relations came with Aras' meeting with Benito Mussolini in Milan in 1928. The 'cooling off' corresponded to the period between 1932 and 1934. The 'frost' set in with Mussolini's notorious speech on the future Italian expansion into Africa and Asia in 1934. Before 1928, relations between Fascist Italy and Republican Turkey were no less antagonistic than the later 'frost'. Aras' statement on the evolution of Italian-Turkish relations in the inter-war period confirms the existence of elements of continuity and change. This duality was obvious to outside observers too. French diplomats went so far as to describe Turkey's attitude towards Italy as amiadversion (amity adversity).2 The ebbs and flows in the bilateral relations influenced the naval situation in the Aegean and, to a lesser extent, in the Mediterranean after 1928. Italy's supply of naval arms to Turkey during the period of 'warmth' should be considered on two levels. On the first level, it was an extension of Rome's bid for improved status in the wider great naval power game of the inter-war years.3 On the second and lower level, it had regional emphasis regarding the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. On this level, Italy hoped to exchange arms for influence with (or over) Turkey. In practical terms, Rome viewed Italian-Turkish naval arms trade as a means to facilitate Turkey's transformation into a pro-Italian actor in the Eastern Mediterranean naval balance.4 This article aims to outline political and strategic motives in Italy's supply of naval arms to Turkey under favourable credit terms. This arms trade is significant because it underlines a short-lived yet profound change in Fascist Italy's view of Republican Turkey. In the first half of the 1920s, Turkey was mainly a target for Italian colonial expansion. By 1927, it