Dusk of the 'Sole dell'Avvenire' for Labour Party? Italian Ambassador Tommaso Gallarati Scotti face to British elections of October 1951

BORZONI, GIANLUCA

2014-01-01

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Abstract

General elections held in October 1951 can be considered as a milestone in British political history, and from an international point of view, the return to power of Conservatives after the defeats of 1945 and 1950 represents an event of considerable relevance. Based on Italian archival sources, this paper analyses Tommaso Gallarati Scotti (Italian ambassador to the UK)’s view during the electoral campaign, as a part of a diplomatic action aimed at resuming the traditional Anglo-Italian friendship, brutally interrupted on June 10, 1940, at the time of fascist “stab in the back”: a hard task to accomplish, even after the resumption of full diplomatic relations between Rome and London, in 1947.