Il razzismo fascista visto dall’estero. Dibattito pubblico e reazioni politico-diplomatiche in Germania, Gran Bretagna e nell’Europa sud-orientale (1938-1940)

The official implementation of state racism in Fascist Italy from July 1938 constituted not only a decisive moment for the regime and the minorities it persecuted across Italy and its colonies, but also a political event of international significance that profoundly reshaped Italian foreign policy, bilateral relations with other states, and Italy's image on the world stage. Drawing on an interdisciplinary approach encompassing media, cultural, and political history, and focusing on Germany, Great Britain, and south-eastern Europe, this study examines these international reactions, interrogating how Italian racism was perceived abroad and what responses it elicited across political institutions and the wider public sphere. Analysing the introduction of racism in Fascist Italy as a media event, the study traces the formation of its image abroad, highlighting how foreign media reception and fascist self-representation interacted to construct the perception of a “moderate” and “rational” racism, presented as distinct from its German counterpart. This characterisation of Italian racism was instrumentalised by the regime as a tool of foreign policy, enabling negotiations with democratic countries such as Great Britain, securing political concessions in the colonial sphere, suppressing open criticism of its policies, and even undermining humanitarian relief efforts by British Jewry. At the same time, Italian racial policies contributed significantly to the further radicalisation of antisemitic practice and discourse across Europe, effectively implementing measures that were discussed elsewhere and setting a consequential precedent for other governments and movements. Moreover, racial “experts” in Germany and Italy, began collaborating from 1938 on the elaboration of a shared racial ideology and its integration into plans for a new European political order. Within this context, Italian diplomats – seeking to expand influence across the Balkan and Danube region – promoted the “fascist model” of racism as an alternative to its German counterpart, thereby facilitating the adoption of antisemitic legislation in countries that had hitherto resisted such measures. Overall, this study demonstrates that Italian racial policy, despite being internationally perceived as “moderate”, contributed significantly to the erosion of the legal and political European order in the years prior to the Second World War.