Italian cultural diplomacy in Estonia during the interwar period: from the de jure recognition to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (1921-1939)

ABSTRACT

This article aims to trace the influence of Italian cultural diplomacy and its, impact in Estonia starting from the de jure recognition in 1921 to the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in 1939, the prelude to the Soviet invasion of the Baltic States of June 1940. The cultural relations between Italy and Estonia could be divided into two time periods: the first one, from 1921 to 1931, when Italy tried to establish the foundations of its cultural influence in Estonia; the second one, from 1932 to 1939. In the latter period, the growth of Italian diplomatic influence abroad corresponded to a more precise propaganda project, outlined not only by the Italian diplomatic mission in Tallinn, but also by three key episodes: the Volta Conference in Rome, the establishment of C.A.U.R (Comitati d’Azione per l’Universalità di Roma/Action Committees for the Universality of Rome) in 1932 and 1933 respectively, and the foundation of the Ministry of Popular Culture in 1937.

KEYWORDS:

• Estonian independence
• fascist propaganda
• C.A.U.R
• Benito Mussolini
• Konstantin Päts

Acknowledgments

I am very thankful to Olavi Arens (Georgia Southern University), Andres Kasekamp (Toronto University), Eero Medijainen (University of Tartu), James Montgomery Baxenfield (Tallinn University), Justin Bancroft (Riga Business School) and Marcus Denton for their useful and helpful comments on the first version of this article.

Disclosure statements

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Rahvusarhiiv (hereafter ERA) (Tallinn): 957. 8. 70. 30.

2. ERA 957.5.493.4.

3. ERA. .957.8.70. 23b.

4. Archivio storico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri (hereafter ASMAE) (Rome): fondo Direzione Generale per gli Affari commerciali (1919–1923), paese Estonia. Istituzione di un corso di lingua e cultura italiana presso l’Università di Dorpat

5. ASMAE: fondo Direzione Generale per gli Affari commerciali (1919–1923), paese Estonia Viaggio in Italia di insegnanti e studentesse estoni

6. ASMAE: fondo Direzione Generale per gli Affari commerciali (1919–1923), paese Estonia. Viaggio in Italia di comitive straniere

7. ASMAE: Affari Politici 1931–1945, busta 1, paese Estonia. Estonia e Società delle Nazioni.

8. ASMAE: Affari Politici 1931–1945, busta 1, paese Estonia. Partito fascista in Estonia

9. Ibid.

10. ASMAE: Affari Politici 1931–1945, busta 1, paese Estonia. Situazione interna dell’Estonia.

11. Archivio Centrale dello Stato (hereafter ACS) (Rome). Fondo del Ministero della Cultura Popolare (Minculpop), paese Estonia, busta 65, Pensiero e azione degli ex combattenti.

12. Ibid.

13. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia, Relazione sulla missione dell’On. Dott. Alessandro Pavolini per incarico del Presidente del C.A.U.R. in Lituania, Lettonia, Estonia e Finlandia (luglio-agosto 1934).

14. ERA 1608/2/1727: 1.

15. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia, Viaggio del Cav. Uff. Dott. Ferruccio Guido Cabalzar, ispettore dei C.A.U.R.

16. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia, Le spécialiste en de Fascisme à Tallinn. La section d’Estonie du Comité d’Action de l’Universalité de Rome en création (article from Vaba Maa translated in French language).

17. ACS: Minculpop. Proiezione del film Camicia Nera.

18. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia, Camicia Nera.

19. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia. Proiezioni cinematografiche: Camicia Nera.

20. Leading press agency in Italy from 1853 until the end of the WWII.

21. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia. Attività dell’Istituto.

22. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia. Attività dell’Istituto di cultura italiana a Tallinn.

23. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia. Attività dell’Istituto di cultura italiana a Tallinn.

24. ACS: Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia. A S.E. il Ministro d’Italia in Estonia.

25. ACS, Minculpop, busta 65, paese Estonia. Vocabolario italo-estone.

26. ASMAE, Affari Politici 1931–1945, busta 3, paese Estonia. Società accademica italo-estone di Tartu.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Italian Embassy in Tallinn. Special thanks goes to the Italian Ambassador in Tallinn, H.E. Daniele Rampazzo, for encouraging this project, and for strengthening cooperation between Italy and Estonia.

Notes on contributors

Rosario Napolitano

Rosario Napolitano teaches Italian studies at the Italian-Latvian cooperation centre of Riga Technical University, and at the Faculty of Humanities of Art Academy of Latvia. His spheres of interests are Italian-Baltic states bilateral relations during the interwar period, and sovietization policies in Latvia within the cultural field.