La diplomazia italiana e l’approccio britannico alla distensione (1951-1955)

Italian diplomacy and the British approach to détente (1951-1955)

Abstract

After six “wilderness years”, in October 1951 Winston Churchill returned at the helm of Her Majesty Government (HMG) with the unconcealed aim to restore British global prestige and renew high-level talks with the Soviet Union. Against the backdrop of U.S. enduring mistrust of Moscow’s intentions (which was on full display both with the Truman and Eisenhower administrations), the British Prime Minister made no mystery of its eagerness to listen to Soviet proposals on European security, whether from the late Stalin or the newly installed Collective leadership. This article offers a glimpse of Italian diplomacy’s evaluation of such peculiar British approach to Détente from Churchill’s comeback in late 1951 until the October 1954 London and Paris conferences which paved the way to the entry of the Federal Republic of Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.