THE POLICY OF THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT IN THE TRANSCAUCASUS IN 1919-1920 AND ITS OUTCOMES

The article examines the policy of two offices of the Italian government led by V. Orlando and F. Nitti regarding the military and economic presence in the Transcaucasia in the irst post-war years. The failure of the British occupation of the Caucasus, aimed at the geopolitical and economic presence of England in the region adjacent to its Middle East and India, prompted the Lloyd George government to look for possible "ways of retreat", one of which was the replacement of British troops with Italian ones. Despite the fact that representatives of Italian commercial associations were extremely interested in penetrating into the oil-bearing region of Azerbaijan, as well as Georgia, rich in manganese ores, coal and wood, oficial Rome could not decide on active military penetration in view of the Bolshevik threat and analyzing the failures of the British, Orlando, and then Nitti preferred to conine themselves to sending economic missions until the issue of the political status of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia was resolved. It was the missions that represented the interests of Rome in the Caucasus. Their tasks were to identify the appropriateness, including the Italian military presence, as well as to determine the stability of local political regimes. The study was based on data provided by the mission of Colonel M. Gabba, as well as the diplomatic department of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It evaluates the activities of both the Vittorio Orlando government and the cabinet of Francesco Nitti. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the interests of two competing inancial groups: the Italian Commercial Bank and the Savings Bank of Ansaldo, which exerted signiicant pressure on oficial Rome, seeking to obtain government orders and provide themselves with resources in the context of reconversion. Based on the positions of the Italian government and commercial groups presented in the article, the author came to the conclusion that the policy of F. Nitti's cabinet turned out to be quite far-sighted, as evidenced by the successful Italian-Soviet cooperation after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and the USSR, which included Transcaucasia.

Azerbaijan, Georgia, V. Orlando, F. Nitti, E. Conti, Colonel Gabba’s mission, Sovietization of Transcaucasia, Italian Commercial Bank, Ansaldo Savings Bank

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