Vojislav Marinković and Italy, 1927-1932

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the policy of the Yugoslav foreign minister Vojislav Marinković towards Italy, during his mandates in 1927-1932. The bilateral relations are addressed in the scope of his broader concepts of foreign policy, which included a closer cooperation with France and surmounting the main difficulties in the relations with Great Britain. Marinković’s major goal was proving that the Yugoslav Kingdom was conducting a pacifistic foreign policy in order to gain the sympathy of the Foreign Office and the international public as a counterweight to Italy’s aggressive plans towards the Balkans and the Danube region. During the course of five years, Marinković had changed his attitude towards Italy, within the framework of the relations among the Great Powers. The research is based primarily on partially preserved archival documents of Yugoslav origin and volumes of published documents of foreign origin, as well as on the existing scientific literature.