A Problematic Involvement: Free France, the Advisory Council, and the Allied Occupation of Italy, 1943–44

The article explores the diplomatic and political processes that led the British, the Americans and the Soviets to accept the participation of French representatives in the machinery of the Allied military government in occupied Italy during the post-armistice period. Their presence at the heart of policy-making for Italy was the result of a long and heated debate between London, ever the supporter of de Gaulle and the Free French, and Washington, which was firmly against diluting its share of power in Italian matters. By analyzing both the politico-institutional relations that were slowly rebuilt between the French and the Italian governments during those months and, in particular, the contribution made to the activities of the Advisory Council, the author seeks to highlight how the French efforts to be included in the Italian affairs were instrumental in regaining their standing among the Allies. At the same time, it also seeks to evaluate the French contribution in shaping the Italian institutional transition, and discusses the emergence of a coherent postwar French policy towards Italy.