Exceptional Italy? The Many Ends of the Italian Colonial Empire

Abstract

Both the history of Italian colonialismand its end have often been seen as exceptional. Depending on the opinions of different historians, the Italian colonial empire was either built too late or remained too small to be compared to the large overseas possessions of other European imperial powers, such as Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. Focusing on the particularities of an Italian Empire built in East Africa and in Libya, this chapter surveys the motivating factors of, the geopolitical obstacles to, and popular cultural engagement with colonial expansion in Italy before, during, and after the country’s turn to fascism.