Moscow, Nauka Publ. 1983. 304 p.

The monograph of O. V. Serova, a researcher at the Institute of General History of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Historical Sciences, is written on the basis of a solid documentary base. These are materials from a number of Soviet archives (especially the Archive of Russian Foreign Policy), multi-volume publications of diplomatic documents prepared by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Italy, France, Germany and England, the so-called Italian "Green Books", documents printed as appendices to the works of Italian historians, as well as parliamentary materials, memoirs, diaries, correspondence of state officials. and political figures of those years. At the same time, many sources are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

The author has thoroughly, and most importantly, critically mastered the literature presented by the works of Italian and other foreign authors on Italian foreign policy and the history of international relations in the period under study. This is evidenced both by a detailed historiographical essay, which describes the main directions of Italian historiography on this topic, and by the author's polemic on specific issues with foreign researchers. As it is shown in the paper, modern Italian bourgeois historians, identifying the factors that affect the development of the-

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Those who influenced the formation of Italy's foreign policy in those years seek to hide its class essence, to circumvent domestic political problems.

Olga Serova, covering Italy's foreign policy for a long period - in fact, for the first three decades of its existence as a single state - simultaneously seeks to explore the reasons for the evolution that, being a kind of focus of the main directions of Italy's foreign policy, led it from the camp of the Triple Alliance to the ranks of the Entente powers. The study ends with the beginning of our century, when the agreements of 1902 with France and England were consolidated in specific diplomatic acts outlined earlier trends towards rapprochement between Italy and the participants of the future Entente. In conclusion, the book traces the further stages of this trend up to the First World War.

The analysis of Italy's foreign policy course is given in the book in close connection with the socio-economic and political shifts within the country, which are covered in relatively small but capacious special sections. The author broadly reproduces the picture of international relations of the period under consideration, and, naturally, not only and not so much as a background, but as an important effective factor in the formation of Italian foreign policy.

At the same time, the question of alliances and allies is particularly acute and urgent for Italy because of its relative backwardness in comparison with other bourgeois states, which in turn resulted from the peculiarities of the country's socio-economic and political development.

The paper reveals the reasons for the choice of an alliance with the Central Powers made by Italy, which faced the threat of diplomatic isolation, as well as the motives that prompted Germany and Austria-Hungary to do so, traces the stages of the process of rapprochement between Italy and these states that took almost a decade, and shows the complexity of negotiations on an alliance.

From the Italian point of view, the Triple Alliance, as emphasized in the book, along with its advantages (the promise of military assistance by the allies in the event of an unprovoked attack by Italy on France, guarantees against an attack by Austria-Hungary, the consolidation of the monarchy in Italy, and most importantly-its exit from the state of isolation thanks to the alliance), had serious drawbacks (It did not guarantee the possession of Rome, nor did it suggest that the Allies would support Italy's colonial claims) (pp. 71-73). The royal government was particularly concerned about the last moment, and it made a lot of efforts to eliminate it. The failure of the attempt to change this state of affairs was fraught with serious consequences for the union, as becomes apparent after reading the pages devoted to the colonial adventures of Italy, which she embarked on immediately after the conclusion of the union and which in March 1896 ended with the complete defeat of Italian troops in Africa.

Analyzing the reasons for the entry into the path of colonial conquest of Italy, which was still at the pre-monopoly stage of the development of capitalism, O. V. Serova rightly notes that "the role of the initial incentive impulse in this process undoubtedly belonged to economic factors" (p. 77). At the same time, the paper reveals a different measure of interest of certain groups of the Italian big bourgeoisie in the implementation of colonial projects. While metallurgical and shipbuilding entrepreneurs, as well as ship owners, unconditionally supported these projects, the industrial and financial groups of the North, associated with other industries, spoke out for them with reservations: only on the condition of low costs and in areas promising for colonization. The author also dwells on other motives that prompted the Italian government to embark on the path of colonial expansion: fear of falling behind other powers in this field, considerations of prestige, attempts to divert the attention of workers from internal problems, and to resolve the issue of emigration from the country of a part of its population who did not find employment in their homeland.

As the author shows, the Italian ruling circles learned a serious lesson from the events in Africa, as well as from the profound changes in international relations that had taken place by that time, especially from the Anglo-German antagonism that had become clear. They abandoned their one-sided orientation towards the Triple Alliance and tried to gain support for their colonial claims (i.e., something that was never achieved from the previous ones

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allies) in the opposite camp-primarily from France and England. Italy was interested in trade with France and in its loans. Relations with England have always been given exceptional importance because of its position as the strongest maritime power, which also dominated the Mediterranean.

The revision of the previous foreign policy course, as shown in the work, took place under the conditions and under the influence of profound shifts in the socio-economic development of the country: in the last years of the XIX - early XX centuries, capitalism in Italy increasingly acquired the features of imperialism, and industrial and financial monopolies became the dominant forces in the economy. At the same time, even those circles of the big bourgeoisie that in the previous period opposed a number of concrete colonial enterprises (although they were not their principal opponents) are now increasingly becoming carriers of tendencies towards military and economic expansion. This part of the ruling circles insisted on abandoning the unilateral orientation towards the Triple Alliance. With the increase in its economic weight and political influence was associated with the strengthening, and then the predominance of the idea of rapprochement with France, in which not the least role was played by the hope of gaining its support for Italian expansion plans in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In general, on the issue of colonial expansion, this time the Italian ruling circles showed a certain sobriety, realizing the weakness of material opportunities, acted more cautiously, and sought to secure the support and, in any case, the consent of the powers that show interest in the territories that have become objects of Italian claims. A significant place in the work is given to the new course of the Italian government, which was based on maintaining the alliance with the Central Powers and at the same time friendly relations with England, while improving relations with France and Russia.

Describing the Italian foreign policy of the early twentieth century, the author rightly writes about "the significant strengthening of Italy's diplomatic positions among the European powers, the obvious activation and greater than before, the balance of its foreign policy course" (p. 286). It is also true that already at the beginning of the 20th century the foundations were laid and the direction of development of Italian foreign policy was determined up to the First World War:

"Although the central problem that emerged at the beginning of the century, whether Italy will remain in the Triple Alliance or join the Entente, will remain open for a long time, the events of the previous period have shown that its solution will largely depend on which of these alliances will best serve Italian colonial interests" (pp. 286-287).

Thus, O. V. Serova's work is distinguished by a broad, integrated approach to the topic, which allowed us to identify the peculiarities of the development of foreign policy, the specific complexity of this process for such a country, in fact, small among the great powers, as Italy. Nevertheless, the colonial problem, which was so important in the international orientation of the Italian bourgeoisie, could have received more attention.

The reviewed work fills a significant gap in Soviet historiography. It is also of some theoretical interest. The author comes to the conclusion that the position of neutrality, rather than participation in military-political alliances, would certainly be more in line with Italy's national interests, which its ruling circles, with their imperialist ambitions, of course, could not do.

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