Il rapporto bilaterale Gran Bretagna-Italia durante gli anni Sessanta, in relazione al primo allargamento della Comunità Europea

My PhD dissertation focuses on the relations between Italy and Great Britain in the Sixties, regarding the first enlargement of the European Community. In order to clarify how these relations have evolved, the research drew on a variety of archival sources, both British and Italian, such as documents held at the National Archives in London, at the “Archivio Centrale di Stato”, the “Archivio Storico del Senato” and the “Archivio Storico Diplomatico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale” in Rome. My work tries to clarify how the initial lack of interest shown by Her Majesty’s Government towards the Italians and their «uncalled, unhelpful and generally tiresome» determination to participate in international affairs (National Archives, Foreign Office 371/145029, British Embassy, Rome, 21 July 1959) gradually abated, up to bring the United Kingdom and Italy to sign a Declaration on Europe in April 1969. Combining British, Italian, European and international history, the thesis sheds new light on some significant moments of the Anglo-Italian relations, for instance, in March 1958, when the Italian Minister of Foreign Trade, Guido Carli, suggested a Plan to overcome the French opposition to the British proposal to create a Free Trade Area among the members of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC). The research analyses also the idea of an Anglo-Italian Axis suggested by the Italian Minister of the Budget, Ugo La Malfa in December 1962- idea reiterated both in 1965 and in 1968- with the aim to stand against the opposition of General de Gaulle to the British request of joining the European Communities. Finally, the dissertation reserves a proper space to the commitment of Pietro Nenni and Altiero Spinelli in involving the British Government in the project a European political Community