Una nazione tra due imperi. Giulio Prinetti, la Russia e il tentativo di portare l'Italia nel condominio austro-russo nei Balcani

Foreign Affairs minister Giulio Prinetti (1901-1902) brought an original contribution to Italian foreign policy, aimed at ensuring Italy’s involvement in Balkan affairs on an equal footing with Russia and Austria-Hungary. To this end, in the summer of 1902, at the height of the Macedonian crisis, Prinetti arranged King Victor Emmanuel’s first official visit to Russia. Drawing on unpublished Russian diplomatic documents, this article gives an account of a lesser-known moment of Italian-Russian relations that provides new insights into Italy’s foreign policy as well as into the role attributed to Italy by the Great Powers in the evolving European political system.