Currents of History 1/2019

Bojan SIMIĆ
Institute for Recent History of Serbia, Belgrade
smcbjn@yahoo.com

Milan Stojadinović and Count Ciano – A History of a Friendship^[1]* 

Summary 

Milan Stojadinović and Galeazzo Ciano were the foreign ministers of Yugoslavia and Italy in the years preceding World War II. The two countries, which in earlier periods had frequently taken conflicting positions, began to cooperate during this time. The policies guided by heads of state Mussolini and Prince Paul were implemented by the two ministers, who gave them their own personal touch. In that period they met several times: in Yugoslavia in 1937 and 1939 and in Italy in 1937 and 1938. These were two men who had a similar outlook on the world, hedonists who enjoyed life and loved dancing and beautiful women. Despite the fifteen-year age difference between them, they had a similar spirit and outlook on the world.

The relationship between Milan Stojadinović and Count Ciano was much closer than had been assumed. It was a friendly relationship, which evolved both through direct contacts and through intermediaries, primarily the diplomatic representatives of the two countries. They exchanged opinions frequently and even documents, on topics of mutual interest, but there were also direct requests to work in accordance with Italian interests, as well as the interests of Yugoslavia. These requests mainly pertained to Stojadinović’s actions within the Little and Balkan Ententes on the one hand, and to Italy’s influence on revisionist countries on the other. The initiatives were at times successful, at other times only partly so, but there were also times when Stojadinović could not and did not want to meet the requests in question. He did not turn them down directly, of course, employing all sorts of excuses instead.