“Request” for Interference: France and Italy Relations with the US in 1945—1948

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of relations between France and Italy with the United States during the years of the formation of bipolarity in Western Europe (1945—1948). The purpose of the study is to trace the evolution of the request from French and Italian political elites for US interference in the two countries’ domestic affairs on the basis the archival sources that have recently become available for research. Careful attention paid to the motives of French and Italian ruling circles helped describe how the character of their request for interference changed and how this request, in combination with Soviet–US dynamics, led to the formation of two opposing blocs in Europe, framed by the reciprocal Soviet and US direct presence.