ABSTRACT

The papers written by Amatori, Segreto, and Cabrera and Del Rey cover the interwar experience of two Mediterranean countries, Italy and Spain. In both cases their histories developed under special political circumstances: the breakdown of their parliamentary life and the emergence of authoritarian regimes. This chapter attempts to trace some similarities and differences between the interwar history of the two nations. It moves on to scrutinize and takes a close examination of each of the papers. The comparison between Italy and Spain is always fruitful. The essays by Segreto, Amatori, and Cabrera and Del Rey remind us that the early 1920s were years of extreme turbulence; a period of 'great disorder', which lasted for several years. Economic inflation and deflation was followed by rising unemployment; and political and social crisis with the collapse of the old liberal political system.