Treaty of Rome

Treaty signed 1957 which inaugurated the European Economic Community (EEC, later the EC and EU: see European Union), establishing a common market in a variety of products between member states. The Community was seen by its signatories (the Benelux countries, France, West Germany, and Italy) as complementing the success of the European Coal and Steel Community, created by the same countries in 1952.

— Stewart Wood

French - Italian pact in which some Middle Eastern territory changed hands.

In an effort to obtain Italy's support against Nazi Germany, France's foreign minister Pierre Laval signed the Treaty of Rome with Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini on 7 January 1935. France conceded small amounts of land in North and East Africa to Italy and, according to some accounts, the negotiations involved an unwritten pledge by Laval to support Italian claims in Ethiopia. When World War II began in 1939, Italy was allied with Germany, and Germany occupied France, so prewar agreements were negated or renegotiated.

Bibliography

Hurewitz, J. C., ed. The Middle East and North Africa in WorldPolitics: A Documentary Record, 2d edition. 2 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1975 - 1979.

Taylor, A. J. P. The Origins of the Second World War. New York: Atheneum, 1961.

— ZACHARY KARABELL