Preistoria della geopolitica italiana.

The history of Italian geopolitics started in mid-1930s, as the young geographer Ernesto Massi adopted thesis and methods of German geopolitics. In 1939 Massi and Giorgio Roletto published Geopolitica, the geopolitical journal of fascist Italy. In order to understand the Italian reception of German geopolitics, as well as the relationship between fascist and National Socialist geopolitics, historians generally focus on this period. However, Italian geographers (such as Roberto Almagià) began dealing with German geopolitics since early-1920s, and hence they played a role of the utmost importance in preparing the ground for the following reception of German geopolitics in the Italian intellectual circle. The present study analyses this neglected phase of relations between Italian political geography and German geopolitics, by reconstructing the first reactions of Italian geographical journals to the «Zeitschrift für Geopolitik» and Karl Haushofer’s works from both theoretical and political sides.