DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2019.3.29861

Abstract: The subject of this research is the Soviet Union's negotiations on the purchase of Italian planes from the company "Fiat" in the early 1930s, as well as the testing of captured Italian CR.32 planes in the USSR. The article's aim is to investigate this aspect of the relations between the Soviet Union and Italy in the field of aviation, which has not been sufficiently studied in modern Russian historiography. The author focuses a lot of attention on the history of the Soviet-Italian negotiations with the company "Fiat Aviazione" and on the analysis of documents regarding the testing of the Italian fighter CR.32 by the Soviet state. The methodological basis of this study is comprised of the principles of historicism, objectivity and systematics. The main principle is the principle of historicism, which presupposes the point of view of history as a process in its sequential development. According to the principle of historicism, the development of Soviet-Italian relations in the field of aviation during the interwar period is described in the article while taking into account the context of this historical era. This work proposes significant scientific novelty, due primarily to the used source base. The author draws on new archival documents from the Russian State Military Archives, as well as the memoirs of Soviet pilots who took part in the Spanish Civil War. The author presents the conclusion that the Soviet Union sought to maintain intensive relations with the company "Fiat" in order to acquire its newest aircrafts. The second conclusion is that the flight characteristics of the Italian CR.32 planes tested in the Soviet Union were rated quite low, but nonetheless some construction solutions and weaponry systems were later applied by Soviet mechanicians.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2018.2.25550

Abstract: The research subject of this study is the negotiations on supplying Italian aircrafts and aircraft material to the USSR in the period from 1939 to May 1941. The aim of this work is to study the little-known in Russia aspects of the Soviet Union's relations with Italy in the field of aviation. Much attention in the article is paid to the analysis of Italian archival sources. An attempt is made to show the importance of further examining this topic in light of the current development of cooperation between Russia and Italy in the sphere of culture and economy. The methodological base of this study is grounded on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematics. Particular attention is paid to the application of the interdisciplinary approach to the study of Soviet-Italian relations in the field of aviation. For this purpose, this work utilized the historical-genetic and comparative-historical methods, which make it possible to reveal the general and particular aspects in the patterns of the development of Soviet-Italian relations in the field of aviation in the period under study. This work presents an important scientific novelty, due primarily to the source base used. The author draws new archival documents in Italian from the Central State Archives of Rome (Italy), which have not been previously studied by researchers from Russia. The author draws the conclusion that, contrary to popular opinion, during the period under study, neither the ideological antagonism nor even the Second World War that began in Europe became an obstacle to the negotiations on supplying aircrafts and aircraft equipment to the USSR, and transport of raw materials to Italy from the USSR, because, in all likelihood, Italy's economic cooperation with the Soviet Union did not directly depend on the latter's relations with Germany.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0641.2018.1.25192

Abstract: The subject of the study is relations between the USSR and Italy in the sphere of aviation in the period of 1922-1938. The author considers a number of aspects of these relations, such as the first Italian flights to the Soviet Union and the return visits of the Soviet delegations to Italy, as well as procurement of Italian aircraft and aircraft equipment by the Soviet Union. The author devotes much attention to the work of Italian aviation specialists in the Soviet Union, such as Umberto Nobile, Felice Trojani and Roberto Bartini, and refers to the sources in the Italian language. The methodological basis of the study is a comparative-historical method which contributes to identification of the general and the particular aspects in development of Soviet-Italian relations in the field of aviation at various stages. The interdisciplinary approach of the work allows the author to go beyond the technical aspects of aviation events and to include their political, ideological, cultural and propaganda components. The scientific novelty of the study is conditioned by the need for a comprehensive study of the Russian and Italian sources that cover such a strategically important sphere of relations between the two states as aviation. The author introduces new sources to scientific circulation, for instance, archival materials from "The Umberto Nobile Documentation Centre" in Italy (which have not been translated to Russian and have not previously been studied in Russia), as well as the memoirs of Italo Balbo, Felice Trojani and Umberto Nobile, which contributed to substantial extension of knowledge about the role of Soviet-Italian relations. As a result, the authors draws a conclusion that, contrary to the popular belief, the ideological confrontation was by no means an obstacle to productive and mutually beneficial cooperation in the aviation sphere in the said period.