TY - JOUR
T1 - The Italian Military Aviation in Nationalist China
T2 - General Roberto Lordi and the Italian Mission in Nanchang (1933–1937)
AU - Coco, Orazio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
PY - 2022/7/4
Y1 - 2022/7/4
N2 - On 7 September 1933, military officers of the Italian Air Force led by Colonel Roberto Lordi departed from Naples to reach China with the task, agreed upon by Italian fascist and Chinese nationalist governments, of building a factory assembling Italian-made aircrafts and training pilots for the Republic of China. The mission was stationed at Nanchang, in today’s Jiangxi province. The initiative was developed in competition with a similar American mission, which had operated since 1932 in Hankou, in the Hubei province, at the time led by Colonel John H. Jouett. The Italian government won Chiang’s attention with the agreement to use the military airfield and Italian aircrafts against the Communist resistance, which pleased the expectations of the Generalissimo. In April 1934, the headquarters of the Chinese military aviation finally moved to Nanchang. The mission’s commander, Roberto Lordi, was promoted Brigadier General of the Italian Royal Air Force and appointed Chief of Staff of the Chinese Air Force. This article presents, through extensive use of unpublished private and public archive documents, the controversial history of the Italian military mission and unveils the circumstances that changed the fortune of that successful story, as well as the career and personal life of its commander.
AB - On 7 September 1933, military officers of the Italian Air Force led by Colonel Roberto Lordi departed from Naples to reach China with the task, agreed upon by Italian fascist and Chinese nationalist governments, of building a factory assembling Italian-made aircrafts and training pilots for the Republic of China. The mission was stationed at Nanchang, in today’s Jiangxi province. The initiative was developed in competition with a similar American mission, which had operated since 1932 in Hankou, in the Hubei province, at the time led by Colonel John H. Jouett. The Italian government won Chiang’s attention with the agreement to use the military airfield and Italian aircrafts against the Communist resistance, which pleased the expectations of the Generalissimo. In April 1934, the headquarters of the Chinese military aviation finally moved to Nanchang. The mission’s commander, Roberto Lordi, was promoted Brigadier General of the Italian Royal Air Force and appointed Chief of Staff of the Chinese Air Force. This article presents, through extensive use of unpublished private and public archive documents, the controversial history of the Italian military mission and unveils the circumstances that changed the fortune of that successful story, as well as the career and personal life of its commander.
KW - Benito Mussolini and Chiang Kai-shek
KW - General Roberto Lordi
KW - Italian fascism and Chinese nationalism
KW - Italian Military Aviation in China
KW - Nanchang Military Airfield
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119373677&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07075332.2021.1984277
DO - 10.1080/07075332.2021.1984277
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85119373677
SN - 0707-5332
VL - 44
SP - 697
EP - 720
JO - International History Review
JF - International History Review
IS - 4
ER -