Word: gibraltarism
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...hard-pressed Allies exchanged a few sharp jolts with him in northern Italy, Libya, Eritrea. The British clamped shut, at Gibraltar and Suez, the gates of their Mediterranean cage for Mussolini. This action cut off Italian East Africa from Rome. The Allies rounded up throughout the world such Italian merchant ships as did not scuttle themselves or hole up in neutral ports, including the Umbria en route to Eritrea through the Red Sea with 5,000 tons of air bombs and thousands of bags of cement...
...cruisers sacrifice radius of action for speed as high as 40 knots for the light types. These are for fighting in the Mediterranean, along with swarms of 50-knot motor torpedo boats and small submarines. Other cruisers, designed to raid on the high seas if and when Gibraltar and Suez are forced, can range 10,000 miles without refueling, and the big Italian submarines can cruise 15,000 miles, if and when England is blockaded...
...Linea, Spain, in sight of Gibraltar, the 10,000-ton Italian liner Chelind and a smaller compatriot were scuttled when the crews heard the news of war. The Capo Noli (3,921 tons), running down...
Whether Mussolini's Italy could be induced to stay out of the war was no longer the question. Flushed with somebody else's success, Il Duce had upped his demands to include not only Tunisia, Djibouti, French and British Somaliland. Corsica. Malta. Gibraltar and Suez, but also the two French departments of the Maritime Alps (including the Riviera) and the Haute-Savoie. On hearing this news. France called off a trade pact awaiting signature, got ready for war with Italy...
...Mussolini a desperate bribe to stay out of the war: a treaty of friendship, a trade agreement, new credits. Such appeasement must have flattered Il Duce. Nevertheless, Il Duce refused. Meanwhile parallel British appeasement feelers, equally fruitless, resulted in a temporary easing of contraband inspection of Italian vessels passing Gibraltar. Last week Italy made hay while the sun still shone...