"Guerra fredda" in Mediterraneo : il "servizio controllo contrabbando" britannico tra l'ottobre 1939 e il giugno 1940

Abstract

Between September 1939 and May 1940, units of the Royal Navy who did not participate in military operations in the Mediterranean were particularly involved as calls to take part in "Contraband Control Service" in a kind of "cold war" that preceded the opening of hostility in this sector. The British policy of war against Germany required the effort to reduce the latter’s capacity during the war through a narrow application of economic sanctions. The maritime aspect of this policy was the exercise of the naval blockade to prevent the transport, by means of neutral ships, of goods intended directly or indirectly to the German industry. International laws allowed a belligerent nation to consider as "contraband" every commodity or product that could be used by the enemy for the continuation of the war. However, only the enemy imports could be considered as such, whereas exports were excluded.