During the first half of the 1930s, Fascist Italy and the Soviet Union found it advantageous to strengthen economic ties and initiate cultural collaborations. The analysis stems from the Moscow Book Exhibition of 1930, an event seemingly marginal in itself, but one that offers us the opportunity to trace the prerequisites that made cooperation possible between countries that were ideologically at the antipodes. This reveals a grey area in international relations, marked by curious convergences on the themes of the strong State and mass mobilization. Furthermore, the emerging picture outlines two characteristics present in both regimes. The first is related to Realpolitik: Italy pursued collaboration with an anti-French and anti-British function, while the Soviet Union sought to break the international isolation into which it had fallen. The second concerns the use of culture as a soft power tool, useful for Italy to convey the image of a country that, under the guidance of Fascism, was leaping towards modernity, while it provided the USSR with the opportunity to use culture as an “auxiliary instrument” of foreign policy and showcase, through intellectuals and artists, the positive face of the new rulers in the Kremlin
