The World at War - Italy
Perhaps because Hitler had been inspired by Mussolini’s methods in taking power, he never deserted him at any stage of his rise and fall. He seemed always to have time to talk to and cajole Mussolini, whether by letter or in person , to ensure that he stayed true to Hitler’ s vision of a Europe and other areas under the control of their joint dictatorships. Even when Hitler realized that Mussolini was mostly bombast, and that his invasions of Abyssinia and Albania were more showing-off than having any political or economic value, he still stood by him. In signing the Pact of Steel – the formation of the Axis – in May 1939, without disclosing his plans for war within the year, Hitler had deliberately ignored Mussolini’s request that a major conflict should not be started within three years, as Italy was not ready for full scale war. Once the war started, however, and it seemed that Germany was invincible, Mussolini was only too happy to join in, and he carried the Italian people with him, for he was still Il Duce.
By early 1943, though, the picture was completely different. Mussolini was not a stupid man, simply overweening, and he had come to see that Hitler had really taken on much more than he could handle, whether or not he received active support from Italy, or Japan, or Hungary, or Romania. Italy’s own armies had shown their lack of fighting qualities in various fiascoes, notably in Greece where Mussolini had tried to show Hitler that he, too, was capable of the surprise move, the quick coup de main. Instead, it had been Mussolini who had received a fist back in no uncertain fashion from a Greek army that was not going to lie down and play dead. Humiliatingly, he had had to be rescued by a Hitler who was trying to secure the Balkans against any uprising while he was invading Russia. And now,in May 1943, the Italian armies had suffered complete defeat in North Africa, and Mussolini was begging Hitler to bring back men from Russia in order to help defend Italy where, in July, the Allies had at last got themselves back into Europe, if only a landing in Sicily on 10th July. It was sufficient, however, for the other members of the Fascist government in Italy and, beyond them, the generals and the King, to arrange for Mussolini’s downfall. By the end of July, he had been ousted and imprisoned. Hitler, who had met him only a week before, was taken completely by surprise but cool-headed enough to realize that the new government was no friend of his. Plans were made to cover various contingencies including a separate Italian surrender. For some weeks plans were also made for the rescue of Mussolini but were delayed as, nominally, Germany and Italy were still the Axis. Finally the Italian government took the step they had been arranging since deposing Mussolini; they signed an armistice on 3rd September, on the same day that the Allies landed on mainland Italy.
Latest Articles