We all the know the disasters that befell Italy during WW2. Great Britain destroyed her navy, her armies in Africa had to be if temporarily saved by the Afrika Korps, and her mainland adventures were largely unsuccessful. But what COULD Italy have realistically accomplished with what was available? IMHO, Italy could have secured Malta and knocked the British fleet out of the med. Possibly taken the Suez alone, but likely would need German help for Gibraltar. Also, The Balkan Campaign could have gone a lot better, freeing the Germans up for Barbarossa earlier. Any thoughts? For some reason, the original post dissappeared...
Italy could have done much more with her navy. It was the only branch that was up to date as far as modern ships. It was large but lacked in training. The Germans showed the world that you could attack a numerically superior enemy with quality training and speed. Had the Italians trained their navy, I would say that the mediterranean would have been a Roman lake. Malta would have fallen simply by blockading and off shore bombardment. In this way, Axis would have been a true complimentary partnership. Germany with her land and air forces and Italy with her navy. Unfortunately, the only thing Italy could have contributed in the Balkan theater would be garrison and anti partisan duties.
The Italians had the potential to do great things. They lacked the leadership to accomplish these great things. In the case of their Navy, better training was needed, though the Frogmen were truly remarkable. You have to remember that the Brits had Radar and could see the Italians (and dispatch fighter planes or manouver to attack the Italians) before the Italians could see them. Malta was truly one of the biggest mistakes the Axis Forces made. They should have attacked it from the start, as the air-range/coverage of the allies would have been cut short, which would have allowed more supplies to reach the Afrika Corps. The Ariet Armoured Division showed how effective the Italians could be under good leadership. The Italian Officers ate seperately then with the Regulars, while the German Officers ate with their troops. Most of the Italian officers had their ranks due to their ancestors/familys but not due to their leadership skills or experiance. If the Italians had been better equipped, they would have been a lot tougher to beat and would have proven more effective. You cant forget the Alpine Divisions that fought against the Russians, nor the Italians that recieved Iron Crosses for their valor or bravery. Nor can you foget that the Italians did not believe in the war that Mussolini wanted them to fight.
Mussolini, your right about the people not believing in the war...but had Italy piled success upon success, instead of defeat on defeat, perhaps the people would be more supportive of her efforts.
I would have to agree with Mussolini. But that would apply to every country if it had superior equipment and training, it would perform superbly. Just look at Spain. Same situation. The valor of the men who actually fought for Hitler cannot be disputed just like those of the Italians. They were brave just to go into battle with their tankettes! [ 29 August 2002, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: PzJgr ]
Agree with you all! I have said it many times. Italy's main flaw was its bad political and military leadership in every level. The Italian officers of the air force, navy and army had their ranks just because of the economic benefits of it, not because they had cared for their country or their men... Italy's industry was full with corrupted business men who built filthy weapons, even if they had the resources to do excellent ones. But they stole the money... Italy certainly had the human, natural and industrial resources to make more of itself, by its own. Mussolini's idea of a New Roman Empire could have been partially done. As Mussolini said, all the Italian Africa divisions, the "Brescia", "Ariete", "Trento", "Trieste", etc. were just like the Afrika Korps, elie units made of good comrades... Rommel disdained the Italian units first, when they were sent as "reinforcements". But later on, he could see with his own eyes how the Italian soldiers fought as well or even better than the Germans, when they were adequatelly leadered. That is why Rommel always replaced Italian colonels with German liuetenants... And they worked as good as the rest of the Afrika Korps, even with their weaponry...
