Studied by 8 people
when did Italy join ww2
june 1940
why did Italy join ww2
thought it would be over soon as GB and FR looked to be soon overwhelmed by GER
how much of the national income 1935-38 was spent on armed forces
11.8%
what condition was the Italian Armed forces in
very inadequate supplies, mostly for show with most of the money going to provide luxury homes for top officials
how many riffles did M say the army had compared to how many did they actually have
said there was 8,000,000, but didn’t have enough to supply their 800,000 men
what was the strategies of the officials and how effective was it
army sceptical of tanks and air support so returned to old ww1 strategies, Navy was scared to ruin their new fleet of battleships so remained very defensive against GB throughout the war
what were Italy’s economic weaknesses
not self-sufficient by 1940, required coal and iron from GER who were reluctant to give it away to Italy when the war started going badly for Axis powers
what was steel production like 1940-42
dropped 20%
how was food production affected by the war
wheat harvest dropped by 1.5 million tonnes as farmers were drafted
what happened on the Italian North African front
Sep 1940 - Italy pushed from Libya into Egypt but were unable to remain offensive as they ran out of men and resources because were fighting in Balkans at the same time, pushed back into Libya
what happened in the Balkans for Italy
Oct 1940 - invaded from Albania into Greece only a month after push in North Africa, so flopped cause couldn’t do both at once, pushed back into Albania
what happened to the Italian Navy Nov 1940
attacked by GB air raid, lost half of battle fleet
what was the GER opinion of Italians
thought they were weak, put GER commander in charge in North Africa, pissed off M
Helped Italy out in the Balkans, easily sweeping through Yugoslavia and Greece in less than 2 weeks
what happened to Italy’s African colonies in the war
Abyssinia and Somali land were taken by GB April 1941
Jan 1943, Libya abandoned by Italy
what happened in Sicily March 1943
English and American troops landed in Sicily, preparing to invade mainland Italy
what were Italian opinions at the start of the war
very split, those who supported mostly did so because of the belief it would be a quick victory and believed the propaganda of having amazing army supplies
when did Italian opinions begin to become more negative towards the war
when men started to come home on leave after Greece, recounting the lack of adequate clothing and shortge of supplies
what happened with the food shortages in italy
rationing was not introduced until 1941, far too late, prices were inflated and by the time rationing started, there was very little supply b/ rich had eaten most of it before rationing was introduced.
rations introduced were lowest in any combatant country apart from USSR, only 1000 kcals
who did Italians turn to during the war to war to get information from
BBC
what began to emerge in the 1940s in Italy
opposition groups, including Communist and Catholic
what happened at home in Italy in 1943
shortages and anti-war sentiments led to waves of strikes in industrial Italy
what was M’s reaction to growing public discontent
refused to back out of war
what were the opinions of other Fascist officials (not M)
believed that to save Fascism from failing completely and allowing Italy to fall into a ‘Communist revolution’ must remove M as a sacrifice
what was the response to the GB and USE invasion of Sicily
Farinacci (ex-squad leader) and de Bono (Abyssinia campaign) persuaded M to call Grand Copuncil
what did the Grand council vote on 24 July 1943
voted 19:7 to have KVEIII remove M and restore power to P.
how was M dismissed
bloodless coup. didn’t do much when he was told of the vote, went the next day to the King’s palace to talk about the war and continue as usual, where he was arrested
who was replaced as PM after M
Marshal Badoglio
what was the public response to the removal of M
no public protests, fascist regime collapsed
how did Fascist react to the dismisal of M
tried to gain support with new PM, removed M’s headshot on Il opolo d’Italia with a picture of Badoglio the next day.
what did Germany when Italy signed an armistice with GB and FR
8th September 1943 - Germany couldn’t afford to have GB (from Sicily) take Italy so German troops rescued Mussolini from the Ski resort he was captive at to fly him to meet with Hitler
what was the relationship like between Hitler and Mussolini when he was rescued, before the formation of the the RSI
M very much saw Hitler as the leader in control, saying “i am here to take my orders” when he got to Germany
what was the Italian Social Republic (RSI) also known as the Salo Republic
announced 15th Sep - new Fascist State to be run in Italy by the Germans, with M as their figure head
where did the Salo Republic control
had control over North and Central Italy, where as the Kingdom of Italy controlled the South
what was the kingdom of Italy
southern govt, controlled by KVEIII as a puppet leader but was ran by the Allies
what kind of policies were proposed by the new RSI
very old 1922 style Fascist polices that isolated the industrial elite supporters of 1922-45 by promoting workers rights
what was the RSI’s military like
surprisingly strong with more than 500,000 men, but much of their men, such as the black brigades, spent much of their time fighting partisans
who made up the partisans influence over the salo republic
Communinst - most organised and with more that 30,000 troops
Catholics - mostly made up of old PPi members, 20,000 troops, willing to cooperate with the left despite not being left themselves
Socialists - members of the old PSI, only represented a small amount of the partisan fighters
Actionists - moderate, middle class became active in 1940 and offically became the Party of Action in 1943, 25,000 partisans fighters
what were the strengths of the RSI at its creation
could make a new manifesto
Squads reformed in Black Brigades that could be used to intimidate once more
what were the weaknesses of the RSI at its creation
alienated elites by returning to 1919 manifesto
had to fight both Allies and Axis (and later Partisans) all at the same time
Fascism was never truly able to be believed by the majority of Italians so most didn’t follow it like they had done with M 22-45
m had become ill and recluse
German control caused mixed loyalties for many Fascists
how strong were the Partisans
small in number in reality but many of the pubic were pushed to support them as the RSI was horrifically strict on their punishments to the partisans (most of public were neutral though)
caused much of the German/RSI troops to be occupied, not allowing them to fight the allies, grew to numbers of 250,000
had some strong brigades that were genuinely very good at fighting, killed 5000 Germans
knew the terrain of the Alps (where most battles were fought) much better than the Germans so had the advantage of knowing how to escape when in danger
were the people to eventually execute M
how did poor leadership cause the fall of the RSI
M was shadow of former shell, didn’t want to lead until forced to by Hitler and was too ill to do anything
republic divided heavily between die-hard, war-happy Fascists and those who wanted to be peacemakers
removed support from most powerful when re-branding
Black brigade too cruel, tuned public support away
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