Second World War impacts Flashcards
(48 cards)
What was the concept of the ‘parallel war’?
Italy would concentrate on the mediterranean basin, hinterland and northern africa while the germans would concentrate on northern, central and Eastern Europe
When did the French request for an armistice?
17th June 1940
What were some of mussolini’s demands after the armistice?
And why did hitler refuse?
Corsica, savoy, nice, Tunisia
- hitler explained that germany did not want to punish France too harshly that it would drive French troops defect to britain
When did Italy’s first major engagement in the war take place? and what was it?
20th June
French alps
what did the first major engagement reveal about Italy?
List some of the consequences.
- massive problems with the Italian army
- they lacked proper clothing for an alphine war
- mussolini insisted on using tanks that were completely inadequate for the terrain
advance was slow and Italians captured 13 unimportant values at the cost of 631 men
When did France sign an armistice with germany?
22th June 1940
What did hitler say to ciano when they met on the 7th July? What mistake did mussolini make?
Italy must wait until the defeat of Britain before territorial claims could be discussed
- mussolini ordered the partial demobilisation of Italian troops
When were Italian forces in Libya ordered to attack British positions?
Consequences for Italy?
- October 1940
- early successes due to a British retreat
- when Britain counter-attacked in dec the Italian forces fell into a massive retreat
- 1941: 250,000 force was defeated by 30,000 British soldiers
What had Italy lost by may 1941?
- eritrea, somalia, abyssinia
- ## 380,000 Italian troops had surrendered
By who was the British advance into Libya stopped by and what did this signal the end of?
- German troops under the command of general Erwin Rommel
- signalled the end of the parallel war concept as germany now had to engage in areas that hitler hope Italy would do the fighting
Despite the mediterranean being a dominant focus what was mussolini lacking?
- a consistent strategy for attacking the key British positions in the mediterranean for example the strategically important British base in Malta did not face a sustained attack
What was the effect of the British air attack in nov 1940? military state in general
- italian navy was cripples by the attack
- poor coordination between the air force and the navy (in July 1940 the air force bombed its own ships )
Italy lacked aircraft carriers without which they could not launch a serious attack on British positions in the Mediterranean
When did Italy launch the attack on Greece?
28th October 1940 (18th anniversary of the March on Rome)
Why did mussolini have to ignore his aims in Yugoslavia?
- Yugoslavia had been rebuffed by its German ally and instead the nazis had occupied the Romanian oil fields
- this disregarded their separate spheres of influence
why did mussolini invade Greece?
- it would increase Italy’s strategic position in the balkans
- power game between mussolini and hitler with the Italian leader deciding not to tell the nazi leader about the invasion of Greece
What was the misconceptions regarding the Greece invasion?
- Greece only had 30,000 troops so mussolini only attacked with 60,000 when in fact Greece had 300,000 troops
- mussolini also believed that Bulgaria would join but this was completely unfounded
List some of the other mistakes made during the Greece intervention.
- mussolini did not coordinate the attack with the navy or air force des[ite the fact that this was crucial for sea borne invasion
- choice of 28 October was poor due to the weather conditions in Greece which was extremely wet overall and freezing in the mountainous areas
What were some of the consequences of the Greece disaster?
- greece counter-attacked taking over a quarter of Albania
- 1/2 million soldiers would be deployed, 32,000 killed and over 100,000 wounded
- mussolini had to call on germany who defeated the army within weeks
impact on mussolini of the disaster in Greece?
- mussolini’s dictatorship seen to be weaker than Greece (not even considered a European power)
- defeat had a major impact on undermining their faith for fascist rule and mussolini
- confirmed Italy’s subservience to germany - mussolini was now tied to hitler
Describe the weaknesses / faults of mussolini?
- mussolini was held positions of minister of war, navy, airforce and supreme commander of the Italian armed forces
- head of 5 different ministries –> hampered military effectiveness
- mussolini took all major decision without consultation of military experts
- if he left Rome gov would shut down as others were unable to make decisions without him
- he himself was unable to distinguish between trivial points and major decisions
- unable to coordinate navy, air force, army
- he was bored by detailed discussion
- he would call military meetings and give vague instructions on how to improve war production
Compare the industry in the us compared to Italy.
- us industry could produce more aircraft in a week that Italy could produce in a year
Describe the problems with the army?
- italy had 75 divisions but only enough equipment for 35
- lacked tanks and vehicles for the mechanised fighting in Africa
- rifles and cannons supplied by the army were dated from wwi
- very few aircraft carriers
- naval ships had no radar equipment
- air force outdated and they had no long-range bombers to attack British positions in egypt
- language problems between officer class and the peasant conscript
- tactics were outdated with the British reporting that the Italians often still employed 19th century charges agains the enemy positions
How much oil did Italy import from Romania and was it enough?
- 1.5 million tonnes of oil
- this was half of what was required during peacetime
Compare Italy’s steel production in 1943 to Britain’s
- italy - 1.7 million tonnes
- Britain - 14 million tonnes
