Seconda Guerra Mondiale

 Seventeen years had passed since the end of the Great War, and the memory of that event was still alive. The Italians began to live again with the idea of a likely Second World War as early as 1935. Fascist foreign policy was focused on nationalist claims and the revival of colonial occupation. Mussolini's intention was to conquer an empire in that part of Africa not yet touched by other colonial powers. Ethiopia (or Abyssinia) represented this desire. It was ignored that Ethiopia was a sovereign state, a member of the League of Nations, and that an occupation would necessarily require a war. The conquest of Ethiopia in 1936 sparked mass enthusiasm. The African state, a poor country, almost entirely agricultural and devoted to pastoralism, was portrayed by the fascists as a place that would provide bread and work to thousands of peasants and workers. For fascist propaganda, it was easy to present international sanctions as an attempt to oppress Italy's aspirations, thus drawing the attention of the population. The League of Nations condemned the Italian aggression and imposed heavy sanctions on Italy, which slowed down the country's economic development and the supply of raw materials for the war industry (mainly coal and oil). Hit by these sanctions, Mussolini's Italy opened a communication channel with Nazi Germany, which, having left the League of Nations, did not participate in the sanctions against Italy. An increasingly close understanding emerged between Rome and Berlin. In November 1936, Mussolini, during a conference held in Genoa, spoke of a Rome-Berlin axis, which was later formalized on May 22, 1939, with the Pact of Steel, which provided for mutual assistance between the two states in the event of a conflict. This decision raised the first doubts and discontent among the Italian army's troops. Officers and soldiers questioned why they should fight alongside the hated German soldier rather than with their long-time allies, the French and the British. On September 3, 1939, these two nations declared war on Germany. The Second World War involved European states and others from various continents. Mobilization and calls for the Italian army came rapidly. The German army seemed unstoppable under Hitler's expansionist push. Austria was annexed to Germany in March 1938, and a few months later, Czechoslovakia met the same fate. With the help of the Russian army, Hitler's troops invaded Poland (Germany was bound to Russia by the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact). Before launching the decisive attack on France, Hitler wanted to secure control of the Scandinavian countries: Denmark and Norway, and then proceed with the conquest of Belgium and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the Russian ally, after bloody battles, forced Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland to surrender. All of Europe was under German military control. Italy was not prepared to enter this conflict. Mussolini, aware of the lack of armaments compared to the German ally, asked to wait three years to rearm the Italian army. However, the continuous successes of German troops in every corner of Europe and in North Africa convinced the Duce to enter the war alongside Hitler. This madness would be paid for dearly by the entire country. Mussolini announced the decision to the Italian people with a famous speech on June 10, 1940, from the balcony of Palazzo Venezia in Rome, amidst the enthusiasm of the crowd. Without a convincing invasion plan, on October 28, 1940, unbeknownst to the Führer, Mussolini ordered the invasion of Greece, guilty of allowing British ships to dock in its ports, which attacked Italian naval convoys headed for Albanian ports. The Italian army troops invaded Greece but faced many operational difficulties, partly due to adverse weather conditions and the fierce resistance of the Greek troops. Hitler, with skillful diplomatic maneuvers, managed to turn Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria into vassal states of the Third Reich, thus securing control of the Balkans to invade Yugoslavia and Greece unhindered. The intervention of German troops proved providential, helping to unlock an increasingly unsustainable situation. After occupying Yugoslavia, German armored divisions, supported by the air force, crossed the Greek border, forcing the remaining Greek forces to sign an armistice with Germany and Italy on April 20, 1941, despite no Greek unit having wanted to surrender to the Italians. On December 8, 1941, Japanese planes attacked American ships docked at Pearl Harbor, thus involving the United States in the ongoing conflict, which declared war on Japan, an ally of Germany and Italy. Meanwhile, the Führer's expansionist ambitions turned to the invasion of Russia, considered an inconvenient ally. The goal was to keep Bolshevism away from Germany and seize the oil fields and vast resources of the land, such as wheat, corn, and coal. In the first phase of Operation "Barbarossa," the offensive of the German infantry divisions deeply penetrated Russian territory, giving Rome the illusion that the campaign would be swift and conclude in a short time. Mussolini saw an opportunity for a triumphant march on Moscow and did not want to be excluded from this possibility. The Duce informed his German ally that Italy would claim the honor of participating with its troops, as it had to somehow repay for the intervention in Greece.

After successful operations alongside German troops, the Italian Expeditionary Corps was reorganized. Mussolini's will prevailed over the opposition of the generals, and in the summer of 1942, it was decided to transform the CSI into the Army Corps (ARMIR: Italian Army in Russia), composed of three Alpini divisions: "Tridentina," "Julia," "Cuneense," along with the infantry divisions "Sforzesca," "Torino," "Pasubio," "Celere," "Cosseria," "Ravenna," and "Vicenza," which were sent in various waves to fight against the well-armed and well-equipped Russian army, in contrast to the Italian one, which left much to be desired in all areas and highlighted the deep disorganization and poor knowledge of those places. The lesson of the Greek-Albanian campaign was in vain, and a series of mistakes that could have been avoided continued. The equipment was not suitable for the temperatures, which dropped to -40 degrees at night, blocking the supplies of food and ammunition. The Russians multiplied their efforts by mid-January, demolishing the weak defenses along the entire course of the Don River, with the intention of closing the entire sector in a vise. The march to escape the pocket pushed the Italian soldiers to the brink of survival, amidst innumerable hardships. Many were buried in the snow of the Russian steppe, while others were captured, made prisoners, and sent to various concentration camps with the “davai march.” In addition to this tragic experience, Italian politics also found itself on the verge of a deep crisis. On July 25, the Grand Council of Fascism voted out Benito Mussolini, and King Victor Emmanuel III took command of the armed forces. The following day, Mussolini was arrested. The situation was dire: it was necessary to reassure Hitler about this change and, at the same time, convince the new allies to negotiate the armistice, which was signed on September 8. By December, Italy was divided into two: in the south, the Badoglio government operated, having fled from Rome, while in the north, the control of German troops and the RSI Republicans continued. A dark period in Italy's history, marked by a civil war. In a few months, the advance of the German army was stopped on all European fronts and in North Africa, under the push of the American and British armies. The Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, and the systematic bombing of German cities marked the slow decay of what had been the most powerful European army. April 25, 1945, marked the end of Nazi-Fascism in Italy. Three days later, Benito Mussolini was executed by a group of partisans after being caught trying to cross the border into Switzerland. On April 30, Adolf Hitler committed suicide inside the Reich Chancellery bunker in Berlin. The two dictators, after twenty years as protagonists in Italy and Europe's history, left their mark even in the years following their deaths.