Benito Mussolini: Difference between revisions

Events in Africa had changed by early 1941 as [[Operation Compass]] had forced the Italians back into [[Italian Libya|Libya]], causing high losses in the [[Regio Esercito (World War II)|Italian Army]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/p/compass.htm|publisher=About.com|title=World War II: Operation Compass|date=8 January 2008|access-date=6 April 2008|archive-date=15 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415191136/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/p/compass.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]], an attack was mounted against Italian forces. Despite putting up some resistance, they were overwhelmed at the [[Battle of Keren]], and the Italian defence started to crumble with a final defeat in the [[Battle of Gondar]]. When addressing the Italian public on the events, Mussolini was open about the situation, saying "We call bread bread and wine wine, and when the enemy wins a battle it is useless and ridiculous to seek, as the English do in their incomparable hypocrisy, to deny or diminish it."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/410223a.html|publisher=IlBiblio.org|title=Speech Delivered by Premier Benito Mussolini|date=8 January 2008|access-date=3 May 2008|archive-date=16 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516054119/http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/410223a.html|url-status=live}}</ref> With the Axis [[invasion of Yugoslavia]] and the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkans]], Italy annexed [[Province of Ljubljana|Ljubljana]], [[Governorate of Dalmatia|Dalmatia]] and [[Italian governorate of Montenegro|Montenegro]], and established the puppet states of [[Independent State of Croatia|Croatia]] and the [[Hellenic State (1941–1944)|Hellenic State]].

 

 

Mussolini first learned of [[Operation Barbarossa]] after the invasion of the [[Soviet Union]] had begun on 22 June 1941, and was not asked by Hitler to involve himself.{{sfn|Weinberg|2005|p=276}} On 25 June 1941, he inspected the first units at Verona, which served as his launching pad to Russia.<ref>Marino, James I. (5 December 2016). [https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/italians-on-the-eastern-front-from-barbarossa-to-stalingrad/ "Italians on the Eastern Front: From Barbarossa to Stalingrad"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920010353/http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/italians-on-the-eastern-front-from-barbarossa-to-stalingrad/ |date=20 September 2018 }}. Warfare History Network. Retrieved 17 November 2018.</ref> Mussolini told the Council of Ministers of 5 July that his only worry was that Germany might defeat the Soviet Union before the Italians arrived.{{sfn|Weinberg|2005|pp=276–77}} At a meeting with Hitler in August, Mussolini offered and Hitler accepted the commitment of further Italian troops to fight the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Weinberg|2005|p=277}} The heavy losses suffered by the Italians on the Eastern Front, where service was extremely unpopular owing to the widespread view that this was not Italy's fight, did much to damage Mussolini's prestige with the Italian people.{{sfn|Weinberg|2005|p=277}} After the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], he [[Italian declaration of war on the United States|declared war on the United States]] on 11 December 1941.<ref>MacGregor Knox. ''Mussolini Unleashed, 1939–1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War''. Edition of 1999. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. pp. 122–27.</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/11/newsid_3532000/3532401.stm | work=BBC News | title=1941: Germany and Italy declare war on US | date=11 December 1941 | access-date=10 November 2013 | archive-date=5 December 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205102107/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/11/newsid_3532000/3532401.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> A piece of evidence regarding Mussolini's response to the attack on Pearl Harbor comes from the diary of his Foreign Minister Ciano: