Booklet 8: The Fall Of The Fascist State 1940-1946 Flashcards
Invasion of Greece
Made Italy look weak, Germany had to send troops to support
Mussolini’s dictatorship was seen to be weaker than Greece
Only took Germany 2 weeks to defeat Greece
Economic weakness during WWII
Steel production fell
Italy depended on Germany for coal, only received 1 million tonnes a month
Equipment was outdated
Relationship with Germany during WWII
Very reliant on Germany, not receiving enough supply’s
Italys military needed German support
Germany estimated that Italian economy was only operating at 25% of its potential
Military weaknesses in WWII
Mussolini made all major decisions
M was bored by detailed discussions
M held the positions of war minister, minister of navy, minister of air force
Main reason for Italys failures in WWII
Mussolini’s leadership- made himself all major military positions
Made Italy heavily reliant on Germany
Didn’t receive enough supplies to make it through the war
Allied invasion of Sicily
British and American commonwealth troops invaded Sicily
Conquered western half in 1 week
Mussolini asked Hitler for troops
Allied planes bombed Rome for 2 hours
Why did Mussolini call a meeting of the fascist grand council
Due to the bleak position that Italy was taking in the war
What did grandi 8 days before the meeting
He started drafting a document for the removal of mussolini
What happened at the FGC meeting
The removal was voted and passed by 19 votes to 7, Mussolini had little concern
What did the king do and why was Mussolini surprised
The king removed Mussolini and replaced him with Badaglio
Mussolini was surprised as he believed the king was on his side
1943 economic turmoil in Italy
Rationing and food shortages
First strikes in 16years
Government agreed to increase money for evacuees
United front against Mussolini
All groups except republicans agreed to work together against fascism
Discussion began about new political system after fascism
Salo republic
Mussolini returned in sept 43
Puppet state of Nazi germany
Appointed officials loyal to Germany, not consulting M
Pay Germans 7 billion lire a month
100 miles across north Germany
Verona manifesto
Attempted to take fascism back to its original form, back to 1919
Italy was to be a republic, nationalised industry
Workers and employees would manage companies equally
Brutal actions of salo republic
5 fascists including ciano were sentenced to death for treason, involved in removing M
Fascists were assisting German plans to send Italian Jews to Nazi death camps
7,500 Jews sent to death camps, declared as enemy of RSI
