M4- Impact of the Second World War 1940-43 (war) Flashcards
when did Italy enter WW2?
10 June 1940
what concept was used to describe the war Germany and Italy had planned?
a parallel war
what was Italy’s role in the ‘parallel war’?
to fight the Allies in the Mediterranean and North Africa
Germany would deal with the rest of Europe
what concept was used to describe the war Germany and Italy had planned?
a parallel war
when did Italy invade France?
20 June 1940
why did Mussolini decide to send troops to occupy French territory?
he hoped to push his territorial claims for French land
what were the major failures in the Italian invasion of France?
troops were poorly supplied
French fortifications could not be destroyed
terrain did not suit the warfare intended
troops were poorly supplied
they were not given proper clothing for a war in the mountains
many died from frostbite
French fortifications could not be destroyed
Italian air force did not have enough bombs or even bombers to destroy French defensive positions
what was the main French defensive position that the Italians struggled to attack?
the Alpine Line
sub-section of the Maginot Line
terrain did not suit the warfare intended
Mussolini had insisted on the use of tanks in the invasion
tanks struggled in the mountainous terrain where there was little manoeuvrability
how many villages did the Italians capture in the invasion of France?
13
how many Italians died taking the villages?
631
a lot against a massively weakened French side
when did the French sign an armistice with Germany and what did this mean for Italy?
24 June 1940
saved Italy MAJOR embarrassment as they were struggling to defeat the French in the South
what major mistake did Mussolini make after the invasion of France?
he ordered a partial de-mobilisation of the Italian armed forces
he believed that the war was effectively over with the defeat of France
when did Mussolini order troops to attack British positions in Egypt?
October 1940
Italian troops in Libya managed to push the British back through Egypt and towards the Suez Canal
when did Britain launch a counter-attack against the Italian forces in Egypt?
9 December 1940
Operation Compass
how large was the Italian force which was holding Egypt in December 1940?
150,000 men
330 aircraft
how large was the British force which counter-attacked Italian positions in Operation Compass?
36,000 men
140 aircraft
what was the result of Operation Compass?
British victory
massively outnumbered British troops defeated the Italian forces and pushed them out of Egypt and half way across Libya
which Libyan port was important to the Italians?
Tobruk
when was Tobruk taken?
22 January 1941
what saved the Italians from total capitulation in Northern Africa?
the arrival of German troops led by Erwin Rommel
when did the Afrikakorps arrive in Tripoli?
11 February 1941
what successes did Rommel have?
through his use of aggressive tactics he was able to retake Libya and push the Allies back into Egypt
showed the poor Italian leadership which struggled
showed the lack of fighting quality in the Italian armed forces as the Germans had great early success
despite comebacks in North Africa, what happened to Italian territory in East Africa?
the territories of Eritrea, Somalialand and Abyssinia were all taken by the British by May 1941
where was Rommel defeated?
Second Battle of El Alamein
when was the Second Battle of El Alamein?
23 October 1942
when did the German-Italian axis surrender in North Africa?
13 May 1943
what had Italy lost in Africa?
ALL IT’S COLONIES
Libya was gone
so was Abyssinia, Eritrea and Somaliland
what were the major failures of the Italian armed forces in Africa?
were poorly equipped
were poorly led
had to rely heavily on German support
380,000 Italians had surrendered
no land was gained, instead all Italian land was lost
how many Italian troops were killed in Africa?
40,000
when was the Battle of Taranto?
11 November 1940
what happened at the Battle of Taranto?
the Italian navy was crippled by an attack by the RAF
what was the main reason why Italy struggled fighting in the Mediterranean?
IT HAD NO AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
could not launch air offensives against British positions such as Malta, Gibraltar and Alexandria
when did Italy invade Greece?
28 October 1940
why did Mussolini decide to invade Greece?
Hitler had broken their agreement over separate spheres of influence as he had invaded Romania for their oil fields
Mussolini believed that Hitler was trying to expand his influence in the Balkans and so though that taking Greece would reaffirm Italian control
did Mussolini tell Hitler about his invasion of Greece?
NO
there was growing distrust between the two
what were MAJOR mistakes made by Mussolini when planning the invasion of Greece?
he misinterpreted the size of the Greek army
he believed Bulgaria would join Italy in invasion
lack of coordination between navy and air force
poor choice of season
how many Italian troops did Mussolini send to invade Greece?
60,000
he believed that the Greeks were 30,000 strong
how had Mussolini misinterpreted the size of the Greek army?
Mussolini believed that the Greek forces were 30,000 strong
in fact they were 300,000 strong
the Italians were therefore massively outnumbered
why was coordination important between the navy and air force for the invasion of Greece?
it was a seaborne invasion which meant that the air force and navy had to work together to attack Greek positions
instead there was no cooperation which exemplified the lack of organisation in the Italian armed forces
how had Mussolini made the wrong choice of season to invade Greece?
October is a wet season in Greece
the mountainous regions were also very cold
Italian troops struggled to fight in harsh conditions
what happened to Italian uniforms in the Greek weather?
they disintegrated
when did the Greeks launch a counter-offensive?
November 1940
what was the result of the Greek counter-offensive?
they had pushed Italy out of Greece
managed to take a 1/4 of Albania
when was the German invasion of Greece?
6 April 1941
what was significant about the German invasion of Greece?
took the German Army 2 weeks to take Greece
majorly humiliated the Italian army which struggled to defeat the Greeks for 6 months
how many Italians were killed in Greece?
32,000
what was the impact of the failed Italian invasion of Greece?
was a major failure which showed the Italian public that Italy WAS NOT a great power
the fact that Greece, a supposed weaker power, had humiliated the Italian armed forces showed Italians the truth about Mussolini’s Italy
it also showed the peak of Italian subservience to Germany with the Germans bailing them out in April 1941
