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Italy History A-Level > M4- Impact of the Second World War 1940-43 (war) > Flashcards

M4- Impact of the Second World War 1940-43 (war) Flashcards

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1
Q

when did Italy enter WW2?

A

10 June 1940

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2
Q

what concept was used to describe the war Germany and Italy had planned?

A

a parallel war

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3
Q

what was Italy’s role in the ‘parallel war’?

A

to fight the Allies in the Mediterranean and North Africa

Germany would deal with the rest of Europe

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4
Q

what concept was used to describe the war Germany and Italy had planned?

A

a parallel war

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5
Q

when did Italy invade France?

A

20 June 1940

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6
Q

why did Mussolini decide to send troops to occupy French territory?

A

he hoped to push his territorial claims for French land

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7
Q

what were the major failures in the Italian invasion of France?

A

troops were poorly supplied
French fortifications could not be destroyed
terrain did not suit the warfare intended

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8
Q

troops were poorly supplied

A

they were not given proper clothing for a war in the mountains

many died from frostbite

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9
Q

French fortifications could not be destroyed

A

Italian air force did not have enough bombs or even bombers to destroy French defensive positions

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10
Q

what was the main French defensive position that the Italians struggled to attack?

A

the Alpine Line
sub-section of the Maginot Line

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11
Q

terrain did not suit the warfare intended

A

Mussolini had insisted on the use of tanks in the invasion

tanks struggled in the mountainous terrain where there was little manoeuvrability

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12
Q

how many villages did the Italians capture in the invasion of France?

A

13

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13
Q

how many Italians died taking the villages?

A

631

a lot against a massively weakened French side

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14
Q

when did the French sign an armistice with Germany and what did this mean for Italy?

A

24 June 1940

saved Italy MAJOR embarrassment as they were struggling to defeat the French in the South

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15
Q

what major mistake did Mussolini make after the invasion of France?

A

he ordered a partial de-mobilisation of the Italian armed forces

he believed that the war was effectively over with the defeat of France

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16
Q

when did Mussolini order troops to attack British positions in Egypt?

A

October 1940

Italian troops in Libya managed to push the British back through Egypt and towards the Suez Canal

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17
Q

when did Britain launch a counter-attack against the Italian forces in Egypt?

A

9 December 1940

Operation Compass

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18
Q

how large was the Italian force which was holding Egypt in December 1940?

A

150,000 men
330 aircraft

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19
Q

how large was the British force which counter-attacked Italian positions in Operation Compass?

A

36,000 men
140 aircraft

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20
Q

what was the result of Operation Compass?

A

British victory

massively outnumbered British troops defeated the Italian forces and pushed them out of Egypt and half way across Libya

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21
Q

which Libyan port was important to the Italians?

A

Tobruk

22
Q

when was Tobruk taken?

A

22 January 1941

23
Q

what saved the Italians from total capitulation in Northern Africa?

A

the arrival of German troops led by Erwin Rommel

24
Q

when did the Afrikakorps arrive in Tripoli?

A

11 February 1941

25
Q

what successes did Rommel have?

A

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

26
Q

despite comebacks in North Africa, what happened to Italian territory in East Africa?

A

the territories of Eritrea, Somalialand and Abyssinia were all taken by the British by May 1941

27
Q

where was Rommel defeated?

A

Second Battle of El Alamein

28
Q

when was the Second Battle of El Alamein?

A

23 October 1942

29
Q

when did the German-Italian axis surrender in North Africa?

A

13 May 1943

30
Q

what had Italy lost in Africa?

A

ALL IT’S COLONIES

Libya was gone
so was Abyssinia, Eritrea and Somaliland

31
Q

what were the major failures of the Italian armed forces in Africa?

A

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

32
Q

how many Italian troops were killed in Africa?

A

40,000

33
Q

when was the Battle of Taranto?

A

11 November 1940

34
Q

what happened at the Battle of Taranto?

A

the Italian navy was crippled by an attack by the RAF

35
Q

what was the main reason why Italy struggled fighting in the Mediterranean?

A

IT HAD NO AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

could not launch air offensives against British positions such as Malta, Gibraltar and Alexandria

36
Q

when did Italy invade Greece?

A

28 October 1940

37
Q

why did Mussolini decide to invade Greece?

A

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

38
Q

did Mussolini tell Hitler about his invasion of Greece?

A

NO
there was growing distrust between the two

39
Q

what were MAJOR mistakes made by Mussolini when planning the invasion of Greece?

A

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

40
Q

how many Italian troops did Mussolini send to invade Greece?

A

60,000
he believed that the Greeks were 30,000 strong

41
Q

how had Mussolini misinterpreted the size of the Greek army?

A

Mussolini believed that the Greek forces were 30,000 strong
in fact they were 300,000 strong

the Italians were therefore massively outnumbered

42
Q

why was coordination important between the navy and air force for the invasion of Greece?

A

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

43
Q

how had Mussolini made the wrong choice of season to invade Greece?

A

October is a wet season in Greece
the mountainous regions were also very cold

Italian troops struggled to fight in harsh conditions

44
Q

what happened to Italian uniforms in the Greek weather?

A

they disintegrated

45
Q

when did the Greeks launch a counter-offensive?

A

November 1940

46
Q

what was the result of the Greek counter-offensive?

A

they had pushed Italy out of Greece

managed to take a 1/4 of Albania

47
Q

when was the German invasion of Greece?

A

6 April 1941

48
Q

what was significant about the German invasion of Greece?

A

took the German Army 2 weeks to take Greece

majorly humiliated the Italian army which struggled to defeat the Greeks for 6 months

49
Q

how many Italians were killed in Greece?

A

32,000

50
Q

what was the impact of the failed Italian invasion of Greece?

A

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

Italy History A-Level (20 decks)

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