As you know, Nazi Germany during the Second World War had 2 main allies who voluntarily helped Hitler and had their own political and economic goals. Like Germany, Italy suffered huge human and material losses in World War II.
Benito Mussolini's policy that led Italy to war
The development of Italy and Germany in the 30s had a lot in common. Both states became economically strong, but all protest movements were suppressed and a totalitarian regime was established. The ideologist of Italian fascism was the prime minister of the state, Benito Mussolini. This man had monarchical tendencies, but it cannot be said that he, like Hitler, was preparing for war. By the beginning of World War II, his country was not economically and politically ready. The main goal of Benito Mussolini is the creation of an economically strong totalitarian regime.
What did Mussolini achieve before 1939? A few things to note:
- fighting unemployment throughimplementation of the public works system;
- expansion of the public transport system, which improved communication between cities and across the country as a whole;
- growth of the Italian economy.
One of the shortcomings of the Mussolini regime was its expansionist orientation. This will lead to dire consequences for the country by 1943.
Italy in World War II: the initial stage
This country went to war rather late. Italy began to take part in World War II from June 1940. The main factor that did not allow entering the war earlier was the absolute unpreparedness of the army and the economy for active hostilities.
Mussolini's first active action was the declaration of war on Great Britain and France. Italy entered the war after Wehrmacht troops occupied all of Scandinavia, many European countries and started fighting on French lands. Analyzing the course of events, we can say that Italy entered the war under pressure from Germany. Hitler traveled to Rome several times during 1939-1940 to demand that Mussolini begin active operations against common opponents.
The Nazis never considered the Italians as serious partners. Italy during the Second World War carried out any command from Berlin. Throughout Italy's participation in the war, her troops were randomly scattered across all fronts of hostilities, including in Africa. If we talk about purely military operations, then the first act of state participationItaly in World War II began the bombing of M alta on June 11, 1940.
The actions of the Italian troops in August 1940 - January 1941
According to the chronology of the military operations of Mussolini's troops, we clearly see two directions of attacks by the advancing side. Let's analyze the main offensive operations of the Italians:
- Invasion of Egypt on September 13, 1940. The troops were moving from Libya, which had long been an Italian colony. The goal is to capture the city of Alexandria.
- In August 1940, there were attacks towards Kenya and British Somalia from the territory of Ethiopia.
- In October 1940, the Italians attacked Greece from Albania. It was in these battles that the troops met the first serious rebuff. The complete unpreparedness for war and the weakness of the Italian troops appeared.
Italy: Defeated
The fate of Italy in this war, in principle, was absolutely logical. The economy could not withstand the load, because there was a very strong military order that the industry could not fulfill. Reason: lack of raw materials and fuel base in the required quantity. Italy during the Second World War, especially ordinary citizens, suffered greatly.
There is no point in describing the fighting of 1941-1942. The battles took place with varying success. Mussolini's troops were often defeated. Protest intensity gradually increased in society, which manifested itself in the activation of the communist and socialist movements, in strengthening the role of trade union organizations.
In 1943, Italy was already quite weak and exhausted by the fighting. It was no longer possible to resist the opponents, so the leaders of the country (except Mussolini) decided to slowly withdraw the country from the war.
In the summer of 1943, troops of the anti-Hitler coalition landed in Italy.
Italy after World War II
Consider the consequences of the war for this country. They can be divided into several groups: political, economic and social.
The main political result was the fall of the regime of Benito Mussolini and the return of the country to the democratic course of development. This was the only positive moment that the war brought to the Apennine Peninsula.
Economic Impact:
- 3-fold drop in production and GDP;
- mass unemployment (more than 2 million people were officially registered who were looking for a job);
- many businesses were destroyed during the fighting.
Italy in the Second World War was held hostage by two totalitarian political regimes, which as a result ceased to exist.
Social Consequences:
- Italy after the Second World War missed more than 450 thousand soldiers killed and about the same number of wounded;
- mostly young people served in the army at that time, so their death led to a demographic crisis - about a million babies were not born.
Conclusion
After the end of the Second World War, Italy was very weak economically. That is why the number of the communist and socialist parties, their influence on the life of the state, was constantly growing. To overcome the crisis in 1945-1947, more than 50% of private property was nationalized in Italy. The main political moment of the second half of the 40s - in 1946 Italy officially became a republic.
Italy has never left the path of democratic development.
