July 1940
After the unexpected death of Benito Mussolini in 1936 due to mysterious “heart complications”, a shadowy underminister known only as “Slithini” manoeuvred himself into the dictator’s chair, proclaiming himself as “Il Uno”. Inheriting a war against Ethiopia from his predecessor, Slithini set out to reimagine the armed forces of the Italian nation under three guiding principles: simple organization; superior material; modern doctrine.
At first lack of progress against the Ethiopians gave rise to discontent on the home front, but the declaration of war against and annexation of Albania in 2 days in June of 1936 quickly muted opposition; while the complete defeat of the Ethiopians just before Christmas of 1936 quelled it completely. Italian troops then moved on to intervention against first the Nationalists, and then the Republicans, in Spain in August of 1937, achieving complete victory over both sides by April of 1938. The pretext of “restoring order” fooled no one, but none of the Powers was incensed enough to intervene, and Italian garrisons soon held Spain under strict martial law, while Spanish technical knowledge and staff was subordinated to the uses of the Italian Empire, and a small puppet Basque state was set up in the Pyrenees as a sop to democratic visions of national self-determination.
In 1938 Slithini’s diplomats finally enticed the Japanese into allying with Italy, putting Italy technically at war with the Nationalist Chinese, although no troops made the long journey to Asia - just valuable blueprints, trade goods, and Italian observers. The British and French were alarmed, and soon both nations increased their troop strengths in the areas adjacent to Italian territory, and strongly protested the aggressive actions of the new Rome/Tokyo axis.
On August 30 1939, however, the German Reich demanded Danzig of Poland, and upon being refused, invaded Poland and dragged the Allies into war. Seeing his opportunity to strike, Slithini threw the bulk of his army against the Yugoslavs two days later, citing Italian claims along the Dalmatian coast and the “intransigent” attitude of the government in Belgrade to “legitimate Italian grievances”. The only nations to come to the aid of the Yugoslavs, despite guarantees, were the Greeks and the Romanians, neither of which wanted to see a strong and aggressive Italy as a neighbour – however, without the support of either the Germans or the Allies, all three countries fall to the Italian monster in succession, with Yugoslavia succumbing in late November, Romania in mid-April, and finally Greece in early June.
Now the Italians look north towards Hungary, whose troops are concentrated in Presov along the Soviet border. The secret plans drawn up by Graziani of the General Staff envision a short war, taking no more than a month. The 50-odd divisions in northern Yugoslavia will approach the border and simply not stop, catching the Hungarians by complete surprise to take Budapest and the plains of Debrecen before the Hungarians can counter, and thus end the war almost before it begins.
The long-range strategic plans in Rome are to build a huge force of tanks to equal those of the other Powers, and to assemble small fleets of fast battlecruisers and light cruisers to use as raiders against the commerce of Italy’s enemies.
The construction programs of the late 30s have equipped the Regia Marina with one powerful battleship-based fleet, and another, lesser fleet with older battleships, heavy cruisers, and older destroyers. On land, while Italian troops are well-trained, lavishly equipped and battle-hardened, the lack of mobility and armoured firepower must be addressed before engagement with any major powers. In the skies, lastly, the Italians have abandoned the suspect doctrines of Douhet and gutted their airforce in favour of absolute concentration on land and sea forces, a move widely seen as proof of Slithini’s megolamaniacal madness.
We shall see.
After the unexpected death of Benito Mussolini in 1936 due to mysterious “heart complications”, a shadowy underminister known only as “Slithini” manoeuvred himself into the dictator’s chair, proclaiming himself as “Il Uno”. Inheriting a war against Ethiopia from his predecessor, Slithini set out to reimagine the armed forces of the Italian nation under three guiding principles: simple organization; superior material; modern doctrine.
At first lack of progress against the Ethiopians gave rise to discontent on the home front, but the declaration of war against and annexation of Albania in 2 days in June of 1936 quickly muted opposition; while the complete defeat of the Ethiopians just before Christmas of 1936 quelled it completely. Italian troops then moved on to intervention against first the Nationalists, and then the Republicans, in Spain in August of 1937, achieving complete victory over both sides by April of 1938. The pretext of “restoring order” fooled no one, but none of the Powers was incensed enough to intervene, and Italian garrisons soon held Spain under strict martial law, while Spanish technical knowledge and staff was subordinated to the uses of the Italian Empire, and a small puppet Basque state was set up in the Pyrenees as a sop to democratic visions of national self-determination.
In 1938 Slithini’s diplomats finally enticed the Japanese into allying with Italy, putting Italy technically at war with the Nationalist Chinese, although no troops made the long journey to Asia - just valuable blueprints, trade goods, and Italian observers. The British and French were alarmed, and soon both nations increased their troop strengths in the areas adjacent to Italian territory, and strongly protested the aggressive actions of the new Rome/Tokyo axis.
On August 30 1939, however, the German Reich demanded Danzig of Poland, and upon being refused, invaded Poland and dragged the Allies into war. Seeing his opportunity to strike, Slithini threw the bulk of his army against the Yugoslavs two days later, citing Italian claims along the Dalmatian coast and the “intransigent” attitude of the government in Belgrade to “legitimate Italian grievances”. The only nations to come to the aid of the Yugoslavs, despite guarantees, were the Greeks and the Romanians, neither of which wanted to see a strong and aggressive Italy as a neighbour – however, without the support of either the Germans or the Allies, all three countries fall to the Italian monster in succession, with Yugoslavia succumbing in late November, Romania in mid-April, and finally Greece in early June.
Now the Italians look north towards Hungary, whose troops are concentrated in Presov along the Soviet border. The secret plans drawn up by Graziani of the General Staff envision a short war, taking no more than a month. The 50-odd divisions in northern Yugoslavia will approach the border and simply not stop, catching the Hungarians by complete surprise to take Budapest and the plains of Debrecen before the Hungarians can counter, and thus end the war almost before it begins.
The long-range strategic plans in Rome are to build a huge force of tanks to equal those of the other Powers, and to assemble small fleets of fast battlecruisers and light cruisers to use as raiders against the commerce of Italy’s enemies.
The construction programs of the late 30s have equipped the Regia Marina with one powerful battleship-based fleet, and another, lesser fleet with older battleships, heavy cruisers, and older destroyers. On land, while Italian troops are well-trained, lavishly equipped and battle-hardened, the lack of mobility and armoured firepower must be addressed before engagement with any major powers. In the skies, lastly, the Italians have abandoned the suspect doctrines of Douhet and gutted their airforce in favour of absolute concentration on land and sea forces, a move widely seen as proof of Slithini’s megolamaniacal madness.
We shall see.
