North Africa: A Tale of Ends and Beginnings

Italian tanks in the desert circa 1941

If one were to consider one film that captures the essence of World War II in North Africa, probably everyone would name "Casablanca". This is certainly a classic movie, and it certainly does expose certain nuances about the North Africa campaign. However, something is missing from "Casablanca", an aspect of North Africa that is vitally important: how it all got started. You may think that the Germans were the only combatants in North Africa, but you would be wrong. In our continuing series of Italian actions in World War II, we will now expose the start of the North Africa campaign, and how it ended one aspect of the war and gave others their beginning.

It was after Germany had invaded Poland and had started on the Low countries and France. Italy had successfully taken Abyssinia and planted the seed for his new Italian Empire. However, Mussolini was no fool; he could see that once mainland Europe was conquered, Britain would be all alone. However, Britain was a mighty adversary for Germany, not only because of its geography and its mighty navy, but also because of its vast empire that it could call upon. The keystone for communication with the rest of the empire was the Suez canal in Egypt.

Italy came up with a plan to move troops north from Abyssinia, south through Greece, and east through Libya in order to capture the Suez Canal and effectively cut off the vast resources and manpower of imperial holdings such as India. The concept was strategically sound, and at least on paper the odds were stacked in Italy's favor. In terms of manpower, Italy outnumbered the British forces in Egypt and the Middle East anywhere from 4-30:1! Also, the Italian air force had overwhelmingly more planes than the British, and considerably more advanced. In terms of the naval powers, the British had Force H based out of Malta, and the Italians had their entire navy to rule the Mediterranean. It looked like Italy could easily accomplish their goals, at least on paper.

In reality, it was a different story. One bit of good news for the Italians was that their naval assets were just as good as anything the British could send against them. Indeed, the British resorted to setting traps around decoy supply convoys, which the Italians repeatedly attacked, in order to lure their ships out of their home harbor. However, as discussed in greater detail in the blog post on Taranto, the Italian navy was eventually crippled.

The Italian land army certainly had more troops, but their commanders were not as experienced as their British counterparts. Indeed, with only about 73,000 troops the British were able to fend off the Italians long enough for reinforcements to arrive, at which point all of the Italian advances had been haled and reversed, and their armies decimated. Even with antiquated biplanes the British air presence was enough to fend off the Italians until more modern planes could be delivered, which were understandably held in England during the Battle of Britain.

As the title of this post implies, the North Africa campaign is a tale of beginnings and ends. It was effectively the end of the Italians as a formidable foe for the Allies, and their armies were eventually slaved to German control. However, the North African campaign was the beginning of legendary careers. With the Italians in disarray, Hitler decided to lend them aid in the form of materiel and manpower, in the form of the Deutshe Afrika Korps, led by the soon-to-be Desert fox himself Erwin Rommel. Also, the desert would prove to be the kick start to British General Bernard Law Montgomery and General George S. Patton, and their legendary rivalry. All of these things, of course, would go on to affect many other event sin the war, but until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

Abyssinia Where? The Forgotten War

Flags of Italy, top, and Abyssinia

When one thinks about World War II in a European context, nearly everyone thinks about Hitler and the Nazis. This is mostly due to the many atrocities they committed and the subsequent ramifications of those actions. Also, when one thinks about the war in the Pacific, one rightly thinks about the Japanese. However, many people forget that the belligerent forces in World War II were called the Axis powers for a reason. Italy, the third member of the Axis, is most often forgotten or relegated to afterthoughts of the common person. Over the next few posts, I wish to delve into the oft-forgotten dictatorship: fascist Italy.

Many people may be familiar with the name Benito Mussolini, as he was the fascist dictator of Italy before and during World War II. Many people don't realize, though, how much impact Mussolini had in the post-World War I Europe. It was Mussolini and the Fascists who took power in November 1922, and in doing so inspired the actions taken by the Nazi Party in 1923 during the Beer Hall Putsch. A result of that act was the imprisonment of one Adolf Hitler, who from his jail cell would write the infamous "Mein Kampf". The rest, as they say, is history.

 In the mid-1930s, with Hitler rising to power in Germany and beginning his campaign of reclaiming old territory lost in the Versailles Treaty, Mussolini felt left out. This led to his campaign to lead Italy into the creation of "a new Roman Empire". The first target in Mussolini's scope: Abyssinia, present day Ethiopia. The Abyssinians and the Italians had shared some bad blood in the past. In previous centuries, Italy tried not once, but twice to conquer Abyssinia, leaving the Italians in a swamp of ridicule for many years. In 1935, Mussolini decided that it was time for payback; after all, third time's a charm.

Because Abyssinia was located close to Italy's African colonies, it was ripe for the conquest. However, Mussolini was worried that the Abyssinian emperor would successfully gain support and aid from the League of Nations. Remember, this was before the United Nations, and at the time the League of Nations was considered to be weak and ill-equipped to respond to threats. The Japanese annexation of Chinese territory earlier in the decade proved that the League was weak, so Mussolini decided to play the odds that any help would arrive too late to affect the outcome of his invasion.

The Italians invaded in October of 1935, and Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie indeed pleaded with the League of Nations for help. However, Mussolini had been right; the League knew that any aid would get there too late, and they were also worried that any aid would alienate Italy and push them towards non-League nations, of which Germany was included at this time. In the end, after heroic resistance, Abyssinia was annexed into the newly-formed Italian empire, and the League imposed mediocre sanctions against Italy, which for all intensive purposes did next to nothing.

These actions proved to Europe, and especially Germany, that the League of Nations was weak, and was in no position to resist aggressive actions. This would later encourage Hitler to  push the envelope further and further: first the Rhineland, then Czechoslovakia, and finally Poland. It is interesting to see how events such as these can have such widespread repercussions on the political stage. Such was the role that Italy played, and for it they are often overlooked. My future posts will strive to uncover other actions that Italy made that would prove to have lasting consequences for both sides. Until next time, take care, and thanks for reading.