The Italian military was weakened by military conquests in Ethiopia, Spain and Albania before World War II. Their equipment, weapons and leadership were inadequate which caused their numerous defeats.
Italy's troops were often poorly equipped with outdated weapons and equipment, particularly compared to the weapons and equipment used by the Allies and Axis powers. This weakness was particularly pronounced in areas such as anti-aircraft defense and armored vehicles.
Fascist Italy, prior to its collapse, suffered about 200,000 casualties, mostly POWs taken in the invasion of Sicily, including more than 40,000 killed or missing. Over 150,000 Italian civilians died, as did 35,828 anti-fascist partisans and some 35,000 troops of the Italian Social Republic.
The Italians had outdated and minimal weaponry
In contrast, Italy had no aircraft carriers, frequently used biplanes to fill the ranks of its Air Force and stuck its Army with tanks that simply couldn't compete with the newer, more heavily-armored ones deployed by the Allies.
There were several key reasons why Italy eventually "betrayed" Hitler and switched sides: Military Failures: Italy suffered a series of military defeats in North Africa, the Balkans, and the Eastern Front. Its invasion of Greece in 1940 was unsuccessful, requiring German intervention to secure the camp.
Italy refused to support its ally Germany (as well as Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire) at the outbreak of World War I, because they believed that the Triple Alliance was meant to be defensive in nature.
Military disaster. Only in June 1940, when France was about to fall and World War II seemed virtually over, did Italy join the war on Germany's side, still hoping for territorial spoils. Mussolini announced his decision—one bitterly opposed by his foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano—to huge crowds across Italy on June 10.
Further bombing raids were carried out by the CAI, mainly on the Harwich and Ipswich areas. By the end of December, shortly before its redeployment, the CAI had flown 97 bomber sorties, for the loss of three aircraft. The Italian planes had dropped 44.87 tonnes of bombs in 77 night sorties, most of them over Harwich.
On 3 September 1943, the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey and composed of the 1st Canadian and British 5th Infantry Divisions, launched Operation Baytown under General Bernard Montgomery's direction.
After the war the Italian Communist Party was the strongest one in western Europe so the americans did not want to send the remaining fascist leaders and generals for trial in eastern europe as they saw them as a counterbalance to the communists.
Fascist Italy main goal was to be a superpower, a Roman Empire of the XX century. Benito Mussolini wanted Italy to control the Mediterranean: at first his designs were in Mitteleurope too, but after his allegiance with Hitler he decided to focus on the Balkans and North Africa.
Italy accepted the Allies' offer in which Italy would receive a slice of Austria and a slice of the Ottoman Empire after the defeat of the Central Powers. This was formalised by the Treaty of London. In 1915, Italy entered the war joining the Triple Entente (i.e. the Allies).
In this treaty, the two countries agreed to support each other in the fight against communism. Italy joined the pact a year later. In 1939, Germany and Italy expanded their cooperation in the Pact of Steel: they promised to help each other if one them went to war with another country.
Analysis. Brian R. Sullivan called Caporetto "the greatest defeat in Italian military history." John R.
Italy's weakness and structural problems include: internal political instability, a large public debt, a diminishing economic productivity, low economic growth, especially in the last ten years, and a significant Centre-North/South socio-economic divide.
Mountainous Italy was a hard place to fight and mistakes were made by both sides, even before the main focus of fighting in Western Europe shifted to France in June, 1944. The result was that difficult, hardscrabble fighting in Italy lasted almost the the end of WWII.
On 13 October 1943, the Kingdom of Italy officially joined the Allied Powers and declared war on its former Axis partner Germany.
But by the end of the campaign, veterans called it the “tough old gut of Europe”. Although the Allies had decided upon an invasion of Italy from North Africa, it wasn't possible to do that directly. There wasn't enough shipping or enough aircraft to cover an assault.
The Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force both took part in the bombing of Italy.
The invasion took place in two phases. On 3 September 1943 the British 8th Army crossed the Straits of Messina to the toe of Italy. On the 9 September, just hours after the formal announcement of the surrender of Italy, the Anglo-American 5th Army landed hundreds of miles up the coast at Salerno.
What Does Hugo Broch Think About the Spitfire? After flying high over Britain in the Spitfire, Broch heaped praise on his former adversary's formidable fighter plane: “The Spitfire was greatly respected. With these machines you have a feeling of being free, and being able to do what you want.”
Some 4,000 resident Italians who were known to be members of the Italian Fascist Party and others aged between 16 and 70 who had lived in the UK for fewer than 20 years were ordered to be interned.
Ever since Mussolini had begun to falter, Hitler had been making plans to invade Italy to keep the Allies from gaining a foothold that would situate them within easy reach of the German-occupied Balkans. On September 8, Hitler launched Operation Axis, the occupation of Italy.
On October 13, 1943, the government of Italy declares war on its former Axis partner Germany and joins the battle on the side of the Allies. With Mussolini deposed from power and the collapse of the fascist government in July, Gen.
On June 10, 1940, after withholding formal allegiance to either side in the battle between Germany and the Allies, Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, declares war on France and Great Britain. What caused Il Duce's change of heart?