Military history of Italy during World War II
As one of the major Axis powers, Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940, joining the Battle of France in its later stages. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini did so opportunistically as the Allied powers (chiefly France and the United Kingdom) seemed on the verge of collapse, and he hoped to make territorial gains through minimal fighting. While France surrendered on 22 June 1940, the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth continued to fight far beyond the point Mussolini had thought possible. Mussolini took Italy to war unprepared, and the armed forces were sent into battle with insufficient resources (reduced by previous wars in Spain, Ethiopia and Albania) and many untrained personnel. A high proportion of the military's equipment was obsolescent, particularly in 1940-41. Italy's first military action, the invasion of France, resulted in only limited gains. This was followed by the capture of British Somaliland and the advance into western Egypt, in both cases against heavily outnumbered...
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