In World War II, was Italy a burden or a helper to Germany?

Generally speaking, Italy was an outright burden to Germany during World War II!

Strategically speaking, Mussolini's overall view was far inferior to Hitler's, but his ambition to expand territory was no worse than Hitler's. Even if something can be obtained peacefully, it must be fought with force to show the majesty of the Roman Empire (for example: on June 17, 1940, the newly formed French Pétain government requested an armistice, and Hitler invited Mussolini to Munich*** During the meeting between the two, Hitler agreed to Mussolini's request to transfer Nice, Corsica, Tunisia, Djibouti and southern France to Italy. But Mussolini felt that this was the way to go. Victory was beneath his own dignity, so before the armistice agreement was signed, the Italian army suddenly launched a blitzkrieg into the Alpine areas where the French army was stationed. As a result, the Italian army was attacked head-on by the French army and suffered heavy losses. 631 people were killed and 5,206 people were injured. 626 people disappeared

Ciano once said: "Mussolini did not want this or that. What he wanted was war, even if he could get twice what he asked for through peaceful means. Nor will I want it.” Mussolini himself said something similar: “Military success is far more attractive than acquiring territory entirely through peaceful means”). Therefore, from the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 to the invasion of Greece in 1941, the weak combat effectiveness of its army often suffered heavy losses when facing weak opponents. Especially after learning that the German army occupied Romania, they rashly sent troops to Greece. As a result, Greece, with the support of the Royal Air Force, defeated the Italian army one after another. In order to quickly stabilize the southern front, the German army had to postpone the Barbarossa Plan for two months and send troops to occupy the Balkan Peninsula first, which led to the dismal winter that Moscow suffered!

In terms of performance in individual battles on the Russian battlefield and African battlefield in the mid-term (Don Defense, Alamein Offensive and Defense), Italy can be considered a competent teammate, but once it is surrounded or the battlefield situation is unfavorable, Italy can still be regarded as a competent teammate. , the Italian army was the first to surrender.

Due to the unstable domestic political situation in the later period, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army dropped sharply, and desertions occurred from time to time. The Germans also had to divide their forces to monitor these unstable Italians. After Italy surrendered, the German army deployed 21 divisions to form Army Group C to defend the Apennine Peninsula, known as Hitler's weakness.

In terms of war potential, during the entire World War II, the United States produced 3.76 billion tons of coal, Germany produced 3.45 billion tons of coal, Japan produced 4.6 billion tons of coal, and Italy produced 80 million tons of coal; the United States produced 1.46 billion tons of oil. billion tons, Germany produces 460 million tons of oil, Japan produces 200 million tons of oil, and Italy produces 6 million tons of oil; the United States produces 28.8 million tons of steel, Germany produces 22.65 million tons of steel, Japan produces 6.47 million tons of steel, and Italy produces 2.37 million tons of steel. Thousands of tons. So much so that after the war, Germany had to pay Italy 100,000 tons of oil every month until it lost the Ploiesti oil field.

In terms of military preparations, the Italian Defense Minister boasted that he could mobilize 10 million people. However, due to insufficient weapons and equipment, when Italy entered the war on June 10, 1940, its total army number was only 450,000. There are 74 2-2 army divisions. On the day of the war, only 19 of the 74 2-2 army divisions were fully staffed and fully equipped with weapons and equipment. The navy does have 257 ships of various types. Among them, there are 4 35,000-ton battleships, 7 10,000-ton cruisers, 15 light cruisers, 59 destroyers, and 67 speedboats. This navy is enough to compete with the British Mediterranean Fleet, and it has also made many achievements in protecting the North African supply line. Unfortunately, due to lack of oil and being taken over by the British in Taranto, it can only serve as a fixed fort in the middle and later stages. . As for the Air Force, official data in December 1939 stated that it had 2,300 fighter aircraft. However, Italian Air Force Chief of Staff Pricolo said: 847 aircraft will be dismantled because they are too old, and about 500 aircraft are still stored in the hangar due to backward technical performance.

To sum up, we can actually clearly understand that on the eve of the Second World War, Italy, under the instigation of Mussolini, felt that it had regained the glory of the Roman Empire. In fact, it had not at all. If it is prepared to fight a world war, its military strength can only support a local war lasting several months. Therefore, during World War II, apart from a few bright spots, the Italian army was basically a mediocre force. To sum up with a quote from Churchill, "Fortunately the Italians are the allies of the Germans and not ours"!