World War II was a devastating war that claimed millions of lives. Almost the entire continent of Europe was involved in this war, causing countless battles and wars. The Greek and the Italian nations were among these war torn countries that were involved in this war. On October 28, 1940, The Italian Ambassador Emanuele Grazzi presented Ioanni Metaxas with a three- hour ultimatum to surrender to Italy or to go to war. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum and decided to go to war instead of surrendering his country to Mussolini. A Few hours after the ultimatum was declined, Mussolini invaded Greece from the north western Greek border in an effort to defeat the Greeks. Although he regarded Greece as an easy opponent, his troops failed to capture or …show more content…
The failed attempt by Mussolini to take over Greece was the first victory the Allies were able to claim, increasing their hope and as well as their morality. Nineteen months before the Axis setback at El Alamein and twenty-six months before the German disaster at Stalingrad, Greece inflicted an astonishing defeat against Mussolini’s fascist empire. During the first two years of the war, the Axis powers were freely crossing neighboring borders and annexing land. It seemed that none of the countries were able to withstand the fascist nation. Ethiopia, Austria, Albania, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, and Belgium were countries that were defeated by the Axis powers. As people all over the world watched the fascist campaign expand its territory, it was evident that the Axis powers were unstoppable, especially since the Nazis were able to occupy northern France; but the Greeks had another mind set. Fewer than 35,000 troops and less than 80 planes ( not to mention the absence of any tanks) defeated the Italian army which consisted of 100,000 troops. The Italians were also equipped with 460 planes, 200 tanks and roughly 500 artillery pieces, not to mention their surprise attack method, and they were still defeated by the courageous Greeks. The victory caused a domino effect of victories, with the Britishh winning the Battle of Britain …show more content…
Hitler ordered his officers to create an invasion plan for the U.S.S.R since German and Soviet tensions were rising. Operation Barbarossa was created and the initial invasion date was set for May 15, 1941 but it was delayed for about seven weeks in favor of further time for preparation because of the war in Greece. Hitler was eager to begin this Spring invasion but his plans changed once he saw his Italian ally losing his battle in Greece. The Greek resistance held out and forced the Germans to continue fighting all the way until June 1st, 1941. This delay of the invasion of the Soviet Union caused the German troops to fight a losing war in the frigid winter. Stalin used the cold winter towards his advantage since the Germans were not expecting to be in Russia during the winter months and lacked suitable clothing and equipment. This operation changed the war since it ended in a humiliating loss to the Germans. After Stalingrad, they won no decisive battles, even in summer. This great offensive campaign that hitler led involved three million Axis troops alone. The resistance that the Greeks showed gave the Soviets extra time to prepare for their war with the nazis. In a speech to the British parliament, Sir Robert Antony Eden, the Minister of War and Exterior of Britain stated that “Greece held the Germans in the mainland and in Crete for six
In 1942, the Allies decided to help out the Soviet Union and opened up another front to the war in Western Europe. The United States and Britain did not have a large enough military to mount an invasion at the time but they had drawn up plans to prepare for an invasion in case Germany’s western front weakened or the Soviet Union was put into dire straits. In August of 1942 the Canadians attempted an invasion of the French port city of Dieppe. It was a poorly planned and coordinated invasion that was meant to be a test the defense that Germany had established that ended in disaster, nearly 5,000 troops were either killed, wounded, or captured. In July 1943, British, American, and Canadian troops invaded Sicily as the western front expanded from Africa into Europe. The valuable experience from the amphibious landings in southern Europe would be used to launch to launch the largest invasion force in the world to crack open the solid ...
Italian Fascism became an extremely important phenomenon under the reign of Benito Mussolini during the Second World War. With a run of 22 years, Fascism and its creator became the focal point of Europe during this time. Many Italian citizens, as well as critics believed that Fascism could be a third option, or the in between of Capitalism and Communism, two ideals that Mussolini refused to accept. With the Allies landing on the shores of Italy in their advance to Fascist capital, Mussolini fought for his ideals while the Allies aimed to liberate the country and the citizens who did not follow Mussolini’s government. Why did Italy change from a fascist government to a new government in the siege of Italy during WWII between 1943-45? Italy fought to create a new government in place of the fascist government headed by Benito Mussolini because of the multiple failed promises including a new Roman Empire as a means to overpower King Victor Emmanuel, and to improve on the poverty. The bombing of Rome, the fascist capital of Italy, was targeted by Allied troops entering Italy in order to capture Mussolini, and the armistice that the Italian citizens believed would eradicate Benito Mussolini and Fascism with the help of the Allied powers.
Fascism is one of the great political ideology in the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government that, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.” Two of the most successful and to be in the vanguard of fascism government is Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, though in many regards very similar - have the same political ideologies, still have many aspects to them that make them different from each other.
One very basic factor in the Allies’ victory was the forming of the Allies themselves. Neither France nor Great Britain could have fought the Axis powers on their own, nor were the two nations on the best of terms at the time. However, they found a common enemy in Germany. Also, without help from the other Allied nations, it is more than likely that the USSR would not have survived the war.
The Second World War began in September of 1939 and was between the Allies and the Axis. It began with Germany’s unprovoked attack and conquest of Poland, and involved Britain and France from the beginning. Its origins lay in German resentment at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the economic crisis of 1929-30, which favored the rise to power of Fascist dictators, the failure of the League of Nations to gain international acceptance for disarmament, and the policy of imperialism adopted by Germany, Italy and Japan as a means of acquiring raw materials and markets. As a part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for the First World War, which then led up to the outbreak of the Second. The reparations chapter of the Treaty of Versailles was universally condemned in Germany. Article 231, a proclamation of German guilt, had been inserted to establish Germany’s moral responsibility for the war and, therefore, her legal responsibility for all damage to property and persons and was disliked because of the War Guilt clause it contained. Germany, prepared for military conquest by Hitler, remilitarized the Rhineland in violation of the Locarno Pact. The League of Nations failed to react firmly either to this or to the conquest of Ethiopia by Italy under Mussolini. The Second World War was indeed one of the greatest conflicts in history. What started out as a European struggle, soon emerged to the level of worldwide warfare. The Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, American President, Franklin Roosevelt and Russian leader, Joseph Stalin were just a few of the leaderships that tried to bring their nations to victory. Although they all could not have “won” the war, these particular three men worked together to form an outstanding alliance system.
Germany’s main demise in World War 2 consisted of fighting yet another two front war, but instead fighting a four front war (air, east, western, and southern front from Italy). From Italy though requires a little bit of backstory. It began with the Britain and the Italians taking key points in Africa. Britain became the dominant of the fighting, so general Erwin Rommel and some troops were sent to aid the Italians. It was a constant see saw of battles that led to the second battle of El Alamein. This battle (led by General Bernard Montgomery) was the key turning point for the Germans in Africa; leading too there surrenders and retreats out of Africa and into Italy.
During the Second World War, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini made an attempt to invade Greece. He sent an ultimatum to the country through Metaxas, which had tried to remain neutral during the war, and but when it was rejected the Italian soldiers therefore began
Benito Mussolini wanted to try and delay a major war in Europe until at least 1942, but Germany invaded Poland in 1939. This means declarations of war by France and the UK and the start of WWII. Mussolini created the Fascist Party in Italy in 1919. He eventually made himself dictator after World War
Exploring the Similarities and Differences Between the Foreign Policies of Mussolini and Hitler Similarities - Both foreign policies geared to achieving great power status o Hitler: lebensraum, wanted to have living space for the expansion of the German race and control over other groups o Mussolini: wanted control over Mara nostrum, Abyssinia, …an empire - fascist states o had anti communist feelings; o both signed anti comintern pact 1937 against USSR o Spanish civil war against communism helping Franco secure power o Signed pact of steel in may 1939, a full military alliance - unhappy with status quo, wanted international prestige o national grievances on Versailles, people wanted to change Versailles o Hitler, product of WW1 who was angry at Versailles and wanted to see Germany achieve great power status o Mussolini; felt that Italy had been treated unfairly at Versailles and also waned to change the status quo o Because of this both built up armies, navies and air forces.. Italian air force to block out the sun + German luftwaffe… - both Hitler and Mussolini, used diplomacy and force as well as aggression to get what they wanted o Mussolini over Greece where it undermined the LofN, used force to take Abyssinia 1935 o Hitler used the threat of force to take Austria and diplomacy as well as force to take Czech and Saarland in 193… - by 1939 both had a common enemy; Britain and France - both were aggressive nationalists and glorified warw - both wanted empires; abysinnia and lebenstraum to distract from problems at home.. Differences - Hitler was more clear in his aims and ideals whereas Mussolini was more vague and opportunistic o Although Hitler did take advantage of opportunities such as Abyssinia crises to remilitarise Rhineland he was more structured in his aims for Lebensraum, unification of all Germans, building up the army and recovering lost territories § Illustrated by Hitler’s success after success ; Rhineland in 36,
allied themselves with Italy and Japan, known as the Axis powers, hoped to defeat the Allies. As the war
...cupied Europe at Normandy on the French coast. Then Italy, Germany's major ally under the leadership of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, had fallen. Several attempts were made on Hitler's life during the war, but none was successful.
the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy or to work with it. He
He decided his position further by denouncing the Central Powers for being reactionary powers; for pursuing imperialist designs against Belgium and Serbia as well as historically against Denmark, France, and against Italians, since hundreds of thousands of Italians were under Habsburg rule. He claimed that the fall of Hohenzollern and Habsburg monarchies and the repression of "reactionary" Turkey would create conditions beneficial for the working class. While he was supportive of the Entente powers, Mussolini responded to the conservative nature of Tsarist Russia by claiming that the mobilization required for the war would undermine Russia's reactionary authoritarianism and the war would bring Russia to social revolution. He claimed that for Italy the war would complete the process of Risorgimento b
The allied powers promised Italy land in exchange for joining them against the central powers during WWI. But, Italy was mostly ignored during the Treaty of Versailles and received very little land. This can be seen as one of the reasons Mussolini aligned with the Axis powers in WWII. He knew that the allies did not treated Italy fairly so he went against them in the next war. He also began invading countries in Africa such as Ethiopia so that Italy could establish itself as the rightful leading power of the Mediterranean. While the invasion of other countries may seem bad, Mussolini did it to increase the power of his own country. He fought for Italy first, proving himself a true nationalist. Another example of this can be found when Hitler came to power and it became apparent to Mussolini that Austria was threatened. He wanted Italy to have influence in Austria, so he threatened to go to war with Germany in the event of an invasion of
Italy and Germany entered World War II and saw the loss of many innocent lives, and saw the downfalls of the Axis powers. Hitler was a man that wanted one superior race, and with that thought in mind, he sent many people to their deaths for not being German. A Bible verse that reminds me of World War II is Matthew 26:52, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (ESV). The Bible talks of their being a time for a war, but this Bible verse shows us that there are times when people should put down their swords and stop the fighting. Hitler and Mussolini sought to strengthen their government, economy, and people, but in the end WWII claimed the lives of many of their