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Hitler’s victories in 1940 present a historic opportunity to Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini to expand the Italian Empire. Instead, Italy suffers a series of humiliating disasters in Greece and North Africa. So why did Mussolini declare war on the Allies at this moment, and could Germany be ultimately responsible for the Italian fiasco?
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Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Jim Frame, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje
» SOURCES
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Bellomo, Bino: Lettere censurate. 1940-42: l ’ottusità del potere si scatena sulla corrispondenza tra soldati e civili, (Milan : Longanesi e C., 1975)
Burgwyn, H. James, Mussolini Warlord: Failed Dreams of Empire, 1940-1943, (New York, NY : Enigma Books, 2012)
Carr, John, The Defence and Fall of Greece 1940-1941, (Barnsley : Pen & Sword Military, 2013)
Chronopoulos, Stavros, “Evzones and Rooster Feathers: Battle Scenes and Flashes of Humanity”, Documento (28/10/2021) (https://www.documentonews.gr/article/tsoliades-kai-kokorofteroi-skines-maxis-kai-eklampseis-anthropias-photos/
Gaglias, Alexis, “‘Diary of the Greco-Italian War’: The Soldiers Who Wrote It”, Huffington Post Greece, (28/10/2017) (https://www.huffingtonpost.gr/2017/10/28/culture-afieromata-imerologion-ellinoitalikou-polemoy_n_18406392.html)
Gooch, John, Mussolini’s War. Fascist Italy From Triumph to Collapse 1935-1943, (London : Penguin Books, 2021)
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Latimer, Jon, Operation Compass 1940: Wavell’s Whirlwind Offensive, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2013)
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Simmons, Mark, The Battle of Matapan. The Trafalgar of the Mediterranean, (Stroud : Spellmount, 2011)
Parker, Thomas, “When Churchill Bombed France”, The National Interest, No. 145, (2016)
Sadkovich, James J. “Understanding Defeat: Reappraising Italy’s Role in World War II”, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 24, No. 1, (1989)
Simmons, Mark, The Battle of Matapan. The Trafalgar of the Mediterranean, (Stroud : Spellmount, 2011)
Sobski, Marek, East Africa 1940-1941: The Italian Army Defends the Empire in the Horn of Africa, (Self-published, 2024)
Symonds, Craig L., World War II at Sea: A Global History, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2018)
Tsirpanlis, Zacharias N. “The Italian View of the 1940-1941 War – Comparisons and Problems”, Balkan Studies. Institute for Balkan Studies. 33 (1), (1982)
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Mark Newton, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Research by: Markus Linke, Mark Newton
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster
Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound
All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.
