Countdown to War ITALY: How Mussolini's Fascists Prepared for WWII

[@sommolievito8361]

I am Italian and I truly appreciate this video, is always nice to see in the history of your country with a foreign look. It reminds you of the countless bias that is still in place. Thank you for looking at my country :)

[@jezalb2710]

Prego

[@Xmasshow24]

I know exactly what you mean kind of like the Christopher walken quote from True Romance

[@toi_techno]

Italy prepared for war by installing far more reverse gears in their tanks than forward gears. And by collaborating with the Nazis. Italy has a fascist government once again and should be chucked out of the EU. Disgraceful behaviour from and relatively useless people.

[@SiVlog1989]

I was rewatching the 1990's documentary about Benito Mussolini recently and one line from one of the Italian journalists (I can't remember his name) probably summed up how Italians felt about Mussolini immediately after WW2 ended (although as an Italian yourself, feel free to correct me): "Poor Mussolini, he's rather a pathetic figure. The romance between Mussolini and Italy lasted 10 years, then it was a disaster because absolute power destroys the mind,"

[@mattiemathis9549]

I feel the same way when I listen to documentaries on my own country. It’s sad, at least for me, I learn more about my country from “foreigners” than I do my own countrymen. 😂😂😂

[@devintorbert8876]

Loved this 😍 I attend an almost daily college level lecture and my professor is Simon Whistler. He teaches geography, history, sometimes astronomy and chemistry, he even has a class on criminology. Thank you Simon.

[@alantremonti1381]

Simon has espoused time and again that he's basically a mouthpiece--there is an incredible cadre of talented writers and researchers behind every one of Big-Brain Fact Boi's ventures. That being said, I dunno if I'd be nearly as interested in his many videos without the tangents, ramblings and general charisma. Steady on, Fact Boi.

[@Dr.RichardBanks]

I'm still waiting for Simon to expose us to a sex ed channel.

[@cd5433]

Thank his writers

[@jrmckim]

@CD yes his writers are incredible part of his channels but Simon has the right voice and demeanor to bring in viewers. He also works with his writers to make the scripts more enjoyable and entertaining for his audiences. Some of time his writers go beyond what lay people can comprehend, so Simon has to get them to "dumb" it down. It's not because he believes his viewers are dumb but because he has a range of ages to make content for. Also simplifying scripts make it easy to understand and more laid-back for us. I believe that Simon brings in viewers by having easy to understand scripts that educate us without all the technical jargon. So it's a partner between his writers and himself.

[@topiasr628]

Agreed. And to those talking about the writers, I think a thank you to Simon means a thank you to him and his team. Saying otherwise is like thanking your delivery driver and someone saying, "its not the delivery driver, its the whole organization.' Both are true but a compliment to one represents a thank you to everyone Either way, I'd love for Simon to do a video introducing us to the team and taking us through the process from an idea moving all the way through to a video being uploaded

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:40 - Chapter 1 - Great war & aftermath 7:15 - Chapter 2 - Mussolini rise to power 11:00 - Chapter 3 - Dictatorship 16:45 - Chapter 4 - War & expansion 20:55 - Chapter 5 - Point of no return 23:40 - Chapter 6 - Aftermath

[@RJM1011]

If you don't watch ALL of the video you will learn NOTHING !

[@mechanicaldavid4827]

No mention of the aged, unholy grudge held against Ethiopia for spanking early attempts by Italy to conquer and colonize (beyond Somaliland). The Great War was preceded by many smaller European wars, yes, but Italy's disastrous and vile misadventures in East Africa were among Mussolini's attempts to redeem and revive dreams of Empire (with Ethiopian blood). I would dare say that European democracy or fascism were rather unimportant distinctions where African nations were concerned.

[@leonardogaratti8721]

Just one little sidenote: Mussolini didn't lead the Blackshirts during the March on Rome, he was in Milan ready to flee if things went wrong

[@bandenere7774]

I'm very sorry to say there's a *major mistake* in this video. Mussolini never participated in the march on Rome. He was in Milan with his luggage ready and a ticket to France if the march failed. Instead he received a phone call from that waste of oxygen of a king we had. *This is a historical fact.* Mussolini was always an "Armiamoci e Partite"(We arm ourselves and You go Fight) kind of guy. A craven PoS.

[@samthatguy6126]

You could surprise me by saying mussolini actually prepared for the war

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

My grandfather saw him hang like the sweetest fruit.

[@grabnar4015]

I guess bad preparations would still count. Although they did actually have some good guns and other tech, just not the leadership they really needed I guess

[@samthatguy6126]

The leadership and soldiers were rushed into fighting by mussolini's need to keep up with pace of the Germans progress

[@flyinghigh2701]

Corruption and incompetence meant any plans were doomed to fail

[@liberalman8319]

I was just going to say that….😂

[@StefanMedici]

We can't have an episode on Mussolini without the Alexei Sayle quote in the Young Ones. It's been a terrible blow to my life looking like Mussolini, you know. Especially when I was a kid, you know, I was about seven, right, and I was down the Youth Club, you know, dancing away, right, like in the sixties, doing the Twist you know. And, em, there was this girl, right, and she comes up to me, and she goes "'Ere! Are you Mussolini?" I said, "Emmm... Yeah." She says, "I thought you was dead." I says "No, it was just me day off, you know." So she pulled me over the dance floor and butted me in the face! I said, "What's that for?" She said "That's for the invasion of Crete!"

[@Recondite101]

9:08 The police didn't just "not stand in the way" but also supplied weapons and vehicles for Fascist squads when raiding union or cooperative headquarters.

[@enalb5085]

hey that's like CIA and antifa

[@theOwnuts]

@@enalb5085 are you saying the CIA is supplying Antifa? how and why would anyone think that?? CIA is notoriously rightwing, known for supporting coups against leftists or communist governments in south america and Antifa is quite obviously to the extreme left. Weirdest stuff I read today.

[@michaelmoynihan1888]

“antifa” really? Are they in the room with us now?

[@EAWanderer]

We didn't hear enough about "Don" Benito Musselini 🇮🇹 when learning about WW2 until now! This is a Warographics we're definitely gonna love!! 👏

[@C21H30O2]

Its because looking into these men more turns up details the modern "intellectual" class don't want you to know. Like what all fascists were before becoming "fascist". Your history teachers lied by omission, I guarantee it.

[@enalb5085]

they didnt teach you because they are trying fascism again, except this time the real fascist just calls everyone that disagrees with them fascist and nobody cares because nobody knows what fascist means

[@rodrigodiazdevivar6183]

Having served with Italian officers in Afghanistan.....I can tell you that the Italians emphasis on logistics, strategic vision and hard work is not the priority. As an example, tell a group of NATO officers, "the meeting starts at 0800" and notice the only country that comes in 30 minutes after the meeting ends.

[@mnk9073]

Eh, most meetings could have been e-mails anyway so you just show up to collect the handout. The only way to gather Italian officers efficientlyfor a morning report is to make the meeting room the only place to get the moka.

[@bandenere7774]

@@mnk9073 *Italians in general. The aroma and noise of a fresh brew is our Hamelin's flute ☕🤫

[@Marco-1997]

Wow, anecdotes, surely there won’t be someone else saying the contrary, surely The Italian emphasis on logistics, strategic vision and hard work is not the priority? First off, completely wrong as there are lots of cases proving the opposite and secondly, deeply stereotypical and even offensive I’m starting to doubt you even served

[@rodrigodiazdevivar6183]

@@Marco-1997 Lets make a video out of this with money on the line. My only requirement is that we place the money in trust. I will then have my videos and statements from other NATO members as evidence. Again, if you agree we will put the money in trust. The Italians base was in Northern Afghanistan (Heret) along with the Spanish, but even the Spanish did not work well with the Italians. Make no mistake, the Italians were the ONLY country that drank alcohol on a regular basis. This had to be hidden to the Islamic community....Why, the Italians were the only ones that had no discipline. I am Mexican-American, we have no beef with Italy. However, I am not going to lie, the Italian Army was the laziest and least discipline. The Italians were known for being late, not contributing, and being lazy. Again, make me look stupid, lets place money on this.....

[@Marco-1997]

@@rodrigodiazdevivar6183 we don’t need to put money on the line, firstly because I don’t have any😂 and secondly because there is no need to Again that is anecdotal evidence and has no value since on the internet I found plenty of people saying things like “they were very professional, kind and ready to take on the fight”, maybe it’s true but we can’t really know for sure Even if I’m skeptical maybe you are saying that in good faith because of your bias, a bias that frankly is pretty common when it comes to an analysis of Italians or their country A report/paper would be much more valuable and also verifiable The Italian army does not drink alcohol regularly but in a type of ration like some of other countries it has like some ml of an alcoholic beverage Were you in Herat before or after the U.S. handed off the authority and administration of the base to the Italians? I’m genuinely sorry if you had a bad experience working with them but even in that case it’s just a mere simple case without a statistic, maybe you were just “unlucky” like it happens for some people with other countries But I found this if you want to give it a read, it’s in English www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iaiwp1723.pdf P.S. I don’t know why but your comment got deleted/censored

[@andyyang3029]

Loving the countdown to war series, going to do not-see Germany next I assume?

[@Hillbilly001]

My favorite channel in the Whistlerverse. Allegedly. Cheers from Tennessee

[@ethangetchell5550]

I absolutely loved this video! Though I'm not seeing anything on a countdown to war Germany, hopefully it's an issue that can be fixed cause I can't understate how great that video would be

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

A little unfortunate that almost every Italian war stereotype was rehearsed during the opening section with reference to WW1, but no mention was made of the successes on the Piave river and in particular Vittorio Veneto that in effect triggered the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of 1918.

[@sampilcher7196]

Love this series of these countdowns to wars

[@kazakhdoge1822]

Greetings, Mr. Whistler. Can you make videos about the Lebanese Civil War and the Algerian War of Independence, please? Thank you!

[@georgesagan]

Eating spaghetti and sipping espresso at 4 in the afternoon doesn't count as "preparing for WWII."

[@gs7828]

A bit xenophobic, don't you think? Preparations happened, for what it was possible, with low resources and considering that the country didn't really have their heart in the fight. The Italians still managed to have superior armour units than the British until early 1942 (apart from fuel) and butchered Australian troops even until El Alamein. Then, while the Germans were surrendering lightly in the following sieges, Italians held tight and bought time for Rommel to embark back to Axis-controlled territory.

[@gs7828]

Also, the Italian Navy received the best quality steel. Italy allowed Germany not to be surrounded. The British Royal Navy had to devolve many resources to fight in the Med and this gave Germany a chance in the Atlantic, plus it allowed Hitler to aim for the Middle Eastern oil fields.

[@NoName-hg6cc]

Better than preparing fro Vietnam Eating hamburgers only to lose to people in pajamas

[@cd5433]

How could you forget italys 12 battles for the Isonzo?! That’s way more important than that other one . The whole reason Austria hungry broke through was because they wasted so many resources on a useless battle

[@gs7828]

Most of Italy's battles in the Great War were offensive ones, against some of the hardest terrains and defences of the war. Knowing that defensive weapons were stronger in the period, that puts it in perspective. Also, on the Italo-Austrian front the possible attacks routes were often limited compared to the Western front.

[@cretansuperbos2121]

And the Austrians only broke through after enormous German support. Austria was a broken reed by Caporetto.

[@Ruosteinenknight]

Luigi Cadorna and Conrad Von Hotzendorf could just as well be called "dumb and dumber: ww1 edition".

[@gs7828]

@@Ruosteinenknight Yeah, but in terms of strategy, there were not many avenues of attack at his disposal, nor doctrines he could follow using contemporary, different weapons.

[@NoName-hg6cc]

@@Ruosteinenknight Haig and Joffre should be named the Idiotic Duo

[@GrievousReborn]

Will you be doing videos like this on the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Soviet Union, and Australia?

[@hayden9295]

Video suggestion: "Greatest Naval Battle in History". The battle of Leyte gulf.

[@cd5433]

Hey guys , in the 11th battle of the isonzo let’s do the same thing we did last time ! It’s bound to work eventually .

[@padraigmuldoon4266]

That was basically WW1 in a nutshell, Only the Russians in 1916 and the Germans in 1918 tried new daring attacks to force breakthroughs

[@C21H30O2]

"Real socialism has never been tried"

[@LordoftheSith]

Said General Melchetto

[@NoName-hg6cc]

Could say the same for France and uk "Hey, let's throw men in waves at Germany like in WW1 until they are beaten (didn't happen though) or collapse, we are 2vs1 what could go wrong?" Spoilers: it didn't work in WW2

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

I will consider historical precedent in both Italy and in America in the future to come.

[@Sh_rib]

You've done a video on the Russo-Japanese war, may i ask for a video on the Battle of Tsushima please on this channel?

[@bradbrandon2506]

Remember people: you are not a true Simonite unless you subscribe to all his channels but once you do, you also become a legend!

[@campgiant2392]

Steve Carell (black jacket) left of Mussolini at 21:00. No Way!

[@victoriamero3987]

I looked and I can’t find Countdown to War: Germany. Only Japan and Italy.

[@noahlogue]

Great video

[@murdelabop]

I have to take issue with a couple of things. First, there wasn't a single march on Rome, but several, and Mussolini was only present for one of them, and then only when he was sure that the king wouldn't start a shooting war. Second, the Italian military didn't "roll over" Ethiopia, they got their asses handed to them. The only way Italy managed to win in Ethiopia was by the use of chemical warfare, and gassing the Ethiopians into submission by genocide. Which the other European colonial powers did nothing about.

[@LordoftheSith]

Correct, despite having more modern equipment the Italians never truly controlled all of Abyssinia even after their declared ‘victory’.

[@jeambeam3173]

What makes it even crazier the western powers gave most of Ethiopia back to Italy after to the war. The fucking audacity it be like letting Germany keep Poland

[@murdelabop]

@@jeambeam3173 Worse still, they branded Hylie Salassie a terrorist for defending his country from Italian aggression.

[@theskeptic3214]

The king of Ethiopia ran away and ran to the imperialists Western capitalists for help 😂

[@padraigmuldoon4266]

Both your points are incorrect friend

[@maplesyrup7959]

Still waiting for the Battle of Britain 🇬🇧 Volunteer Canadians and poles ALSO made up a few who fought for the RAF! I DO love this 1 too though

[@pyromania1018]

There were also Polish ground troops who patrolled the area for German pilots who crash-landed or parachuted down. Unfortunately for British Intelligence, they weren't in a prisoner-taking mood, though can you blame them?

[@noahlogue]

You never mentioned Mussolini's initial opposition to Hitler's agression and the potential "Franco-Italian" alliance where Mussolini wanted to be prepared and France wrote off quite support for the Italian fascist invasion of Abbyssinia.

[@onlyme219]

I’m surprised this video didn’t talking about his execution

[@HeroSword_P]

He already has an old video on Mussolini where he mentioned his death there

[@onlyme219]

@@HeroSword_P I do a search, thank you

[@lonelychameleon3595]

"How Italian fascists prepared for WWII" They didn't

[@leighpowell1062]

They did prepare, just not very well

[@jamo491]

My grand father fought in Italy in 1944 and was on a patrol with around a dozen comrades when 500 Italians surrendered to them.

[@j.a.weishaupt1748]

Okidoki

[@josefoglio9250]

My grand father Was in Tobruk when 33000 britished surrendered after one Day fighting and another near Dunkerke when saw 300000 british runnig as fast as possiblet to the boats abandoning all Guns and equipamients and a friend of my grand father wss in Singapur where 60000 british surrendered to 20000 japonese and another friend of my grand father Was in Greece when the british Word of orders Was : to the botas crying Save Who can....

[@hughmsweeney]

I'd love to see a video on the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979

[@NoName-hg6cc]

Italy didn't just "held the line" it destroyed AH amry, something Entente couldn't do against Germany 3vs1

[@RealSkoolmaster]

11 seconds ago? Nice. This is a pretty interesting topic too.

[@Hobbes4ever]

"Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State." - Benito Mussolini

[@multiyapples]

Rest in peace to those that passed away.

[@user-dg9pu4pe9d]

Topic suggestion: the voyage of the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron in 1905.

[@kaesmith2893]

Where is the countdown to war Germany episode, Simon?

[@mickstephenson]

Do a video on Operation Anthropoid.

[@poil8351]

they didn’t really they invaded egypt wihout propper supply and logistics arrangements (sound familiar), they invaded greece without proper intelligence or again good logistics the only textbook operation was in east africa because the local commanders actually used their brains and carefully conducted the operation also helped by local incompetence by the british command in the area.

[@Gorthan]

3:59 "This kind of Brute Force governance went about as well as one can expect in a representative republic". Well... Italy was a monarchy at the time, and about being representative... Since 1912 only male citizens above 21 years old who attended primary school or military service, or above 30 without any restriction could vote. Universal male suffrage in Italy is introduced in 1918, and the right to vote is finally given to women only from 1946 on the occasion of the referendum about choosing monarchy or republic as type of government.

[@vitorpereira9515]

Italy in WW2 was the "kamchatka" of the Axis powers.

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

That is a fascinating comparison that I had never considered. Thank you for it.

[@vitorpereira9515]

@@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 You're welcome. Before you go, can you answer me a question? Do you see torpedo boats?

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

@@vitorpereira9515 Only in a museum once, though it was beautiful.

[@Mecha82]

In anime Hetalia Axis Powers Italy is portrait as pasta loving goof ball.

[@jay-t1030]

Imagine how different the European theater would have been if the Italians had a navy similar to Imperial Japan. Hindsight is 20-20 though.

[@silentdrew7636]

They don't have have the industry or money.

[@lonelychameleon3595]

Even if they did Italian leadership would've been too incompetent to know how to use it.

[@jacobdewey2053]

Italy actually had a lot of fine warships, they just had a poor admiralty that didn't understand how to properly use them and a shortage of oil to fuel them with. They presented a very serious threat to the British Mediterranean fleet which guided a lot of their early war policy

[@armandotalampas4800]

The Italian Navy is not a pushover! Don't underestimate the Italians. The fact that Winston Churchill opted to eliminate first Britain's rivals in the Mediterranean belies your observation. According to US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, the quickest way to defeat Nazi Germany is through France 🇫🇷. Churchill would always be the great imperialist! He is so concerned of protecting the Suez Canal and British interests in the Middle East. "Soft Underbelly of Europe" my foot 🦶! It took the Western Allies a year to capture Rome.

[@NoName-hg6cc]

Italy did. Think if uk had the guts of the Japanese or German in the East

[@conceitedfication]

Have you done the Germany video yet???

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

14:33 Uncensored! 😅

[@erikdarling1]

Rommel stated the Italian troops were excellent soldiers, expect their equipment, generals, and leaders idea to invade Greece, and Egypt.

[@nickp1370]

The first rule of Fighting Leagues is that you don't talk about Fighting Leagues...

[@pyromania1018]

To paraphrase William L. Shirer, the Italian people were too civilized, too sophisticated, and too down-to-earth to be truly swept up by fascism the way that the German people were. They merely suffered fascism, knowing it would come and go. Thoughts?

[@svtinker]

Yes, radicalism is the tail wagging the dog. No doubt Italians are students of history.

[@thelordofcringe]

The Italian people invented it and unlike Germany, who only ended up fascist thanks to the communist threat, Italy got so much popular support for fascism that they took over without the political games Adolf had to play.

[@murdelabop]

My understanding is that no more than about 25% of the Italian people were ever really Fascists.

[@gs7828]

@@murdelabop And even then, most of them were conservative and far right, not supporting Fascism until the bitter end. They saw Fascism as a tool rather than something to die for. Big difference from Germany, where resistance movements weren't that popular.

[@pyromania1018]

@@gs7828 And many of them were Jewish, which was why so many Italians were shocked when Mussolini decided to copy the Nuremberg Laws.

[@brett4264]

That round light behind you in many of your videos, what the hell is that? It's always kinda bothered me.

[@superchug2469]

Please do 1812

[@sydhenderson6753]

Note, though, at the very end of World War I, the Italian/British/French alliance won the battle of Vittorio Veneto, which was the straw that broke Austria-Hungary's back (along with the surrender of Bulgaria, which left Austria-Hungary wide open from the south). Also, though this is the countdown to war, Italy's disastrous performance in North Africa deserves some attention. The fact is, the Italians didn't really want war all that much in either world war, and suffered accordingly.

[@gs7828]

At least in the first one we had something to fight for: unconditional unity of Italy and the complete expulsion of Austrian rule over us. WW2 was just BAD, but ofc we had an imperialist government.

[@NoName-hg6cc]

Italy won at Vittorio Veneto, there were few Entente soldiers

[@seanosborn3272]

I can’t find the countdown to war nazi germany video

[@scocon8658]

Ya gotta admit, though - of all the world leaders at the time Mussolini definitely knew how to strike a pose.

[@LordoftheSith]

Short answer, they didn’t. But thanks for a fascinating analysis

[@gs7828]

Italy's navy did alright. The army too, though steel and industries needed to create strong armoured units were lacking.

[@michaelsinger4638]

The answer is “not very well.” Italy was completely unprepared to fight WW2.

[@ieuanbriers]

Can you do a video on the Battle of Culloden please. The English-Scottish wars are always interesting to me.

[@BHuang92]

The Fascist were ready for war. *Italy was not*

[@rogerpenske2411]

Who knew that the battle over whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza could turn into such a conflagration that last onto this day!

[@CocoHutzpah]

Mussolini could really strike a pose in front of a camera. If he wasn't such an ideology nerd, he probably could have been a good actor.

[@andrewharris9302]

Was he the first fascist leader in Europe?

[@SupremeLeader2011]

@@andrewharris9302 he was not only the first fascist leader in THE WORLD but also the founder of fascism

[@theOwnuts]

I always thought he looked like such a clown, I know its easy to say nowadays, but how could have anybody even taken im seriously? Nevermind, just thought about Trump, another clown many take seriously for some reason to this day. People are weird.

[@anthonybird546]

*sees title* "How they prepared for WWII? They didn't." *watches video* "They didn't."

[@KingAlanI]

Like you said we don't hear so much of this compared to the rise of Nazi Germany, so this was rather informative

[@brendanblessington4187]

You breeze past a bunch of really important and interesting facts. Hitler went out of his way to ensure that Musolini had no idea the Nazis were about to steamroll through Poland because his lack of respect for the Italian army and Musolini himself. He made sure Italy would not have a chance to do anything to screw up Poland and France.

[@asierescobal1248]

Wait, they did prepare??? Imagine if they hadn't... (HOI4 vibes)

[@armandotalampas4800]

I can't find a "Countdown to War Germany" in Warographics?

[@ehrldawg]

I read somewhere that Hitler told Mussolini to execute the Jews,Mossolini told Hitler to buger himself.

[@J03039]

They packed ammo, pasta and tomato sauce and were ready for war

[@edfleming9600]

The Arden, you got a video about that. It's just history.

[@ehrldawg]

up next;Belleau Woods

[@donmeisner4438]

To make it short, they didn't

[@seantownsend7186]

This was interesting and entertaining. Quite a few things wrong in the video, and could have been forgiven. Funny thing. Don't you think a video about the first fascist dictator, Simon would have defined the word fascist? He never does.

[@vulcanmemes9770]

What was wrong

[@padraigmuldoon4266]

He wasn't reading an essay

[@rahowherox1177]

I'd say coz most vehemently associate fascism (and nazism for that matter) with right wing and defining it - breaks paradigms and upsets folk.

[@theawesomeman9821]

to this day, no one has a concrete defination of what Fascism is.

[@thelordofcringe]

@@theawesomeman9821 lol, more like we can't say the real definition because corporate and government cooperation in oppressing the minority party is now the standard way of life in western politics. Mussolini lost the battle and won the war.

[@warhawk4494]

Wait! They prepared for WW2? Wow I couldn't tell.

[@toi_techno]

Italy prepared for war by installing far more reverse gears in their tanks than forward gears.

[@mrfelipemendes]

Spoiler alert: they Didn’t. But it is good to see how they failed

[@asinner9096]

Wasn't Italy both times who actually shot the fires round in the continuous fightings, which led to each of the world wars? September 1911 against the Ottoman empire and October 1935 against the Abyssinia? Both times totally out of the blue, interrupting more than a decade of peace in Europe. The sacred Italian egoism, or so..

[@NoName-hg6cc]

Oh yeah sure, let's forget the wars around the war waged by France and uk in the early 1900, the Rif Wars, etc...etc... Let's forget Germany was punished by English and French, NOT Italy Oh right, no friends or enemies, only interests for them etc..

[@philiprachtman1217]

Fun Fact my wife works with Mussolini's great grand niece (Mussolini's brother or sisters great grand daughter

[@dda40x1]

Sounds a lot like Trumpalini.

[@964cuplove]

Surprised you left out his last stop at a petrol station…

[@SamuelSilas-r6e]

The axis power of Italy was unprepared for war

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

That's the neat thing...... They didn't!

[@PsychicalTraumaPL]

Hmm, I have watched Countdown to War Japan, around a month ago, and now Italy. Thing is that you haven't released CtW Germany yet 😎

[@andreabosi5283]

How Mussolini was prepared to WW2: he wasn't.

[@markwarnken4711]

This channel needs maps. Sorry, but true. Depiction of military history should include maps!

[@Pushing_Pixels]

Mussolini's imperial ambitions were quite broad, and were well articulated before the war. Specifically he resented British control of both entrances to the Mediterranean Sea (Gibraltar and Suez), referring to them as "the walls of a prison" in speeches. He also wanted to take over the islands of Malta and Corsica, as well as Tunisia, referring to them as "the bars of the prison". He wanted to link up his territories in East Africa and Libya by invading the Sudan, which was controlled by Britain. Unfortunately for him he never really had the naval power to take on the British fleet in the Mediterranean. He also had ambitions of taking over Yugoslavia and Greece, in an attempt to rebuild the Roman Empire. He wanted Spain to become a client state of Italy, something Franco probably wasn't too keen on. Italy's military and industry were completely unprepared for WWII. Almost all of their equipment was obsolete, with them never having started projects for modern fighters or tanks. While Mussolini talked about a "reckoning" for the European democracies, and fully intended to go to war with them at some point, he always imagined that point being well in the future. When Italy signed the Pact of Steel with Germany they were thinking about a war being years away, not months. Thus when Germany kicked off the war in 1939 Italy had barely started mobilising its military, and did not have production lines churning out tanks and other weapons. The start of the war took Mussolini completely by surprise, as Germany had not communicated their intentions. Consequently Italy got their asses handed to them by the allies.

[@thelordofcringe]

In 1939, Italy's tanks were easily on par with the rest of the world's, and arguably among the best since they were still somewhat useful by 1941, unlike the Panzer 1 and 2. As for their planes, it wasn't at all a design problem, it was a supply problem. They designed and produced some of the finest fighters of the war: but in batches of hundreds, when they needed thousands. And these weren't overengineered, overhyped trash like the Germans wasted their industry on.

[@ThugShakers4Christ]

Poorly...they prepared poorly...then probably made plans on how to switch sides again

[@scoria1755]

Azog the Defiler looks like Mussolini.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Most informative ,interesting documentary coverage video about Mossolini dictatorship authority uprising and dominate on Italian peninsulas & and its North African colonial ( Libya 🇱🇾) ..what was notable that Fascists regime was not successful didactic to removing bad effectiveness of WW1 on economic, society of Italy 🇮🇹 , Mossolini reforming economy foundational processes in industrial & Agricultural fields also weren't successful ..Mossolini Socialist processes , invading of Ethiopian 🇪🇹 empire territory ..hesitated & frightened British suddenly. so British economic conspiracies & sanctions against the Italian peninsula started before WW2...economic capabilities of Italy reduced to half before WW2

[@jrmckim]

Does anyone else think Mussolini looked like a cancer patient 90% of the time?

[@Aristocles22]

There's a contradiction right there: "fascists prepared."

[@badluck5647]

Politicians in Poland, Hungary, Brazil, and even the United States are popularizing the idea that democratic results shouldn't matter unless the conservative party wins. History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.

[@padraigmuldoon4266]

Yeah because Joe Biden as legally elected in a fair election 😂😂👌👌

[@Giveme1goodreason]

Seem to remember the democrats claiming the election was rigged in 2016.

[@rulebritannia3147]

Well to be fair bud, the left do seem a little dodgy. Europe might just simply remember what wolves in lambs coats look like. Just a thought

[@Thunder_playz_331]

@@padraigmuldoon4266 Joe Biden won the election fair and square you Trump support cry and whine all you want

[@badluck5647]

@@padraigmuldoon4266 Don't you find it strange that it has been over two years since the 2020 election and Trump has yet to produce any evidence of his voter fraud claim?

[@mintywebb]

They put their daps on.

[@peterkavanagh64]

Take away symbols , wait six months

[@gp-1542]

Italy and the catholic church history are pretty much tied to together I’m sure if the church choose to fight they might have actually have a chance

[@WilliamStoneContentZone]

Where's the countdown to war Germany

[@genekelly8467]

Mussolini prepared for war? Yep-doubled the number of army divisions..without increasing over all numbers..so he had twice as many divisions with half the men in them. Equipped his army with obsolete weapons, the Navy had modern ships but no radar (fatal flaw), the AirfOrce had slow, obsolete fighter planes. Mussolinis believed that Hitler would win all the battles, and he could share the spoils. The truth was, Italy had no business entering WW2-they had to import iron ore, oil, copper, tungsten, coal and most everything else. So without a quick victor, Italy had no chance. The war was a disaster for Italy-they lost everything and gained nothing.

[@Leonard-td5rn]

Austria Hungary broke through at Caporetto because they used poison gas

[@j.a.weishaupt1748]

Check out our companion video Countdown To War: Germany I would love to but you guys haven’t released that one yet… 😂

[@mikesiciliano210]

Leave it to a Brit to record such an extremely biased video littered with exaggerations and outright falsehoods.

[@Joe11204]

such as

[@Dudewithguns-ww7wc]

Give some examples of those falsehoods please

[@CappaiPaolo1992]

Spoiler, we didn't.