What if the Italian Army was Good in World War 2?

If the Italian military was good in WW2 the world would be different.

[@edox6013]

"Gentlemen, you've fought like lions and been led by donkeys" -E. Rommel

[@-h-eyyb0ssuwu370]

İt was an unknown german officer who said this as i know but sure thing pal.

[@timothyjonathan1599]

@@-h-eyyb0ssuwu370 no no It was Rommel that said it

[@sgtmayhem7567]

I like that led by donkeys is an insult.

[@jonah9905]

@@sgtmayhem7567 fr?

[@TheRetirednavy92]

they really needed a Julius Caesar

[@PsychShrew]

"I saw 14,000,605 alternate timelines." "How many of those was the Italian Army good in World War 2?" "One."

[@samrparker1224]

Psychic Sandshrew Lol

[@VJ-vu7yn]

And that one was in HOI4 with non-historical bots....

[@svobod3495]

(n)One

[@massimilianomencacci2510]

I saw 14,000,605 alternate timelines. No one saw american victory in Vietnam.

[@MrAlepedroza]

@@massimilianomencacci2510 Actually, the US was way closer to win in Vietnam than you in WW2, cazzo. The US killed more than 1'5 million vietcong troops and razed North Vietnam, while only losing 50'000 troops. Had they performed a few operations here and there at a different point, and they would have won. Do your research.

[@lilbird8828]

germany: hey italy we're losin- italy: /gamemode spectator

[@bryanfongo327]

/team @p red

[@neoarmstrongcyclonejetarms9326]

Hahahaha very nice original joke

[@lilbird8828]

@@neoarmstrongcyclonejetarms9326 i dont know if this is sarcasm or what btw

[@unknownentity3383]

Lil Bird you have obamium pfp use MC commands and watch alt history nice

[@lilbird8828]

@@unknownentity3383 yes

[@pyro111100]

So basically this is a "What if a fairly decent HOI4 player ruled Italy in WW2?"

[@EzraeL91]

Or even IA in a not historically game.

[@jeph115]

oh that'd be simple, just early motorize *EVERYTHING*

[@corbinglenn2567]

@@jeph115 but oil

[@jeph115]

@@corbinglenn2567 naaaaaaah they'll just push the trucks, so what if the boats start sinking because there's no fuel?

[@enrikitou2147]

@@jeph115 I don't know maybe just do some lsd and the boats will start flying

[@zanzao-1ps318]

I'm Italian and I agree to everything you said at the beginning of the video, just one thing:the army was poorly led but the Italian navy seriously was great, it just lacked oil and *radar*

[@ADZ01982]

Yes the Italian navy was good but they did not have the economy to keep it up. There were several different Air Force units that performed well. Italian forces were just to small and dated to fight the big powers. The Italians did not want a hugely destructive war and Mu

[@LMGIproductions]

Yep... They were good, but good planes on the ground and good ships in port won't win you the war.

[@jamiengo2343]

Zanzao-1 Ps3 it really wasn’t. Taranto finished off everything there, and the inferior Mediterranean Fleet managed to thrash you several times

[@jamiengo2343]

Elrozzo Seicentoquattordici we had bloody Admiral Cunningham in charge, he was great. Taranto didn’t deliver a crippling blow, but hey, great morale boost for the Brits, and an embarrassment to Italy, biplanes sinking Battleships.

[@hamishmclaughlin9319]

Great Jamie Biplanes in WW2 were pretty good at sinking just ships in general. Due to the nature of AA the round would just pass straight through the wooden and canvas biplane causing little damage to the flying ability of the aircraft.

[@nicolasingh6948]

Germany: so it looks like we're losing the war guys Italy: *change team*

[@reyxus9454]

Goat on a boat actually Italy went in civil war

[@nicolasingh6948]

Vlad Melis, learn to take a joke

[@Abdul54cp]

Vlad Melis >tfw you insult people by calling them a "lower race" when the germans thought you guys were a "lower race" the the british and french

[@reyxus9454]

I think he exagerated saying that, but still no One gives 0 fuck about what the germans and the french thinks about southern european.

[@emanueledes7]

FUCK GERMANY!!!

[@ryanrusch3976]

What if the Italian army was good: Decima Flottiglia MAS exists

[@gs7828]

That's the navy.

[@lemonosharky3338]

This comment section is like the 19th century everyone's arguing how their country's historic empires are the best

[@sgtmayhem7567]

It’s hilarious, until you really think about it.

[@AeneasGemini]

@@sgtmayhem7567 not really, history is interesting all round, and for all the evil's committed by every empire this doesn't erase the magnitude of their successes (and their historical impacts, good and bad). I'm Brit who's proud of the fact that our tiny island nation was able to innovate and overcome many obstacles to spread it's influence greater than any nation before it. I'm less happy with every action they took with that success. In the end we live in an age where we are capable of using our innovation differently, technology and understanding has given us this opportunity, but we would never have this opportunity were it not for the great and terrible actions of our ancestors. It's a paradox of history that the immoral behaviour of the past has given us the luxury to be more moral in the present

[@vaughanbussard1385]

Italy didn’t switch sides, it was a civil war.

[@doomerbloomer6160]

Effectively, they changed sides.

[@vaughanbussard1385]

no lol

[@vaughanbussard1385]

Benito Mussolini was becoming less popular in Italy and his fascists decided to kick him out, when the British and Americans landed in Sicily some Italians were con allies which would become the Kingdom of Italy while the pro axis would be The Socialist Italian Republic.

[@doomerbloomer6160]

ok

[@vaughanbussard1385]

Very understandable have a great thanksgiving

[@benoitbvg2888]

How do you find parts for an Italian tank? Just follow another one.

[@johnbuckley2628]

I forward and 500 reverse gears in every wop tank as standard.

[@antares7719]

I follow your Mother

[@josephdalelio6684]

Your statement is that of an ignorant Anglo.

[@jedicomedy]

How do you win wars as a Brit? Have your oppressed colonial soldiers fight them.

[@HmineCrafter]

@@jedicomedy acually we prefer to use are now non oppressed colonies to come in and save us

[@deez_nuts_77]

Early in WWII, an American officer asked a German POW what he thought of the Americans he had fought. The German replied “You are to us as the Italians are to you” What a burn man

[@FelipeJaquez]

Sorry we couldn't hear you over all these resources :)

[@xander9564]

That German POW sure was a sore loser ...

[@VishtheFish101]

Love that 😂

[@thefourthcrusader2117]

I mean when you are facing the Soviet Union expectations get shifted.

[@FormulaVase-kp3dc]

They're mostly concerned about their eastern enemies.

[@Evzone1821]

2:39 Incorrect. It took the Germans *one month* to conquer Greece, not a matter of days, and it took 10 days to take Crete.

[@tituszvaldner2588]

OnE MoNTH THATS A LOOOONG TIIIME RIGHT? LOOOOSER GERMANS sarcasm

[@giannisv.4472]

if you consider france fell in 46 days Yugoslavia in one and other countries didn't even fight yes it's a looong time

[@giannisv.4472]

also polland fell in one month

[@giannisv.4472]

and Greece was in war with Italy for over one year and didn't have troops to spare so yes Greece lasted for too long for her strength

[@greetmarien4218]

Only a small number if German troops fought in Greece.Most of the German resources and troops were deploying for Barbarossa, it's not like Greece had to face the full might of the German army, unlike France, Belgium, Poland etc...Furthermore, there were around 60000 British troops fighting in Greece, supported by the RAF. It's not much but Greece did had support. Greece managed to resist against the Italians because the Italians had only a few divisions in Greece when they started the war in a very bad season. Once the Germans arrived with a small force, the Greeks were defeated and it was mostly because of the difficult terrain and because German panzer divisions preparing for Barbarossa that it even took a couple of weeks. If Greece had been flatland like in Northern Europe it wouldn't have lasted 1 week

[@TheShadowwarrior80]

I wouldn't say that the Italians weren't any good in world war two. It was more because Mussolini wasted resources conquering Albania and Ethiopia as well as fighting in Spainish civil war. You also have to consider the fact that allied propaganda depicted them as poor fighters. It also didn't help that Mussolini listened to his mistress and appointed/promoted people that weren't qualified.

[@dernwine]

Some Italian units, notably the Bersalgieri where very good. However the Italian army as a whole was not a great force. It was too backwards, didn't have good armour, or good aircover. It's officer corps was not great, and especially the upper echlons where selected by political favoritism rather than merit. While it would be wrong to say the Italian soldiers where all bad fighters. The Italian army was never really in a position to go toe to toe with the British, French or American armies in an open field (well maybe the French, but only after the Germans had eviscerated the French army).

[@angelosinisi9462]

Promoting people who were not qualified is a habit which is still continuing today.

[@garystigall4074]

TheShadowwarrior80 Italians were great in the war Brave Courageous and Selfless They just were part of the American military

[@garystigall4074]

Many Italians were very Brave, and honorable during the war They just happened to sign up as Americans

[@amyfong4549]

Affirmative Action, Italian Style.

[@matthewbonner5006]

I think that Mussolini would have done something similar to Francisco and gradually tapered to a more capitalistic and pro western ideology (since a major selling point of fascism back in the day was defense against socialism). It would definitely be interesting because that would mean there would be three or four stable fascist regimes in Europe after World War II if you also count Portugal and if Bulgaria stuck with the Italians.

[@jeph115]

You don't have to think it, it was already a common sentiment since before the war, italy still thought she could be a friend to america, but in all honesty, they didn't do a very good job at it.

[@tempejkl]

@@jeph115They did. Mussolini was praised by many Americans for their ruthless murders of socialist leaders. Mussolini also signed treaties with France Britain and Germany.

[@fabiodemon884]

Italy would become “rich”, suez would be too import for the allies against the japanese, they pay italy, italy invests in colonies, they find oil “economic boom”

[@daniele5349]

L Italia di Mussolini era forte , ma come disse Mussolini non era pronta per la guerra , Mussolini era il protettore dell' islam in Libia , le colonie crescevano a vista d occhio , ha salvato migliaia e migliaia di ebrei dal nazismo , ha provato a non fare annettere Austria alla Germania e salvare la Cecoslovacchia, andava contro a Hitler

[@davidescristofaros2241]

@@daniele5349 cos'è, apologia di quel criminale di Mussolini?

[@daniele5349]

@@davidescristofaros2241 criminale? Vatti a vedere i video di : nero italico , poi vediamo chi è il criminale , Mussolini è un grande , onoralo

[@davidescristofaros2241]

@@daniele5349 un grande uomo che oppresse l'opposizione eliminando avversari politici, che tolse le libertà alla popolazione creando un regime totalitario. Si grande uomo

[@daniele5349]

@@davidescristofaros2241 in caso Mussolini non fosse salito al potere ci sarebbe stata una rivoluzione bolscevica, lo sai che i socialisti e comunisti hanno ucciso oltre mille fascisti tra cui un onorevole sul tram davanti alla figliola ? La spagna sarebbe quindi divenuta comunista senza il fascismo italiano , la Francia era vicina al comunismo , sarebbe stata un altra storia e avremmo vissuto in un regime comunista senza libertà anzi gli oppositori politici sarebbero andati nei gulag , Mussolini al massimo li mandava al confino dove stavano bene , avevano tutto

[@Enzo012]

The Italian army was decent when they were backed up with some decent equipment and under the command of someone who knew what they doing. No worse than the British or whoever. Sure they didn't have the Nazi fanaticism or the Soviet/Japanese wiliness to die but were good.

[@infanos3720]

But Thats the point leadership is just as much part of an army like the guns or the men

[@jdewitt77]

Over 300,000 Italian troops died during World War II. Obviously they were willing to fight and die.

[@jc-wd5bu]

if the Italians pushed the Brits out of Egypt and took control of the Suez Canal and much of the Middle East, this would have cut off the Allies ground route for delivering lend lease supplies to Russia via Iraq/Iran. This would have made a HUGE difference in the battles on the Eastern Front. Instead of fighting in North Africa, Rommel would have been fighting in the Caucuses and maybe would have captured the Baku oilfields. And you can't say Barbarossa would have turned out the same if Germany had those divisions and tanks fighting/stationed in North Africa, Greece, the Balkans etc because Russia attacked positions held by Romanian and Italian troops when they made their big counterattack not Germans. these coalition troops would not have been there if Germany had the Afrika Korps in Russia instead of the desert.

[@vidoegameman]

j c ur right but you're also wrong in the operation on the don, it was the Italians and Romanians that held on the longest, it was the other coalition forces that collapsed with in a couple hours. The Romanians held their positions for a day and the Italians held on for 60hrs (2 and a half days) despite being outnumbered 9-1 and using 37mm guns on t-34s and other heavy Russian tanks

[@MyAlphaSquad]

The think is they didn't have weapons to stop Russian it was very bad coordination between Germans Italians and Romanian troops....

[@valerioborghese2916]

Lol the afrika korps were 3 divisions, 2 infantry and 1 tank, I don't think They would have changed the Eastern Frontline

[@aurex8937]

The Baku oilfields were, imho, Hitler's greatest strategical error. Moscow was of no real value. Germany was STARVED for oil. A possible scenario in which the Axis could have prevailed if Germany had managed to coerce Yugoslavia and Greece to either join them or stay neutral while obviously stopping Italy from declaring war "alla cazzo" (at random...) That would have freed from 20 to 40 divisions for the Eastern front. Also, if Italy hadn't waited that long before making a beeline for Alexandria, they could have succeeded in sealing off Suez for good. The british weren't ready on that front, and they didn't expect a really aggressive italian posture.

[@TheLuuuuuc]

j c don't forget that control over the middle east could bring turkey into the war

[@MrMarinus18]

The Italian army might have been joked about but it's navy was very respected and feared. It was the fourth most powerful navy after only America, Britain and Japan and it was actually more powerful than France. The French navy was larger in number of ships but the Italians had more battleships and also didn't have an empire to guard so could use all their ships in their main navy. The British were deeply worried when France capitulated because the loss of the French medditerean fleet meant they were outnumbered 2-1 by the Italians. With Germany and Japan both being hostile they couldn't draw ships from either their Asian or home fleets. A blow came when 1 Italian battleship damaged 2 cruisers severely and sunk 1 while retaining only moderate damage that was repaired in 2 months. Other battles like the battle of Sirthe which ended in a draw also really spoke to the formidable Italian navy. The famous battle of Torento was quite a gamble for the British. The Illustrious was the only aircraft carrier in the Med. and moving it that close to Italy put it in danger. Not to mention you can't blame the Italians for having several battleships destroyed when the Americans didn't fare any better against the Japanese.

[@Raiymbek-lz4gt]

Проблема в том что для обеспечения Итальянского флота Итальянцам не хватало бензина Как и всем странам Оси Немецкий Генерал который работал с Итальянцами жаловался на то что Итальянцы не могут большое часть флота задействовать в бою так как у Итальянцы испытывали дефицит с горючим и бензином

[@jdewitt77]

Italy had an empire but it wasn't overly large.

[@neorion676]

The Italian army is actually good, but the problem is they were lead by dumbasses who are overconfident and doesn’t know how to strategize an attack.

[@Absaalookemensch]

The Italian military was second to none. As long as they fought a war involving no one else. Seriously though, many Italian units were very good, holding their own against their opponent.

[@alessiostaccioli9151]

Maybe, but our equipment was outdated OR "out of supply" (I did't know the correct englis word for lacking equipment), like our war doctrine, our resources (dispersed in the occupation of Abyssinia/Etiopia) and so many other things... in a few words, we aren't ready.

[@Absaalookemensch]

@@alessiostaccioli9151 When fighting alongside German units, Italian units held their own. The Italian soldier, like any soldier fighting a war on foreign soil, tends to think more of their own lives than the mission. And the leadership was not one that people would heroically follow. You English is very good, don't let anyone tell you differently.

[@eclectic2327]

that’s why they lost to spear checkers right?

[@alessiostaccioli9151]

@@eclectic2327 Are you serious? Any kind of army can be beat if is not ready or well leaded. Like the British Army in the Battle of Isandlwana, loser against the Zulu Army... armed only with shield and... spears.

[@Absaalookemensch]

​@@eclectic2327 No, they lost to idiotic politicians and political appointment military leaders. When well armed, supplied and led, British forces faced a formidable foe that they often lost to.

[@taxiarhis100]

When the mountains begin to speaking Hellenic

[@ufuker5754]

And cannons singing turkish

[@taxiarhis100]

@@ufuker5754 that was beautiful

[@john_smith_john]

when will you begin speaking english

[@taxiarhis100]

Ask your mother ...

[@ThatRandomGuy30]

Every time I search for Italian soldiers of WW2 on Google Images all I get is Pizzas.

[@Not_actually_a_commie]

And they're holding spaghetti instead of guns

[@user-ey4mx1ul3n]

Legio XXI Rapax Stop getting so triggered by everything, they are just joking.

[@darthmerlinigaming]

Novizio Novizio Perché loro ci vanno giù pesante con le offese E poi questi ci credono veramente Ma finche non mi insultano personalmente ognuno è libero di fare quello che vuole :)

[@tommasomazieri830]

Novizio Novizio si ma qui si cade sul solito pizza mafia mandolino; l'italiano combatte con gli spaghetti, come scudo usa la pizza... E alla fine rompe un po le scatole, cambiassero battuta...

[@darthmerlinigaming]

Novizio Novizio Come faccio a ridere su qualcosa se non è divertente

[@pastabad4939]

Italy “ ok let’s just march into Greece” musillini “ok I like that idea let’s invade through Albania Greece “ now how about I liberate about half of Albania

[@shrekscrusader1139]

*Mussolini

[@regnoditalia7711]

and then get annexed

[@Dhimo758]

The Partisans lead by papa Enver liberated all of Albania and some parts of Yugoslavia

[@tommasorovida2280]

Well actually Greece stopped the Italian offensive and pushed Italians on the border, they didn't take parts of albania

[@regnoditalia7711]

@@tommasorovida2280 yeah, and then Italy pushed them all the way back to Athens, while the "Elite" german fallschirmjager landed on crete and were massacred by a smaller greek militia force, then also most the Italian army in Albania was Albanian, and newly recruited, while the greeks were veterans from the turkish wars.

[@imcintyre01]

edit: You guys this comment is 2 years old. 1. Italy wasn't unified. Half of everyone hated Mussolini. 2. Italy wasn't ready before running in thanks to hitler. 3. Only a few good leaders 4. They only had a good navy 5. Italians are emotion based, if they feel good there the best soldiers. If they aren't feeling good, they suck at fighting. [Edit: which is I guess anyone, but I feel like it means more for the Italians]

[@bonecrusher9008]

You deserve much more likes, as an Italian myself. Number 5 is very so true sir. Glad you understand.

[@adrianj2666]

I imagine Italians during WW2 like this: War?? We can try one hehe.. Mussolini says we can win... Guys good job! We're winning we can win this! Nononononononono were loosing ruuun nonononnoon i wanna be back home bad idea wait guys wait look they run away chase them go we didnt lose yet we win hahaha good job aaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy i knew it was a bad idea i could be home nonononononono i go back to my farm

[@bkjeong4302]

The Italian navy was decent, but no match compared to the Royal Navy, United States Navy or the Imperial Japanese Navy.

[@FORZAVIGORSENIGALLIA]

Ma che cazzo stai dicendo che metà degli italiani odiavano mussolini, prima di parlare informati visto che sei pure straniero, che cazzo ne saprai te, come se io vado a dire che metà della popolazione odiava Churchill

[@mrgopnik5964]

If number 5. is true, than I guess Italian cooks are the happiest people on earth

[@alisleiman975]

Italy have always been in top 10 army's in the world since before christ was born

[@banosisbest4976]

what? for more than a thousand years the italians were not unified , they had many duchies and kingdoms (and a papal state) and their army was NON-existent , they were paying mercenaries to fight their wars

[@Morgan_Freeman_]

Paul Mogos he is talking about the Romans I’m pretty sure. Not the Italians. The Italians didn’t exist till like 200 years ago

[@MegaSpiderLOL]

@@Morgan_Freeman_ Italians always existed, just divided.

[@S4m940]

@@banosisbest4976 LOL right, like in 1167, when the free cities and republics of northen Italy formed the Lombard League and crushed the Emperor, just for fun.

[@edvard8449]

@@banosisbest4976 Italian states made extensive use of mercenaries, that's true, but they still had powerful armies, Venice was a great power, it had the biggest navy in the world and expanded on land enough to have a big army. Just think that Venice had its Marines. Also, even after the fall of he Roman Empire, Italy had a central role in economics, politics and military.

[@mechanicalfruit9659]

Italy was a Sleeping giant just waiting to awaken BUT NOOOO

[@anthonymorgan7140]

Ottoman Cat too much pasta

[@thebrutusmars]

I wouldn’t say sleeping giant, but they easily could’ve been a power to be reckoned with. But nah

[@aurex8937]

Fuck off, let me sleep. I don't want to fight in Africa, LET ME SLEEP BENITO. Fuck your empire. *Starts snoring*

[@JeanLucCaptain]

They took valium😂

[@wolfmuller6737]

The worst army, ever.

[@julianmelillo]

Albania would speak Italian Also why didn’t you add the Adriatic coast (They where Italian claimed states with Italian minorities)

[@DGK774]

Julian Wubbalubba I dont think Albania have Italian become its majority language without heavy immigration of Italians from Italy into Albania.

[@fifiper556]

Denis Kukaj dude it was annexed by mussolini in 1938 so albania was italian and also the adriatic costs were claimed so this video is pretty inaccurate for the territories gained after the war

[@Dukagjina]

Denis Kukaj they tried to Italianize us. The Italians believed that Albanians were descendants of Illyrians who their historians said were related to the Romans and spoke a language related to Latin. They wanted us to be Italians.

[@fifiper556]

Dukagjin they could coz u surrended as nothing LOL

[@DGK774]

Albania might have been annexed, but that dosent mean it would be majority Italian.

[@Charlesputnam-bn9zy]

The Italians were no sissies. Just to make it short, in the last days of the Tunisian campaign, the soldiers of General Messe fought until the bitter end, unlike poor general Von Arnim who saw his troops happily driving themselves into Allied POW camps. Alan Moorehead's "African Trilogy" remains the best account of WW2 in Africa.

[@BuRsTiNxMLB]

Charles putnam1982 sure the Italians weren’t sissies, but Italy was in no way prepared for WW2. Except for maybe their navy.

[@BocchiSensei]

@@BuRsTiNxMLB Their navy was prepared for ww2, correct. But they were not prepared to keep it up. What i mean by "keep it up", they were not able to operate it at all times because lack of oil and stuff...

[@quellichebenpensano1679]

@@BocchiSensei not so Easy, Italy had Libya but actually we don't know why fascist did not use the oil in it : they didn't found It or they keep It secret from the germans

[@gs7828]

@@BuRsTiNxMLB This is actually also reported by Italian generals pre-WW2 and in their estimations. It's no secret that Mussolini requested steel from Germany. Italy knew it needed more. Than that "genius" of Mussolini just went in an unknown war, without waiting.

[@gs7828]

@@jeph115 The Royal navy was the n.1 fleet in the world at the time.

[@smartboi3210]

*Hahahaha italy switches sides lol* No, this is not true in both world wars, in the first one yes, italy had an alliance with austria-hungary and Germany, but the relations with them were greatly deteriorating, plus the pact the italians signed was a defensive pact, meaning they didn't have to, and didn't want to join the war. In ww2, when the allies land in Sicily, the italians found a little bit of hope, and they were greeted with joy, but the fight didn't stop there, many armys kept on fighting alongside the germans, and they kept doing that untill the complete liberation of Italy.

[@mayoman7970]

Finally Someone knows what really happened

[@becksholakis3987]

I’m pretty sure germany invaded italy when they surrendered

[@alecro5124]

@@becksholakis3987 yeah they actually did, lots of italians have been killed by germans after italy surrended

[@alessandramontali7234]

But at least this guy says true words (i'm italian) grande fra almeno tu sai qualcosa non come quegli altri idioti nei commenti

[@gs7828]

@@becksholakis3987 It was smart for them to do so. Italy was a highly defendable location and slowed the Allies a lot. It would have been stupid to let the Allies cross the Po valley, which is an open field. The Germans needed to stop them before that.

[@Zwickerly2]

A couple problems I see with this: 1. The lack of a Mediterranean front would only help the Germans. The Germans had to waste so much manpower and resources keeping Italy in the war and defending their southern border when Italy quit that Italy being strong enough to capture Africa on their own would allow the Germans to maintain stronger defenses in Europe and host a larger force in Russia. With Italy controlling Mesopotamia and central Africa, Germany would have access to all the oil and rubber they could ever need. 2. The allies wouldn't fold to Italy so easily.and Italy wouldn't turn on the only friend they had. They would know that once Germany was dealt with the allies would come at Italy again, This time with the full weight of western Europe and the US. Italy would definitely stick with Germany and give them resources and a few divisions for Russia.

[@dammson110]

Also to add to your points: 1. With the Suez Canal being Italian property, India would have taken longer to send volunteers and resources to the mainland UK, as well as Australia and New Zealand, which would have given Brittain a huge disadvantage. And the reason Germany could not have reached Moscow was because Hitler was spending so much time securing his oil, if he had all of his troops away from North Africa and the Balkans, he would not have any problem sitting on the oil. 2. Italy would be the dominant power in Africa while Germany would be dominant in Europe, because of this, The Axis (except for Japan) would be resource rich and could constantly pump out new mechanized and motorized armies to secure their fronts, and with France and the Netherlands falling under German occupation, their colonies in Asia would also be an easy steal for Japan, an Axis power.

[@s_i_l_e_n_c_e2164]

@emosh73 the americans developed atomic bombs thanks to german scientists and btw what stupid comment is that? Do you think the americans where willing to nuke literally MOST OF EUROPE because thats what it would have taken to make the germans capitulate in this way... Think before you write such stupid bs I mean americans are still to this day asshamed of what they did to japan and those whete only 2 nukes immagine public rep after a nuking of europe

[@andremanzaro]

I think that they could sign the peace treaty but still create a brigade like the Iberian one (Legion Azul) to fight the Soviets.

[@alphagamer9505]

Agree

[@hishamalaker491]

True also the British would be cut of their supplies because of the Suez being occupied by the Italians making it harder for the British to fight and making it easier for the Germans because like you said they wouldnt have to deal with the Mediteranean and more focus + more troops and defenses would be conventrated in the Eastern front.

[@georgios_5342]

You forgot that the Greek victory against the Axis was the first one of the allies, and it skyrocketed the moral of all allied troops

[@hollawar1391]

killerlightning plays mmmm no, just a temporal relieve. Nothing more

[@wolfmuller6737]

It was not a greece victory against Axis. It was a victory against the Italiens. And when the Germans come into, the greeks loose in short time.

[@vlasisapousidis6786]

Götz v. Überlingen Not axis Germany the others were useless

[@wolfmuller6737]

Hellene. Your 219 days are irrelevant. The days from the german assault to the end is from interrest. got me?

[@georgios_5342]

John Cornell keep in mind that it was a defensive war, Greece was the first to win an offensive battle

[@markhenley3097]

What's the fastest way to sink an Italian fleet? Put it in water.

[@jamesyates4836]

On the contrary the navy wasn’t that bad just economy couldn’t support it and bad radar and fuel

[@bills1967]

The colonia wasn’t called Ethiopia. When Ethiopian lost, they combined the Somali and Eritrean Ethiopian colonies into Africans Orientale Italiana.

[@EmbeMamaChannel]

When you fail at conquering Ethiopia.

[@AR-pm6mx]

Greenlandia Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1936

[@EmbeMamaChannel]

Yes but I'm talking about the first Italo-Ethiopian war, when they failed miserably at annexing Ethiopia. They won the second one, but that's kinda because they had planes,more advanced artillery, and gas weaponry.

[@AR-pm6mx]

Greenlandia You might want to notice that during the first invasion of Ethiopia the Italian army of 17.000 men was ambushed by 100.000 Ethiopian with modern rifles, machineguns and cavalry. The British were defeated by the Zulu, that had only spears, but no one said anything about that...

[@greatjonumber4958]

Yeah but when you cant take a nation that wasent even suported by the allies

[@EmbeMamaChannel]

The Italians were lead into the mountainous terrain were supplies were not ushered in quickly. 20,000 Ethiopians were unarmed, or equipped with spears, and the majority were not very skilled with the guns at all, with very little training. There numbers won the battle. A army of 10,000 soldiers can lose to a army of 100,000 unarmed people because they can just throw bodies at them.

[@louisxix3271]

you should do a video on what if the Spanish armada successfully invaded England in 1588

[@Miolnir3]

Back to catholicism, guaranteed.... and by Papal bull... no english colonization rights... only Spain and Portugal.... unless...

[@vlgnetdragon9757]

Louis Morrissey q

[@calebtimes453]

Fac Tor unless?

[@Miolnir3]

Sergio Milho Unless the Pope would had granted those colonization rights later, for the sake of having another naval power to spread the word of Christ in a more articulate strategy... 3 is better than 2... So the world would be divided in 3 zones from north pole to south... which one for each? Who knows... but without doubt, catholicism would have spread faster and definitely in countries like Japan, China, Australia, and in the deepest parts of Africa. The anglican vision of the world has always competed with that of the catholic cristianity. In India would still be hard as hell... even to this day. I have the impression that a quarter of India's population today would be christian.

[@JeanLucCaptain]

Well, burn baby burn.

[@justinquaylepate1358]

Italy had three good prototypes of tanks on paper at least; one was the P40 medium tank, two was P43 medium-heavy tank, and last but not least the P44 also known as the PANTERA a heavy tank that was armed with a 90mm L74 gun. Scary thought if you ask me

[@gs7828]

The state did the mistake not to force manufacturers to work more closely together. The industrial complex lost too much time and energies in competing between one another, rather than making the best prototype. Fascist corporativism strikes again.

[@gianlucadodi7230]

FOLGORE FOLGORE FOLGORE

[@neoarmstrongcyclonejetarms9326]

?

[@davideesposito6876]

@@neoarmstrongcyclonejetarms9326 "Folgore" is a part of the italian army. They're paratroopers and they are very famous in the italian population

[@inserisciunnome]

Stopping varius Tanks for months with only paratroopers: i sleep. Loosing to Greece because your tacticians are idiots: *REAL SHIT*

[@Rivan98]

Strong is folgore

[@Nikos-hr7ix]

Can you do a what if greece won the Greco Turkish war

[@ThatGuy-a48]

Nikos Takos Yes good idea.

[@diamondinthesky4771]

To be honest, I prefer Greeks owning Constantinople when Byzantium lives or is restored. The Greeks are much stronger and richer that way, and of course, the Turks claims to Anatolia are only defeated by the Byzantines who were the natives in that region. That said, I have toyed around with the idea, my take on it is that for this to happen, Attaturk has to be killed during WW1 or before it. Perhaps he's in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets shot by enemy forces. Simple enough POD. Without his leadership, the Greeks win their war and gain the land they desired, effectively restoring Byzantium's Palaiologos borders in all but name. The Greek Monarchy remains strong. Italy and Armenia also expand at the expense of the Turks. The Turks go Axis, that much is true, but here's the catch. Italy, would be on the Allies here. Why? Because they took Turkish land too, and so the Turks would invade them as well as the Greeks, bringing Italy and Greece, the first and second Romes one could say, together against the Turks at last. Symbolically this could be seen as the ERE and WRE finally working together. The Turks would probably make gains first, but in their weakened state, wouldn't be much help. Sooner or later, Stalin's forces move in, likely striking the Turks before they strike Japan. Perhaps Japan would be nuked & surrendered prior to the soviets assaulting Manchuria if the Soviets have to focus on Turkey first for long enough. Point is though, Stalin is unlikely to have mercy on the Turks and is likely going to forcibly split Kurdistan from them and plant communists on the government. So basically, Greece is larger and controls a nice chunk of West Anatolia, a small Italian-Greek-Turkish state exists to the South of Greece's border based in Antalya, Cyprus is either independent and fully Greek, or part of Greece. Greece is probably ruled by an Emperor and not a King. Italy's monarchy remains in power too. The main Turkish state is communist/socialist and probably griped with hatred of Greece and Italy as well as the West in general, not a very pleasant place, much worse off than in our timeline. Armenia is bigger and likely controls Trebizond. Whatever happens to Japan and Germany is up to how the rest of WW2 goes. Most the rest of the world might just be the same, but again that depends on who's writing the timeline and where they decide to take things. I follow the idea that "Don't assume everything will change, just as you don't assume nothing will change". Butterflies are nice and all, but they need to be used in balance. Having too many butterflies begins to look like you just have more than one point of divergence.

[@a.z.c.5462]

Nikos Takos DO IT

[@babisoflout8403]

Oğulcan Kırmızıaltın is it true that the Sultan ordered Turks to fight Turks? That sounds terrible...

[@captaincrary]

They did about 2000 years ago in the Greek-Persian wars

[@Trumpeter2345]

Maybe if Mussolini used his army a bit more conservatively he could have been that long sought ally Hitler wanted. A significant, all-offensive partner to Nazi Germany was just out of the question. Mussolini should have pulled out of Ethiopia, that was just a lost cause, and focused all his efforts in securing the Suez Canal. Also, hold off Greece. Greece set back Barbarossa and forced Germany to delay the operation for a few months, from April to June. So, really, he should have only diverted his efforts to the Suez Canal and used his fleet like the Japanese SHOULD have against the U.S. : only when needed to support divisions traveling to Africa or a possible invasion of Malta or Cyprus? That's all I can really think of.

[@creatoruser736]

He actually was right when saying the German invasion of the Balkans didn't really affect Barbarossa. The Germans would still have exhausted themselves and not captured Moscow before the winter and counterattack. Besides, a successful Italian invasion would've negated the need for German intervention anyway.

[@Trumpeter2345]

CreatorUser Maybe. At the very least the Battle of Kursk may have played out differently if Mussolini's army could have repelled the Allied invasion and thus prevented a German invasion of Italy (which required most of Germany's tank divisions used on the Eastern Front)

[@Trumpeter2345]

CreatorUser It's true that Italy being a stronger ally and not some weak basically puppet state (by 1943) probably wouldn't have made such a significant difference on the Eastern Front, but I think they could have won Kursk and forced the USSR into some early stalemate and only acquire the Baltics, Ukraine, and some outlying areas

[@anthonymorgan7140]

CreatorUser the reason the Germans didn't take Moscow was because of delay the Russians used that to build up forces

[@creatoruser736]

+Anthony Morgan Uh, no. The claim that the German invasion of the Balkans causing a delay in the invasion of Russia that prevented them from ultimately taking Moscow before 1942 doesn't hold up. By the time winter hit, German forces had taken so many casualties, been so exhausted, and had their logistics stream so worn out that they would have been unable to enter the city, much less take it before the counterattack. Even if the invasion occurred when it was planned and Germany got ahead of the winter by a few weeks, it wouldn't have been enough the capture Moscow. Plus, Stalin refused the believe reports that Germany was going to invade, and so made no defensive preparations were made, so there was no "building up" of forces before the attack that would have been in any better shape when it came.

[@mattgames7543]

The Italians never outnumbered the Greeks, not in their invasion force. Italian intelligence had suggested a Greek force of around 30,000 when in reality it was much closer to 300,000. They didn't surrender upon invasion either, the push up Italy was a slog until allied forces pretty much gave up half way.

[@georgeevangel2616]

Mussolinni was warned by his Generals not to attack Greece,was told although they lost against the Turks,they were still good soldiers

[@gabrielebeneventi3436]

You missed one key part. Corsica!

[@microwaveoven1235]

@Ronen Salathe no, if Italy were taking over french colonies like Djbouti and Tunisia, Italy certainly would've gone for Nice and Corsica. Hell, I would expect, if they went for the middle east, they would take Syria and Lebanon as well

[@m.ostrowski2031]

Beautiful title.

[@Lion718]

Patriota Wielkiej Rzeczpospolitej He should make a video titled, "What if the poles didn't charge German tanks on horseback with spears"

[@GorillionDollars]

@Captain Nero Never happened

[@evzenvarga9707]

Patriota Wielkiej Rzeczpospolitej well, if you are Pole then i would not laugh ..

[@fajlip0008]

Whatever do you all here think, isn’t true. Poland had Calvary units, as well as any other country at the time (even Germany). Polish Calvary never attacked tanks, that’s German propaganda made for (if I remember well) Italian newspaper. Next thing is that after ww2 in Poland, communist took the power, and they wanted to “show Poles how stupid last, capitalist government was” so they told people in Poland, but not only there, that this German propaganda was true. Regards :) Ps. Here you have a nice text about Calvary in the ww2 armies: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_World_War_II

[@fajlip0008]

Alfa&Omega 00000 you know, it just hurts me when somebody writes such false things about history, so please don’t do such jokes.

[@mauricedesaxe1745]

I am very much amused by your profile picture, I'm not sure why you chose the USS Essex but it's a great painting and one of my favorite ships in history! Sub for that.

[@TheRoundhouseReport]

Thanks for making and sharing this!

[@georgios_5342]

2:43 there's a couple of things you didn't take into account. The Germans were able to conquer Greece because they went unopposed; all of the army was in Epirus except a few regiments guarding the defenses on the Bulgarian front. And indeed, neither Bulgaria not Germany could pass through there. Greece was impenetrable except for the border with Yugoslavia. This is because Yugoslavia and Greece had friendly relations and no one expected an attack from there. The Panzers rammed through and in a couple of days took Thessaloniki, encircling Thrace and the Epirus army couldn't come to defend because they'd have to pass the Pindus, the same mountain range that helped them beat Italy. A small battle was given at Thermopylae, making the Germans stand for like a week and then continue.

[@fimmt684]

Italy: *rapidly changes bands towards the end* Germany: I’m gonna put some dirt in your eye

[@dimibyk6666]

"the lacked everything but bravery"

[@danielespertino7063]

You brought a lot of good points, good job :)

[@alessiodecarolis]

Nope, a competent military leadership meant no Mussolini and his bunch of tugs, so no fascism and alliance with Nazis, so Italy end allied with UK, don't forget we'd been always friendly with the British empire since our indipendence wars in 19th century

[@bgs2004]

How about losing ww1? Whilst winnning? Victoria mutilata? Kind of a big deal. Mussolini could have just made some good decisions and put competent people in control but he didn't

[@biagio3866]

@@bgs2004 Mussolini was an egghead that didnt even know how to do 1+1.He allied with Germany,even if he could ally with our British comrades🇮🇹🇬🇧.

[@alessiostaccioli9151]

@@bgs2004 Fascist "create" the myth of "Vittoria Mutilata" with the collaboration of D'Annuzio (and this is strange: D'Annunzio hated Mussolini, but wathever), whet the italian victory against Austria-Hungary was, well, yet overwhelming! This stupid myth was like a poison that dishonored the italian army, the former KuK armee and everything about WW1. :( I hate them

[@fimmt684]

Well said.

[@bgs2004]

@@alessiostaccioli9151 I have been searching for a source for what you are saying, but I can't find anything. Could you please link a good source?

[@bigp3006]

When I saw the heading, I immediately began thinking it would have changed the numerous jokes. Then you started with some of those. I had a good laugh.

[@sammonti9440]

In the pacts that Mussolini and Hitler signed it was reassured by Hitler's diplomats that the war wouldn't have started before at least 3 years in 1939,but Mussolini had intentions of prolonguing that period for even more. He only joined in the war when the Reich seemed unstoppable in 1940. So basically Italy wasn't ready at all for a war in the military department and that's why it struggled so much during ww2

[@giuseppemaggio5894]

If the Italian Army would have been good, Italy would have just been an overpowered country. Italy is the land of culture, advanced societies, civilization. The first railroads were built in Italy, almost all the main characters of human history (from the roman empire to 1800) were born in Italy.45% of artistic and cultural world heritage is italian, the best cars in the world are italian. Not to mention music, the huge success in sports and olympics (Considering how small Italy is, it's incredible that we often end up in the top 10 during the Olympics. During 2016 Olympics we were 2nd at one point.)

[@GT-fl9gf]

Italy vs France Italy like France comment

[@keynage6693]

Both equally incompetent, but france would atleast run away while Italy would bumble around then accidentally invade 6 major powers.

[@vicious6661982]

Germans runs at el-elamain italians troops got decimated, some divisions lost 90% of manpower.. that tells a lot about bravery of troops. Equip and commanders where awful. Also italy hade no oil, no big industry, so engage in multiple wars was pure idiocy, italy did etiopian war, libia, eritrea, spain war, greek invasion, albania, even sent an entire army in RUSSIA to help germany. That was too much for Italy, if italy run each of this wars with all italian forces, there would not have been any problem to crash britain in egypt, or greek.

[@proximacentauri8038]

Black Mail stfu grammar nazi

[@proximacentauri8038]

Black Mail You asked that question to insult him

[@proximacentauri8038]

Black Mail Calm down idiot. Then why did you ask him this question, what's the point

[@proximacentauri8038]

Black Mail 1 I am calm 2 I hate people who insult other people who don't know english well

[@proximacentauri8038]

Black Mail ok but calm down dude

[@AAA999XYZ]

Hey mate, cool video. But please INCREASE THE SOUND. I had youtube turned all the way up and my speakers and I can still not hear every word.

[@LoneWolf-zd7lh]

What an interesting & informative alternate history scenario & different timeline. But I could see it happening.

[@ledagrasso5169]

Thank you for this video. My father was one of the captured Italians in 1940 Lybia. I never understood any of it until now. Grazie

[@JustinianG]

I think you'd like this timeline I made. it's basically the greek version of this one. Greece makes all the right moves since ww2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKalYYmPdt6sp8k&

[@lawnchairhistorian2979]

I really like most of your analysis at the beginning however I believe you neglected several factors surrounding operation barbarossa. It is likely that army group center could have captured Moscow (and stalin) if hitler had not diverted much of his armor south to aid in the capture of the Caucasian oilfields. The Germans fell short of Moscow by just some 30 miles before being reversed by the Siberian divisions. Considering that Italy had captured the middle east and Egypt in this scenario, dividing the British Empire and securing oilfields just south of the southern German push across the black sea, then the German armor spearhead could have reached Moscow before the Siberians could reinforce it. Also, with the axis possibly gaining control of the Indian Ocean, they might have been able to supply Japan with oil, thus avoiding the whole war with the US.

[@alphariusfuze8089]

I remember in one of the hoi4 MP game, one Italy player declared war on Switzerland, and and after few time later then he is like: *WHY IS THESE SWITZ SO STRONG!?*

[@DarrenTachimukai]

I love you channel, but it would be better if you have subtitles(im spanish) but anyways, great channel!

[@TarikIsmail2]

This was a good video and I liked it :)

[@KoosKansloos1908]

The Germans failed to take Moscow because they needed to get the Caucasus first for oil the Germans probably drove to Moscow if the Italians had Arabian oil but that wouldn’t end the eastern front

[@caaaaaaaaaz]

Can you make "what if french army was good in ww2?"

[@sharkronical]

They were the best at the time, simply because of the lack of how much modern fast paced war and troubles at home, they fell. If Germany went for eastern front first and the French generals saw how the German armies would move, I'd say their counter offensive would be as good as the USSR in our timeline It's like in HOI4 they'd be one of the best country if they had no negative national spirits

[@the99throgue25]

They were good tho. It was the French politicians who shat there pants and surrendered when Germany took paris.

[@daltonmiller5590]

Can't wait to try this out on my newest playthrough in HOI4!

[@FurioGiunta-ji4xk]

The Italian Bolt Rifle: never fired and only dropped once

[@giannizen3775]

No, that’s the French one, at least Italians, even though failing fought with honour and bravery

[@regalecusglesne3022]

tell it to JFK

[@FurioGiunta-ji4xk]

@Leonardo Lupi The US won every battle in Vietnam, the war was lost politically. You sound stupid.

[@FurioGiunta-ji4xk]

@Leonardo Lupi it wasn't our war, it was South Vietnam's war, we aided. We were only involved in the war for 5 year. You still sound stupid.

[@FurioGiunta-ji4xk]

@Leonardo Lupi Our military was only involved from 1965-1970 though.

[@acerenalds9464]

Well one factor to rising populations in the third world is in huge due to foreign aid. Italy could easily just withhold food from the natives and simply dominate them that way. Considering counties with lots of fertile land are still struggling like Zimbabwe in out timeline.

[@The_Deztro]

I love how it's not even what if Italy won ww2 it's just what if Italy was good

[@dankengine5304]

I like this title. Honest and straight to the point.

[@NullScripting]

I'm italian and I literally hate when people talk about this and we get called based italian switching sides

[@Mia-ki7vi]

It used to bother me. Until I came to the conclusion that they only say it because they can never say they've owned Italy, unlike so many other parts of the world. Unfortunately some of the English are incredibly arrogent and laugh at parts of the world they once owned. Plus our football, our food, our Roman history, mafia, films, TV programmes, art, theatre, music, the country, and our culture is something to be envied!!! 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

[@NullScripting]

@@Mia-ki7vi true also congratulations for italy winning National football

[@Mia-ki7vi]

@@NullScripting thank you Nullo and congratulations to you too 🇮🇹

[@robertevbayekha6639]

@@Mia-ki7vi gg

[@onetwothreefour3957]

this is one of my favourite alternate historical stories because it couldve very likely happened in my opinion. sure, essentially a super villain and his goons would have to realize that there was so much more money to be gotten if they didnt steal everything before the war but first invested in a great army, then conquering vast regions and THEN looting everything. but to be honest i dont think it is hard to see that a motivated and well led and funded italian army in africa could have wreaked havoc among the allies. just the mere numbers of italian soldiers in africa should have instantly granted victory for them and even just taking suez wouldve put the allies under so much pressure due to not being able to send lend lease objects to the ussr that german victory on the eastern front might have actually come, if not not right away, maybe in 1943 or 1944, but the very latest in 1945. lend lease being cancelled, essentially, italy winning in greece and being able to help in the rest of the balcans alongside austria, hungary and romania, russia would soon stand alone, much more than in our timeline. i find it particularly interesting that you mentionned italy under mussolini would probably quit the war anyway, even if they won everything just the way you told they would. it is so interesting, because usually people go all "rome: total war" and take over the world in their scenarios. but you kept it realistic. the italians did not like the idea of total war. they liked quick wars, lots of loot and lots wins. no wonder they gave up so early in comparison to germany in our timeline. and about the mesopotamian oil fields, jemen, oman, syria: i dont think it is too far fetched that the italians attacked these regions after such a show of their force and capabilities, but would they win? the english know full and well how important those oil fields are, but they'd be exhausted after their lost battle of suez, which they would throw everything at what they had since it is such a key city. a question of mine would be how malta would be affected or what it would affect in this scenario of "good" (motivated) italians.

[@tomjindrichswiech1536]

Still better then french army... :d

[@occi31]

Not really: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_invasion_of_France

[@occi31]

The germans weren't when they were napoleon's little bitches XD

[@occi31]

Back to back world war losers XD XD

[@occi31]

Even the Italians have a better WW record than you hahaha

[@occi31]

I remember the French invading Germany in 45 and occupying germany until 49 ... Losing a battle is different than losing a war.

[@epaminon6196]

'What if hot snow fell upwards?' would have been a more plausible hypothesis.

[@yomamma6220]

Its been a few months after this video was posted. I realy hope the audio quality et better. Ifnot its time for a better mic. Are you equalizing your audio?

[@JediAcolyte94]

+Whatifalthist What if George Washington died during the French-Indian War? What if Japan never bombed Pearl Harbor? What if Stephen Douglas became the President of the United States instead of Abraham Lincoln? What if Knights Templar weren't destroyed? What if Richard the Lionheart didn't die?

[@dleechristy]

What if Superman landed in Germany as a young boy, grew up as Klark Kant and helped the Nazi's as "Ubermann"???

[@johngurlides9157]

The problem with the Italians was not poor equipment nor poor leadership. Their equipment was far better than the Greeks and they still failed despite replacing commander Visconti Prasca with Ubaldo Soddu and, later, Ubaldo Soddu with Ugo Cavallero

[@lucaorlandi289]

LET'S BE OBJECTIVE!! The main military powers that fought for years in WW2 were six :On one side Germany ,Italy and Japan .On the other side USA ,Russia,UK .That's it .Italy fought on two continents and four seas with 3.400.000 men (considering army ,navy ,aviation ,auxiliaries).Let's see some points: 1)First of all this video doesn't explain that before the ww2 Italy had two war campaignes in Ethiopia(1935-1936) and Spain civil war(1936-1939) and used a lot of resources to fight and finish those campaignes, for this reason wasn't ready in 1940. 2) REGIA MARINA:The Italian fleet was the fourth in the world in 1940, it had the same tonnage of navy like France .The Littorio Class was the backbone of the navy with the 3 huge battleships: Littorio ,Vittorio Veneto and Roma(in 1940 they were considered the most powerful battleships in the world like artillery.). The Regia Marina had very great successes with submarines ,they fought in fourth different seas:Mediterranean Sea, in the Red Sea,in the Persian Gulf and in the Atlantic Ocean. ,with 1750 missions and the sinking of 132 merchant ships and 18 military ships,Italy lost 128 submarines of the totaly 172.The X Mas ,was a special unit of assault and raid of the Regia Marina ,with great success of sinking to the Royal Navy. 3)REGIA AERONAUTICA:The Italian Air Force had in 1940: 1300 medium bomber ,1160 fighter aircaftt, 500 recoinassence aircraft .It had very good warfighters like Macchi 202 and Macchi 205,Fiat G 55 and the Reggiane RE 2005 (maybe the most beautiful airplane of the WW2) .Italy built from (1940 to 1943) 11508 airplanes(always less in comparison with the othern nations). Only the fourth squadron destroyed 585 airplanes plus 215 probably .The SM 79 was an amazing medium bomber ,very effcient as torpedo bomber ,infact sinked a lot of military ships (Fearless ,Bedouin ,Nestor ,Foresight,Pozarica ecc).The sum of the official ranking of the(only) flying aces is of 1225 shooting down aircrafts.(The highest is Franco Lucchini with 26). 4)REGIO ESERCITO AND SPECIAL FORCES The Italian Army fought in Russia,Yugoslavia,Greece,North Africa ,and South -East Africa with 1.800000 soldiers in 75 divisions(not all well-equipped). Very good were the machine guns Breda 30 and 36, the mortar 81mm, Beretta 38 submachine .Italy built very good armoured cars like the autoblinda 40 and 41 and the SPA Viberti AS 42 ,and only the the tank 105/25 m43.The Special forces like Folgore ,Bersaglieri ,Alpini ,The X Mas ecc were very combative .The Folgore fought in North Africa for 3 years stopping the best English troops. 5)VICTORIES AND HEROIC BATTLE: - El Alamein in the 1942 -The last charge of Izbusenskij of the cavalry Savoy in Croazia in the 1942 - The sinking of the Queen Elizabeth and Valiant by the X Mas in the 1941 -Pantelleria air-naval battle with the sinking of the Burdwan ,Chan and Kentucky and the damage of many others in the 1942 -The battle of August 1942 with the sinking of Manchester ,Cairo and the damage of Nigeria ,Kenya ,Brisbane ecc -The sinking of York and Pericles in the Sudan Bay by the X Mas 1941 - Italian conquest of British Somalia - 1940 -Italian conquest of Cassala,Gallabat and Kurmuk (British-Egypt Sudan)1940; So there are a lot of victories of Italy in ww2(i have wrote only some) ,but Italy lost the war and the winners write the history for this reason there are a lot of fake videos like this .For sure Italy wasn't so bad, but don't worry you can read books(as "Courage Alone" of Chris Dunning) and check on internet .And don't forget ITALY was the first nation to use airplanes in combat in Libia in 1911 and to built the first jet plane Campini Caproni without propeller. Also did a lot of world air records in the 30s .Bye

[@katrinapaton5283]

Hate to tell you this but the Heinkel He 178 flew a year before the Campini Caproni N1. Oh, and the Breda 30 was a disaster, especially in the desert. Due to an overly violent cartridge extraction it was given an automatic oiler which in turn gummed up with dust and sand causing the problem to become even worse. Not sure why you consider it to be "Very good."

[@lucaorlandi289]

Hi Katrina nice to speak with you .Italy was also the first to use armoured cars in combat in Libia in 1911 and to have the only one heavy bomber in the Axis in ww2 the Piaggio P108.Well the Heinkel flyed in secret ,the official was the Campini Caproni ,there are some theories about it .From wikipedia:"Since the first flight of the jet-powered Heinkel He 178, a year before to the day, at the time had not yet been made public, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale recorded the event as the first successful flight by a jet aeroplane."But it's the same(maybe you are right) .About the Breda 30 was very efficient and precise ,maybe too much sophisticated.But if you have time i leave you this very good documentary of the weapons of Italy in ww2 well done from rai .It's 2 hours and it's in Italian !!Sorry and good vision :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/foXdhoKuZbqUmZY

[@katrinapaton5283]

@@lucaorlandi289 thank you, always happy to expand my knowledge, shall give it a look. :-)

[@marcobaretta9645]

@@lucaorlandi289 That gun was such a disaster it was used by Nazi Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece and the Netherlands during wwll and in Indonesia after the war. Yeah Italians make such rubbish everyone feels "compelled" to use it. Those damn Italians.

[@surajlimbu2952]

Also a couple of division lead by O'corner destroyed the entire Italian 10th Army and not to mention Admiral Cunningham old fleet destroyed the moral of far superior fleet in the region and forced them to stay in the adriatic.

[@fredmcgill848]

Very interesting topic.

[@mikhailv67tv]

Certain units within the Italian army were said to be excellent.The paratroopers, mountain troops and other specialist groups were fanned good. Also the Italians caught fiercely when they were invaded, that's when their territory was invaded, in Sicily. The soldiers that did poorly were the conscript soldiers that were kept in infantry units and pretty much walked into and out of battle rather than ride in trucks. Elsewhere Alamein was an example in point, once their lines breached the on foot soldiers had chance of fighting back they were simply mopped up as they were surrounded by the mobile British infantry and armour. Though in General Italy did awfully whilst tightening for the axis.

[@gs7828]

Without Italy's support, Germany would not have had a defence of its southern axis to begin with.

[@jacktheprah2520]

i just watched 30 seconds of the video, I have already to stop to disagree... "Italy itself was invaded, they immediately surrendered to the allied powers". Are you serious? You have to study some history before talk and said false informations. The allied invaded sicily on July 9th, they completely controlled on August 17th, they took almost six weeks to conquer sicily, a region almost big as massachusetts. The weakness and the numerous mistakes of the americans are still famous, they for example miss the landing on sicily and they landed in the sea... Italy surrendered on September 8, 1943. However at the same time the Italian Social Repubblic is founded and it felt on 1945 when both Germany, Japan and Axis' forces surrendered

[@trevocity5589]

I love these videos

[@RobCod2012]

Add some background music and I promise that you will have a lot more subscribers

[@codymiller1881]

That's a big IF!

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

Given that the Holocaust still happens and Germany still loses, I think Mussolini would (due to UN pressure) create Israel by itself and then put down rebellions led by Nassar to protect it. Mussolini would then be seen as the protector of both Catholicism and Judaism because he created both Israel and Vatican City.

[@kwayyernorge7436]

>implying it even happend

[@allentiu3982]

Footprint of Mussolini be like.

[@hashbrownz1999]

I remember hearing that Mussolini thought that a war in Europe would end in sure defeat unless started after 1943, when his military overhauls were expected to be completed.

[@quinvos57]

I’ve got a degree in modern history and WW2 has always been one of my fav topics to study ever since I was a kid. Firstly, I’ve got to compliment you for this video, it was pretty good. But I’d like to point out some inaccuracies and in general to expand a bit some sections. First of all, while to the lay public the Italian armed forces during WW2 are still joked about quite often, in the academic world ever since the late 80s there’s been some revaluation of their performance. The Italian army’s flaws are often exaggerated because shortly after WW2 historians mainly based on English and German sources, which weren’t always objective for obvious reasons. But in the last 3 decades Italian, French, Roman etc historians have also given their contribution and we’re finally getting a more neutral perspective on WW2. When you usually think of the Italian army you always remember about Operation Compass and invasion of Greece, both occurring in 1940, but very few outside the academic world mention some brilliant victories like the battles of Bir el Gobi, the raid on Alexandria, the battles of Middle June and August 1942 or defence of the Mareth Line in 1943. As an American historian once put it, while the German and Japanese army peaked early in the war, the Italian army reached its peak quite later, in late 1942/early 1943. With that being said, one way to have the Italians “peak” sooner in your scenario would be having them reduce the support they gave to Narionalist Spain in 1936-1939. Irl that was one of the major reasons why italy was unprepared for war, however if you have Mussolini listen to his generals this time and avoid being involved as heavily in that war, italy would surely start out much better.

[@johnniebee4328]

Fascist Italy always has some interesting what could have been questions. Italy could have allied with the UK, America, and Austria and pushed for a war against Germany to prevent the Anschluss, which might be an interesting alt history

[@beritbohn-hempel6518]

Johnnie Bee you talk shit bro 99% of austrian people was for an anschluß

[@englishchurchill9117]

@@beritbohn-hempel6518 But that was a problem for foreign powers because that's against the Treaty of Saint Germain that said Austria could not unite with Germany, that was a problem especially for Italy and France.

[@angelogiuseppemancini4192]

Italia è il migliore paese del mondo noi siamo stati e saremo sempre the best 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

[@francocavalletti9217]

Non è vero GERMONEYYYY

[@georginikov1070]

Italia e un paese rotto, ma pizza buonissima..

[@fetyrol7108]

thank you italians for stromboli

[@nishhnishh1088]

pasta mia

[@alessandrogessi5537]

Lasagne

[@bills1967]

There were a lot of Italians in Somalia as well and a lot of Somalis also spoke Italian since it was Italy’s second longest held colony.

[@alteye1]

I do think the absence of a delay in the German invasion of the Soviet Union might have changed the outcome of it. 4 weeks (an entire month) is a lot when it comes to weather. Germany was prepared for a quick war and a quick victory, but the Rasputitsa in October slowed them down so much that General Winter caught up with them. An entire month earlier might have been enough to secure a quick victory.

[@danielmichaelfleiss2141]

I also agree with the title of this video, because one of my Italian ancestors was a World War II Veteran who fought for the Allied Powers.

[@cringeslayer7861]

This should be in your top ten implausible alternate history scenarios video

[@BOOTBOSS1]

I remember my history professor touched on this he even mentioned that the Italian army fought well in WW 1. One reason comes to mind was that they weren't all in on fascist Italy many Italians had more ties to the allies especially when America entered the war.

[@kayseek1248]

Best unintentional roast ever.

[@salvatorefarfaglia5810]

Personal opinion. I see a lot of prejudices in most of the comments....the truth is that in 1300 AD, when the majority of other people were still running, half-nacked, hunting for chickens, Italy had Michelangelo, Donatello, Dante, Leonardo Da Vinci and the list might continue for 30 more lines. Let's get to the point of this video: Italy was overwhelmed by German influence and politically forced to join a war that was not ready and willing to fight. I would concentrate on this very point instead of offending the memory of thousands of soldiers who bravely fought in the war and succumbed. The italian soldiers, up to date, have always shown a peculiar adaptation spirit, whereas many others, without Burger King and tons of bullets, would stand defeated because unable to read the context, adapt and overcome.

[@tylerooney790]

You're blinded by your unfounded patriotism

[@zach2000king]

Your biased as fuck that was 700 years ago has nothing to do with ww2 lmao truth is italy wasnt and will never be a great power

[@gismarco449]

@@zach2000king ok but we didn't lose against virntnam with one of the best army in the world

[@zach2000king]

GIS Marco first off that was a proxy war across the largest ocean on earth and you cant say we lost because we lost no territory we left vietnam because of lack of support for the war we arent like italians getting dominated by real major powers

[@orsobruno1980]

@@zach2000king "We" who? You are mostly the product of European great powers dominating your continent. Or do I have the honor to speak with one of the few native americans?

[@Videos-sobre-punhos-e-rodas]

8:36 Istria and Dalmatia would be part of Italy too.

[@alexcc8664]

A British veteran told me the Italian was brilliant....under German officers. He saw commanders surrender entire armies in Egypt because they had no idea what to do but when the Germans took over they were excellent troops and held their ground well.

[@OltrePodcast_Official]

Italians in WW2 are the equivalent of Hanzo in Overwatch: a complete throw.

[@rampantflemish678]

The German soldier has astonished the world; the Italian Bersagliere has astonished the German soldier. - Erwin Rommel

[@lucioforlano416]

Correction. We were one of the bravest factions in the war even the English say so. We were Ill equipped and our leaders were idiots, but in fighting we were “good”

[@Ruperdepuup]

Nice vid, but did yid you notice that you lower your inflection at the last syllable of almost every sentence? This makes for an unpleasant listening-experience. Try mixing it up a bit more. :-)

[@FroggyFrog9000]

Haha I love the title :) It's a good question. My answer is I don't know - but I hazard a guess that Mussolini was not fully in charge, which hampered his ability to organise the country. The Italian Royalty were a significant factor by the sounds of it, and they would have reduced Mussolini's ability to manoeuvre.