Why did Italy perform so poorly in WW2?

Question

This is a serious question. They did well enough against the Ethiopians in 1936 and in the Spanish Civil War.

What happened after that?

It seems that they botched every single operation and engagement in WW2.

Why?

Don't diss Ethiopia. They were the only country next to Liberia that managed to avoid colonization until 1936.

In Africa, that is. They are natural born fighters.

Answer 1

Firstly, they were very badly equipped. The war started too early for Italy to upgrade its military. It was handicapped by not having as strong an industrial base as other major participants. Much equipment was also sent to Spain during the Civil War there. The standard can be exemplified by the fact that most of their artillery like the Cannone da 105 and Obice da 75 were leftovers from the First World War. Their Tanks like the M11 and M13 had very light armour and armament (even though the Italians classed them as medium tanks) and were obsolete before the war had begun. Their main aircraft the Fiat CR.32 and CR.42 were biplanes and were outclassed by monoplane opponents like the Spitfire and Hurricanes.

The Italians did not enter the war until they thought an Axis victory was inevitable. They predicted that with the surrender of France, Britain would soon relent and so it would be just a matter of claiming North Africa before it was all over. This leads to the second problems the Italians had. Mussolini promoted high ranking officers solely on the basis of personal loyalty to him and not competence. Many experienced officers were dismissed because he felt they were more loyal to the King than him. This inevitably left the Italian military with poor leadership.

Finally, Italians were not that enthusiastic about the war and Mussolini's decision to participate in it because of his alliance with Germany. They were after all not entering a war for their survival and did not have the grievances to correct that many Germans felt. Many felt that it was really Germany's war and so were poorly motivated to fight well. This was particularly true towards the end of the war.

Answer 2

In the Spanish Civil War, the main units that fought were German Whermacht units. Against the Ethiopians, a massed army of machine gunner, artillery, and even poison gas made the outcome inevitable. The poor performance of the Italians against the Allies stemmed partly from the barely-concealed disdain that Nazi Germany had for their Italian partner. When they were thrown out of Greece, many German government officials jeered and laughed at the Italian armed forces. However, during the retaking of Italy near the end of the war, when Italy had surrendered, Italians fought the retreating Germans with a ferocity that amazed alot of people.

Answer 3

The Italians did not do that well in Ethiopia. Ethiopia held out longer than most people thought they would. Eventually, Ethiopia did fall, but the Italians paid a heavy price and showed all their shortcomings in the fight. Ethiopians eventually lost because of superior weapons of the Italians. In the Spanish Civil War, they fought along side other forces. These forces combine helped Franco win that war. The biggest problem, in my opinion, was Mussolini. He knew as much about warfare as Hitler. The one thing he did do right was let his generals fight the war, but some generals were incompetent. He did not understand how to fight. His ego was just as big as Hitler's and he let his rivalry get the best him and he made poor decisions. His army was not as good as you think. The military did have that great of equipment, except artillery. They had good artillery. There navy was good, but Britain was a little better.

Answer 4

Hello,

Whilst the leadership under Mussolini wanted to restore her old glorries, many of the people were not that interested in world adventures because:

1) Italy already had her great glory by way of Ancient Rome.

2) Many had a great deal of relatives in England and America and did not want a civil war scenario.

3) As far as fighting went prorities were different. Come on, time to go to war! Your country calls was not a high piority.
No, grandma's annivesary, a birth in the family or first communion was higher on their agendas. Not that they were not tough or brave; say, I will shag your beautiful sister, the knives would be out in a flash.

Actually these reasons I just gave, came from the mouths of many old Italian friends I know and knew who lived throught that era. They sound plausible enough to me.

The other reasons were poor military leadership and having to be subservient to the German army.

Michael

Answer 5

Italians aren't very motivated by war anymore, unlike back in the Roman days. They didn't have the drive in them like the Germans had and were more relaxed. Mussolini wanted to be a conquering hero like the Caesars but he was rather incompetent and had his head in the clouds most of the time. He said before Italy invaded France (late) that Italy only needed to lose 1,000 men to sit at the table. You can find examples of how unmotivated the Italians were such as deserting POW camps long before the allies arrived allowing them to escape and the Germans having to come and catch them again. The Italians were told to collect jews from some areas in Southern Greece which they failed to do and jews fled from the German occupied northern Greece to the more relaxed South.

Answer 6

The Italians actually didn't do as badly as some would like to think. The sad fact was they were completely over run by a much stronger force and did not have much say in the matter. It was cooperate or die. That and a misguided martinet of a leader led them to lay low until Allied forces could get to them and set them free. In addition, Italy was, at that point in time, still very clannish, not a cohesive, patriotic nation. As in the middle east today, family/tribe was more important than country.

Answer 7

Ethiopia? Come on thats like being surprised that Britian can take Argentina, or that the US could take Hawaii. Even a broke, minor European power (see WWI) could roll over their choice of African countries.

Spanish Civil War, they weren't the Spanish, they weren't the Germans. They weren't even a major player in this practice war.

Italy doing well would have been the surprise.

It's a bit like saying "Jimmy always did well in the Special Olympics, why didn't he come back fromthe real Olympics with a gold metal?"

Answer 8

Italy performed poorly for two major reasons:

1) Militarily they were not prepared.
2) The hearts' of its people were not in the war (they even throw Mussolini out a second story window- with a rope around his neck)
~~

Answer 9

Even through Mussolini had control of power longer than Hitler he did not modernized the military as the German did. The government of Mussolini was highly corrupt and expenditures tended to wind up in the pockets of Mussolini trusted cronies.

The depression had struck Italy as well as the rest of the world and had to focus on public work projects to keep the populations under wraps. Lack of raw materials made the desire to return to being a colonial power.

The military was poorly equipped, trained, and led, many of its officers were appointed by party affiliations rather than capability.

Above all Musolini either did not know the limitation of his forces, or ignored them and entered into I war he was not able to fight.

Even tiny Albania managed to kick the crap out of the Itialians with there out dated equipment.

Rules of war, Know yourself, know your enemy. Beat the enemy before you fight him.

Answer 10

i'm italian and i totally agree with Tim W's opinion.
My grandfather told me the same reasons.
He fought in the WW2 in the Russian front.
The best answer is that.