Skip to content
Curated playlist

Military history of Italy during World War II

  • Operation CompassOperation Compass was planned as a five-day raid in the Egyptian desert. It ended with about 133,000 Italian prisoners.
  • Italian invasion of EgyptItaly's 1940 invasion of Egypt began with a marshal who thought it could not succeed.
  • Case AntonFrench sailors sank their own fleet at Toulon rather than let German troops seize it. It was November 1942.
  • Italian invasion of British SomalilandChurchill's fury over losing British Somaliland helped end General Wavell's career.
  • Italian occupation of FranceThe Italian occupation of France ran from 1940 to 1943. It covered part of the south-east, together with Monaco, and it sat alongside the German occupation rather than inside it. The German foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, took…
  • Tunisian campaignIn May 1943, more than a quarter of a million Axis troops surrendered in Tunisia.
  • Western Desert campaignA raid planned for four to five days ended up destroying Italy's 10th Army. Operation Compass captured 133,298 men.
  • Anglo-Iraqi WarIn May 1941, a British flying school struck first against a besieging Iraqi army.
  • Italian Social RepublicHitler threatened to destroy Milan, Genoa and Turin unless Mussolini led a new Fascist state.
  • Italian invasion of AlbaniaA Tintin comic borrowed its plot from Italy's 1939 invasion of Albania. Hergé felt "Syldavia is Albania."
  • Italian invasion of FranceItaly invaded France in June 1940 and took only a thin strip of land. Its biggest prize was the town of Menton.
  • East African campaign (World War II)On the 13th of June 1940, Italian aircraft raided the RAF base at Wajir in Kenya. That raid opened the East African campaign, also known as the Abyssinian campaign. It was fought across Kenya, Sudan, Somaliland, Eritrea and Ethiopia,…
  • Operation AchseOne coded word, "Achse," turned German troops on Italy on September 8, 1943.

Queue