Hitler's Italian Allies: Royal Armed Forces, Fascist Regime, and the War of 1940-1943 / Edition 1

by MacGregor Knox

Overview

This book explains why the Italian armed forces and Fascist regime were so remarkably ineffectual at an activity-war-that was central to their existence. Italy's economic fragility, Mussolini's strategic-ideological fantasies, and Hitler's failure in the wider war made Italy's ruin inevitable, but did not determine its peculiarly undignified character. Hitler's Italian Allies demonstrates the extent to which Italian military culture-a concept with applications far beyond Fascist Italy-made humiliation inescapable. It offers a striking portrait of a military and industrial establishment largely unable to imagine modern war and of a regime that failed miserably in mobilizing the nation's resources. Above all, it explains why the armed forces, despite the distinguished performance of a few elite units, dissolved prematurely and almost without resistance-in stark contrast to the grim fight to the last cartridge of Hitler's army and the fanatical faithfulness unto death of the troops of Imperial Japan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521790475
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/30/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.33(h) x 0.79(d)
Lexile:	1700L (what's this?)

About the Author

MacGregor Knox has served as Stevenson Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science since 1994. He was educated at Harvard College (BA, 1967) and Yale University (PhD in History, 1977), and has also taught at the University of Rochester (USA). His writings deal with the wars and dictatorships of the savage first half of the twentieth century and with contemporary international and strategic history, and include Mussolini Unleashed, 1939–1941 (1982); The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War (edited, with Williamson Murray and Alvin Bernstein, 1994); Common Destiny: Dictatorship, Foreign Policy, and War in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany (2000); The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 (edited, with Williamson Murray, 2001); and To the Threshold of Power: Origins and Dynamics of the Fascist and National Socialist Dictatorships (2007). Between his undergraduate and graduate studies he spent three years in the US Army, and served in the Republic of Vietnam (1969) as rifle platoon leader with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Table of Contents

Introduction: defeat - and humiliation; 1. Fascist Italy's last war; 2. Society, politics, regime, industry; 3. Men and machines: the Armed Forces and modern warfare; 4. Strategy; 5. Operations; 6. Tactics; Conclusion: the weight of the past.

Editorial Reviews

This "academic novella," as Knox calls his narrative study, is strongly committed to the "argument from stupidity": the assertion that ineffective or unsuccessful war efforts reflect not merely institutional weaknesses but culpable and comprehensive incompetence. In discussing Italian Fascists, Knox--a chair of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science--describes not merely armed forces but a government and a culture programmed for defeat. Italy's administration was unable to mobilize the country's manpower, to say nothing of its material resources. Its industry, Fiat in particular, was corrupt and incompetent, Knox demonstrates. At strategic levels, the Duce and the generals refused to set priorities or cut losses. As a result, Italy's already limited strength was dissipated after 1940 in theaters from Tunisia to Stalingrad. Logistics, communications, armament, doctrine, training--all were not merely inadequate but, Knox finds, seriously defective. Officer corps more concerned with securing the proverbial "good plate of pasta" than with developing the effectiveness of their respective services substituted vitalist rhetoric for objective analysis. Army leadership virtually ignored the connection between training and performance until 1941. Courage and intuition were expected to compensate for discipline and instruction. Until early 1943, virtually all Italian fighter pilots communicated with each other by hand signals, as in the days of the Red Baron. The list goes on and on here, and the result was best expressed by American war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Italy, he mused, was like a dog hit by a car because it tried to bite the tires. Knox's cool, matter-of-fact narrative evenly traces the ensuing tangle. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The ineffectiveness of the Italian armed forces in World War II has long been regarded as a factor in the Axis defeat. Using many Italian sources, Knox (history, London Sch. of Economics; Mussolini Unleashed, 1939-1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War) here concludes that a professional military culture was definitely absent even before World War I. There was little understanding of modern warfare and industrialization and little willingness to experiment or learn from experience. Even though individual units would sometimes fight to the best of their ability, logistics, air support, and motor transport were lacking, leadership was poor, and the Fascist government and defense industry were not efficiently mobilized. Moreover, argues Knox, the German Wehrmacht was not strong enough to make up for the Italian deficiencies. This thoughtful and well-researched book is suitable for the World War II and Italian history collections of both public and academic libraries.--Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In MacGregor Knox's Hitler's Italian Allies: Royal Armed Forces, Fascist Regime, And The War Of 1940-1943, the military buff and the student of World War II military history is provided an informative descriptive history and analysis of why the Italian Fascist regime was so basically ineffectual in conducting the war. Author MacGregor Knox offers an innovative analytical cross section of the Italian war effort in a broad spectrum of perspectives, the ineptitude of Italian military leadership, and why the Italian armed forces dissolved prematurely and almost without resistance — especially when compared with the diehard and suicidal resistance of German and Japanese armed forces in their respective theaters. Hitler's Italian Allies is an impressive, unique, and highly recommended contribution to World War II studies and reading lists.

"This book is important to an understanding of how and why Italy collapsed during World War II."
-Washington Post

"MacGregor Knox's excellent study of Italy's defeat mercilessly reveals faliure on all fronts...Knox expertly paints a depressing and,, with very few exceptions, uniform picture of faliure of the Italian army, navy, and air force."
-Miliary History

"[A] valuable introduction to a neglected aspect of World War II."
-Booklist

"...thoughtful and well researched..."
-Library Journal

"Cool, matter-of-fact..."
-Publishers Weekly

"Knox tells the story clearly and concisely and his analysis of the weaknesses of the Italian military is likely to convince anyone who has witnessed the workings of Italian society...Knox's book poses interesting questions and convincingly critiques the operations of Italy's pre-war military establishment."
-International History Review

"A brief but cogent examination of Italy in World War II. Knox, whose talents were recently displayed in Common Destiny, a dual history of Germany and Italy, hones in here on the Italian side, his main field of expertise...This book is important to an understanding of how and why Italy collapsed during World War II."
-Washington Post Book World

"A necessary addition to World War II...Excellent... leaves the reader wanting more anecdotal information and first-hand accounts from officers and enlisted men."
-The Ocala Star-Banner (FL)

"This concise analytical study will be of much value to readers who are interested in the military relationship between Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany during the period when they were allies."
-The Historian

"...the survey of the Italian Armed Forces during World War II, manages to look deeply into its organizational, technological, doctrinal, and tactical shortcomings, as well as its leadership and cultural problems, while rebutting the wartime Allied propaganda. A very useful work for anyone interested in the Second World War."
-NYMAS Newsletter

From the Publisher