Mussolini and Hitler Essay -- essays research papers

Benito Mussolini and Adolf HitlerAs World War II (WWII) approached, Mussolini announced his intention of annexing Malta, Corsica, and Tunis. He spoke of creating a New Roman Empire that would stretch eastmost to Palestine and south through Libya and Egypt to Kenya. In April 1939, after a brief war, he annexed Albania, a campaign which strained his military. His armed forces are generally considered to obligate been unprepared for combat when the German invasion of Poland led to World War II. Mussolini thus decided to remain non-belligerent until he was quite certain which side would win.On June 10, 1940, as the Germans under General Guderian reached the English Channel, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. In October, Italy attacked Greece and lost in result 1/3 of Albania, until Germany attacked Greece as well. In June 1941, he declared war on the Soviet Union and in December he declared war on the United States.Following Italian defeats on all fronts and the Anglo-Ameri can landing in Sicily in 1943, most of Mussolinis colleagues (Count Galeazzo Ciano, the foreign minister and also Mussolinis son-in-law, included) turned against him at a meeting of the Fascist swaggering Council on July 25, 1943. King Vittorio Emanuele III called Mussolini to his palace and stripped the dictator of his power. Upon leaving the palace, Mussolini was swiftly arrested. He was then sent to Gran Sasso, a mountain convalescence in central Italy (Abruzzo), in complete isolation.Mussolini was subst...