Italijanska partizanska divizija narodnooslobodilačke vojske Jugoslavije Garibaldi. Divizija „Garibaldi“ je bila divizija Italijanska vojska i NOVJ sastavljena od italijanskih oficira i vojnika, koji su prešli na stranu partizana posle kapitulacije Italije. Divizija alpskih lovaca Taurineze je pokušala da se probije iz Nikšića i Danilovgrada do obale Jadranskog mora, ali su ih Nemci preduhitrili i razoružali oko polovine divizije. Ostatak divizije je prešao na stranu partizana. Od preostalih delova divizije Taurineze 11. oktobra 1943. je osnovana brigada Aosta, koju je činilo 800 boraca, raspoređenih u 4 bataljona. Od delova iste divizije 19. oktobra kod Kolašina je osnovana 2. italijanska partizanska brigada, koja je isto imala 800 boraca u 4 bataljona. 19. pešadijska divizija Venecija, čije je sedište bilo u Beranama, kolebala se da li da pređe na stranu partizana ili četnika. Posle razgovora sa Pekom Dapčevićem, divizija je prešla na stranu NOVJ 10. oktobra 1943. i na predlog štaba 2. udarnog korpusa pretvorena u 5 brigada. Te brigade je činilo oko 5000 oficira i vojnika. U Pljevljima je 2. decembra 1943. je od brigada divizija Taurineze i Venecija osnovana partizanska divizija Garibaldi, sastavljena od 5000 vojnika raspoređenih u 4 brigade, pod operativnu komandu štaba 2. udarnog korpusa NOVJ. Divizija je reorgaizovana 13. februara 1944. pri čemu je jedna od njene četiri brigade raspuštena, a vojnici su podeljeni među ostale tri, a nekoliko specijalaca je raspoređeno u druge partizanske odrede 2. korpusa. Uloga tih specijalista je bila obuka partizana za artiljerijce, veziste, inženjerce i druge zadatke. Davizija se najviše boriza uz 3., 29. i 37. diviziju NOVJ, a najteže borbe je imala u završnim borbama u dolini Lima u Srbiji. Po oslobođenju Crne Gore i Hercegovine, divizija je prebačena u Dubrovnik, odakle je u martu 1945. po dogovoru Vrhovnog štaba NOVJ i italijanske vrhovne komande prebačena na Siciliju, gde je dočekala kraj rata..
Thank you Stefan, my grandpa told me some of this stuff, but you put in the details! You should make short lived states episodes about both the RSI (the fascist puppet state of northern Italy) and the Southern Kingdom under ally occupation, it would be great!
After my grandmother's family was murdered in Donetsk in the fall of 1941, she escaped to Odessa where she found work with an Italian high-ranking officer's family as a maid. She worked for them for a couple of years and even after they had found out she was Jewish they didn't turn her in. She learned Italian and never had a bad word to say about them.
There were many Italians who saved Jews, one example was the famous Italian cyclist champion who came in first in France both before and after the war.
@@eleanorkett1129 Often high ranking Italian Army officers made decisions to protect Jews. In Yugoslavia, one of the Italian occupation commanders authorized the distribution of false identity cards to Jewish families which facilitated their escape from the Nazis.
My dad while serving with the RAF in Italy in the 90s lived next door to an Italian family(not a shock there really!)who's "head" served in the Italian Army in Greece anyway cutting a long story short he ended up being taken prisoner by a Greek unit and they got on so well that several of them still came to visit him all those years later!
@Goran Vresk That narrative about taking Moscow always intrigues me because people say about Hitler he learned nothing from Napoleon... then conveniently forget that Napoleon took Moscow not even half way through Sept. That being said, I bet if you could spend 10mins chatting to Hitler about Mussolini and the Italian contribution to the war it wouldn't be glowing praise As for the whole of WW2 I don't buy that, even if they had knocked the Soviet Union out in 41 Germany doesn't just change the dynamics of facing the UK without the means to invade, likely there would have been a long drawn out kind of stalemate until one side or the other could deploy nuclear weapons against their enemy.
@@mjc8281 In their own way both Napoleon and Hitler were trying for a European Union. Their successors achieved it much later using stealth, diplomacy and craftiness. England was never keen. Though we have our traitors as always. 🏴
@Goran Vresk Here's another one that doesn't know the story. What you said about Mussolini and the Italian army is not entirely true, in fact Italy can very well place itself as fourth or fifth among the strongest nations of the time and despite having inadequate equipment, departments like "Folgore" and "Arditi" should teach you a lot about cowardice. study again that you make a better impression. The Folgore division during the second battle of El Alamein managed to resist, together with elements of the "Pavia" Division, the repeated breakthrough attempts carried out by the British 7th Armored Division, as well as the large concentric attack launched on 25 October by elements of the 7th Armored Division and the 44th and 50th Infantry Divisions, and the last attempt of the 132nd Infantry Brigade (44th Division) on the 27th. In compliance with the orders of the ACIT, the "Folgore" division began its retreat on the night of November 3, 1942, in conditions made extremely difficult by the lack of means of transport. After two days of marching in the desert, at 14:35 on day 6, after having destroyed the weapons, what was left of the Division surrendered to the 44th British Infantry Division of General Hughes . The Italian paratroopers obtained from the British the honor of arms and, after the surrender, General Hughes wanted to receive generals Enrico Frattini and Riccardo Bignami and Colonel Boffa, congratulating them on the behavior of their men. After the battle of El Alamein the "Folgore" Division and its Regiments will be awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor. Entirely destroyed in combat, the "Folgore" division was dissolved at the end of 1942.
There was no real animosity between Greek and Italian soldiers apart from the unjust war. There have been many stories about Italian soldiers taken as prisoners and been treated as friends by their "enemies". Also Italian sailors had the same fate when taken prisoners on greek warships.
@@HistoryHustle We have had other successes such as the undertaking of Alessandria, Suda and Gibraltar, the conquest of British somaliland, the Italian invasion of Egypt, the actions at bir El gubi in November and December 1941, The battle of petrikovka and the operation daffodil
WW2 shouldn’t be looked at from the nations aspect, but from the ideological aspect. Communists, Fascists and Social democrats. In the beginning it was Fascists and Communists versus Social Democrats, in the second half it was Social Democrats and Communists versus Fascists. Italy was a country nearly divided evenly between the three, hence, the civil war in Italy. The people suffered the most in Western Europe, and don’t deserve the reputation they have. 🇨🇦🇮🇹
@Goran Vresk You still believe this idiocy? The real reasons of why the Germans had to postpone Barbarossa were 2: - the exceptional Rasputiza, which caused the Bug river to flood and turn Eastern Poland/Western Russia into a sea of mud; - the lack of preparation of the Luftwaffe, which was still busy building airstrips and stockpiling supplies. Open a history book, not a propaganda leaflet.
@@fraulens Not only that, they were still in the process of a major reorganization of their armored and motorized forces that was not completed until well into June.
@Goran Vresk The losers get to write history too. Especially when it comes to WWII. From the 1950 on, German generals and soldiers published numerous accounts of the war. There is a pretty clear intent to blame anyone but themselves for Nazi Germanys brutal racial and occupation policies or losing the war. For example, Rommel endlessly blamed the Italians for the fact his supply convoys were being sunk, thinking they were infiltrated by British intelligence, in reality his own coded Enigma messages were being read by British code breakers. If you think the Germans behaved themselves in France think again. In 1940 they routinely bombed and machinegunned refugee columns. After the French surrendered they massacred thousands of France's West African soldiers. They conducted brutal police operations during their occupation of France, most infamously at Oradour-sur-Glane where the SS Das Reich Division massacred 643 civilians including women and children. Some 75,000 French Jews were deported to concentration camps with all but 2,500 of them being killed in the camps. Mass murder and racial extermination were the official policy of the Third Reich. Theses policies were carried out by the Nazi Party, the SS, the Wehrmacht and police authorities, no branch of the German political system of innocent of crimes against humanity.
2 роки тому+36
When we talk about italian troops in WWII we often speak about failure with some exceptions like the Ariete Division or the Folgore paratrooper Division or the commandos that attacked Alexandria but you have explained very well the deficiencies of italian armament and equipment. In this sense it is many times unfair to expect more than what was reasonable. Still some italians fought well, even in the eastern front. General Gariboldi was even awarded with the Knight’s Cross! Thank you for this interesting video and Cheers from Peru!
Thanks Stefan, and yes please to a further video on the Italian army after the Sep 1943 surrender. My father, a Greek, was in eastern Crete during the war,. That part was occupied by the Italians as you showed. My father spoke fluent Italian as he was born in the Italian occupied Dodecanese island of Kassos, a result of the Italian-Turkish war of 1911, and he had many tales of the mild occupation of the Italians; they had no hatred of Greeks. That ended after Sep 1943 when the Germans occupied eastern Crete and imposed the same harsh occupation with executions inflicted elsewhere on Crete.
Thank you for the video. Italy is so overlooked in videos about WW2, especially the campaign in Russia. So please more videos about CSIR and ARMIR. Overview about infantry and vehicles an perhaps some of the battles that were fought.
For what I understand a total of 220,000 Italian forces were sent to the Eastern Front , mostly Alpini [ mountain troops ] , more than half of them never came back . They served mostly on the bent of the river Don during the battle of Stalingrad . also in places like Stalino , [ todays Donetsk ] and Nikoljewka and others , the names I can't remember .
@Goran Vresk Just like that , the Russian fiasco by the Germans ,rest on the back of the Italian Army . Any other stupid thoughts you can come up with ?
@@thecommentaryking Italian Generals in North Africa 1941-1943 (Italian edition) Paperback - June 3, 2021 Italian Edition by Libro E. Di Zinno (Author), Rudy A. D'Angelo (Author) 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating See all formats and editions Paperback $25.27 3 New from $25.27 I GENERALI ITALIANI di ROMMEL IN AFRICA SETTENTRIONALE 1941 - 1943 Scritto dal Dott. Libro Di Zinno e Rudy D'Angelo, è un must per chiunque si interessi al ruolo dei militari italiani nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Il mio interesse per il Regio Esercito Italiano, è iniziato alcuni decenni fa, quando ho notato una certa mancanza di informazioni, per quanto riguarda il suo ruolo nella campagna del Nord Africa. Ho pensato: "Più della metà delle formazioni di combattimento in Nord Africa erano italiane - come potevano meritare solo qualche nota a piè di pagina, o frasi di passaggio, in un libro che copre 3 anni di combattimenti?" Per molto tempo è stato necessario rivolgersi alla letteratura in lingua straniera, per trovare una discussione più corposa sulle Forze Armate italiane nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Provvidenzialmente, autori come Jack Greene e Alessandro Massignani, e Ian Walker (tra gli altri), le cui opere coprono la guerra nel Mediterraneo e nel Nord Africa, è venuto alla scena con studi dettagliati in lingua inglese di quelle lotte. Ora arrivano il Dr. Libro Di Zinno e Rudy D'Angelo, con il loro libro, Rommel's Italian Generals in North Africa. Laddove Greene, Massignani e Walker hanno fornito gran parte del cosa e del dove, riguardo al Regio Esercito in Nord Africa, Di Zinno e D'Angelo forniscono il chi. Entrambi questi uomini, osservatori preparati ed esperti - Di Zinno come medico e D'Angelo come detective - hanno applicato le loro conoscenze per svelare un persistente enigma della campagna nordafricana, vale a dire, le identità degli alti comandanti di campo italiani, che hanno guidato Formazioni italiane avanti e indietro nel deserto, nelle ondeggianti fortune di quella guerra. E il particolare nodo che sciolgono è legato all'identificazione con foto. Nel corso dei decenni Rudy e Libro hanno scoperto che in varie pubblicazioni i nomi dei generali italiani non erano stati abbinati alle foto di altri ufficiali. Inoltre, hanno scoperto che questi errori non si ripetevano di rado, poiché le nuove generazioni di ricercatori, basandosi su lavori scritti generazioni fa, presumevano la correttezza delle immagini e delle informazioni in cui si imbattevano. Come qualcuno che ha svolto alcune ricerche sull'esercito italiano in quel periodo, ho un particolare apprezzamento per questo problema, specialmente per quanto riguarda l'identificazione delle unità. Con la pazienza degli scienziati, il dottor Di Zinno e il detective D'Angelo si sono assunti il colossale compito di confrontare e contrapporre le centinaia e centinaia di immagini di generali italiani, che loro, come storici collezionisti militari, avevano accumulato. E bene che hanno avuto la pazienza, come quello che era iniziato come un viaggio accademico, si è trasformato in una ricerca scientifica di molti anni. Il prodotto di questa impresa sono i generali italiani di Rommel in Nord Africa. In questo lavoro apprendiamo non solo le corrette identità fotografiche dei tanti generali italiani che hanno combattuto in Nord Africa, ma anche delle loro carriere e destini, molti dei quali hanno incontrato onorevoli fini in combattimento. I generali italiani di Rommel in Nord Africa è un libro di valore duraturo per chiunque voglia aggiungere alla propria biblioteca di storia militare, siano essi collezionisti, ricercatori o appassionati. Questo libro non deluderà e anzi getta la luce tanto necessaria su un argomento che merita più attenzione. Patrick Cloutier Autore della guerra di Mussolini in Spagna 1936-1939. L
Worth bearing in mind that Mussolini was only spending 6% of Italy's relatively low GDP on the military in 1940 while Germany was spending 25% of a much bigger GDP (later to rise to 50% by 1944). It was all the fault of Mussolini for not preparing adequately for a long and arduous war.
He thought the war was effectively over when he joined. It seemed certain pretty much to the world Germany had won and Britain would soon fall or make peace. He wanted a position of influence at the negotiating table. He wasn't expecting Hitler to invade the USSR and declare war on the USA in 1941. I highly doubt he would have signed up for that. He was aware of Italy's military unpreparedness but Britain was beaten and about to fall... or so he thought.
@@distantthunder12ck55 He declared war on France without consulting the general staff and the king, who instead would not have started any war because instead of that corrupt braggart the accounts to modernize the army had done it, Italy needed 2 years to prepare for war, having said that the forces of the axis were too few to compete against the rest of the world and the countries of the axis did not even have the resources to last, also because it was not even known that Libya was full of oil and in fact Germany has declared war to the USSR in order not to get into debt with Stalin and get to the Caucasus oil wells. Mussolini was a donkey and not a leader, otherwise instead of burning money in propaganda demonstrations he would have had to spend money to organize the army, while under him he lost more and more quality and even dismantled a welded armor industry to restore the sector military armor riveted to favor FIAT.
@@baronedipiemonte3990 I was a boy scout I don't think that it would be easy to invade Ethiopia, big country with not road in 1935 the italian army had to build them on the way , rough terrain , guerrilla all the time , a bit like Afghanistan, you think the boys scout could win in Afghanistan, the Americans didn't, a bit like the Russians.
I would love some more videos about the italians especially about battles on the eastern front and the composition of the divisions. Like how many at guns, how many man form a regiment and so on
My Dad fought in Lybia and what he told me matches some of the points in this video. He commanded a platoon of tanks (if we can call them tanks). I remember he told me that a British piece of artillery struck his tank and went through its armor like a knife through warm butter. He didn't die because the communication between tanks was by shouting orders from turret to turret so he was sitting with most of his body out in the turret. One thing very important that other Europeans still don't get is that in 1940 Italy had been a country for just 75 years. Most of the population spoke their local dialets and were much more attached to their regions than to Italy. Many, therefore, didn't feel a war to make great Italy as something that connected with them. Most Italians didn't want to go to war, even less invading other countries. This explains a lot the behaviour of so many Italians before and during the second war. Additionally, more than half the country was very, very poor, and the whole was under a megalomaniac dictator: Perfect recipe for disaster!
@@samuelstephen8147 Why should anybody owe unconditional loyalty to any country? Why should anybody give his/her life for a flag or an anthem? Individuals are just tools for few powerful to achieve their objectives. I respect any common people who doesn't want to invade any foreign land, and the right thing to do is to desert such a war. The vast majority of the wars in modern history have not been thought for the benefit of the people who actually end up fighting and dying. In the last 150 years the children of the powerful, prime minister or presidents have never died in any war their parents have started. So, I ask, why should Italians have fought for something that was unfair and inmoral? To fight a war in foreign lands for the benefit of few leaders?
@@piercoucy Frankly, your considerations, however correct in their ideal component, do not reflect the historical reality, not even the current one in which a nation that prevails over another nation always gains something.
@@piercoucy Neoliberalism is impoverishing the whole West and wars are holding the system up instead of kicking the ass of industrialists who evade all taxes.
One interesting detail about the Axis is that the 3 main countries Italy, Japan and Germany all lacked(or assumed they lacked) a significant oil supply.
@@HistoryHustle rofile 1 John Vento · Following Lives in FloridaTue Why are Italian WW2 planes underrated when they were so good? Simple, as long as it was Italian there was a biased propaganda to disparage any thing Italian; tanks, planes, ships,leaders, troops, Mussolini, Italian uniforms, pizza. You get the idea. Extremely rare that any “historian” told the truth about the exceptions or as to why some of Italy’s military equipment was poor. Do you ever hear it was the Germans who broke The Pact of Steel just 4 months after signing dragging an unprepared Italy into WW II? It stipulated Italy would be given 3 more years to prepare and upgrade it’s military and equipment and that the Germans never informed Mussolini of it’s intentions to invade Poland. Of course not, these historians and other lying channels of Bozo’s on You Tube calling themselves “Armchair Historian” or other self aggrandizing titles will tell you it was Italy that betrayed Germany because of another misleading label and lies of how Italy “switched sides” Of course that title applied to the other Axis members and every occupied European country that collaborated (switched) but then conveniently switched again when the Allies took control of the war. Finland switched 3X. Here are but a few examples: Rommel was a “genius” thanks only to the Italians: “At that point, of course, the situation changed considerably and Rommel has gone down in history as one of the greatest military leaders of all time for his stunning victories over the British in north Africa.. What many fail to realize though is that the forces effectively under his command, which he used to win these masterful successes, were 2/3 Italian and the large majority of his armored forces were Italian tanks.” “The German soldier has impressed the world, however the Italian Bersagliere soldier has impressed the German soldier.” _Rommel And Italian intelligence and bravery: NOTE: This video has since been removed due to copyright infringement. It showed how Italian Intelligence Services penetrated British Intelligence and relayed British fighting positions to Rommel, hence why he seemed to know their every move. “This revisionist history convincingly argues that the Regia Marina Italiana (the Royal Italian Navy) has been neglected and maligned in assessments of its contributions to the Axis effort in World War II. After all, Italy was the major Axis player in the Mediterranean, and it was the Italian navy and air force, with only sporadic help from their German ally, that stymied the British navy and air force for most of the thirty-nine months that Italy was a belligerent. It was the Royal Italian Navy that provided the many convoys that kept the Axis war effort in Africa alive by repeatedly braving attack by aircraft, submarine, and surface vessels. If doomed by its own technical weaknesses and Ultra (the top-secret British decoding device), the Italian navy still fought a tenacious and gallant war; and if it did not win that war, it avoided defeat for thirty-nine, long, frustrating months.” “Long the butt of ignorant jokes, the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) of World War II had capable professional officers, gallant sailors, and beautiful fast ships designed by gifted engineers. What it didn’t have was petroleum, and that was fatal. As British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon observed at the end of World War I, the Allies “floated
@@josephdalelio6684italian tanks had 12 gears, one forward & eleven reverse! The thinnest book in the world is the italian book of war heroes! You couldn't hold ground the germans had taken! Surrender specialists!🏳
Dear Stefan...There is a topic that I was wondering about. My grandfather, who was not an Italian and not a Fascist (I add this for the sake of those people who read the comments with the goal of criticizing those who have something intelligent to write), had two remarks to make about Mussolini. First, he would say "At least he got the trains to run on time." I do not know if this is true, but the idea was at least he achieved something that cannot be done in Canada where trains and buses are almost routinely late. The second one was "He knew how to deal with the mafia - Shoot first, ask questions later." I also do not know if this was true, but here is something you might consider for further episodes: My grandfather and others mentioned how the Americans used in their invasion of Sicily and southern mainland Italy, mafia people who had fled to the USA because of Mussolini's hard line. It was said that they best knew the terrain. They also knew who were Mussolini supporters in each village and pointed them out to the Americans or shot them with their own guns supplied by Uncle Sam. I would like to know if this was true. It was also said that once the mafia people were there, they once again set up their cosa nostra networks and the Americans turned a blind eye toward it as they were focused on pushing north and taking Rome. Incidentally, my other grandfather was a Canadian soldier in Italy during the time of the invasion. Since he was married and had five children, he was kept at the back of the invasion and told to drive a lorry usually filled with ammunition, food and supplies. It was considered a safe job, but he went over a land mine and was almost killed. He spent the rest of the war recovering in hospitals and eventually made it to England where he met his second wife, but that is another story. Stephan in Canada
Your story remembers me of , how Generals Mark Clark and Dwight Eisenhower appointed former Vichy Admiral François Darlan to be head of a Free French administration in Africa. The French Resistance was furious, and soon had him killed. So the US really didn't care if it was a good guy taking control..after they left. And the biggest example is how they gathered knowledge , instead of prosecuting the Japanese Army Unit 731.
Well, you should read the book "Mussolini ha fatto anche cose buone" from Francesco Filippi about stupid thinks that are still in the air regarding supposed accomplishments. He's demolishing all these nice theories about the Duce. I don't know if the book is translated, hopefully, I'm fluent Italian....
@Goran Vresk Italian army was poorly trained with obsolete equipment. Furthermore they were not very motivated. In Corsica fascists, sent 100 000 soldiers for controlling an island with 250 000 people! For some historians, invasion of Russia was delayed by one month by operations in Greece. It does not seems very realistic as 4 millions german soldiers invaded Russia and only 25 000 did operate in Greece.
My grandfather Luigi was an alpino officer who served with Pusteria division in the Ethiopian wars, then during WW2 he was a combat engineer with XXXI Guastatori under the command of the famous Colonel Paolo Caccia Dominioni the Count of Sillavengo in Libya and Egypt. Went AWOL in 1943 and joined the Partisans in the northeastern front close the Austrian and Yugoslav borders. His brother Bruno was an Alpino Captain in the UORK AMBA battalion and fought at the battle of Keren in the East Africa campaign and after spent the duration of the war as a POW in Kenya. Another brother Primo was a sergeant in the 8th Alpino battalion of the Julia division and fought in the Greek campaign and then served on the Russian front but was killed in action on the Don river in December 1942. The youngest brother Gino served in Italy with 6th Alpine division “Alpi Graie” and went AWOL in 1943 and joined the partisans.
Posso io scrivatto - grazie? My Italian is not as good as I wish and I don't want to give the wrong Impression. It is wonderful that you keep in mind the history of your family as I maintain my memories of my Nonni others. Grazie tanto.
@@RichardDanielli my grandfather and his youngest brother emigrated to Australia and here I am. My Italian isn’t so good either. Will never forget the stories I was told and I love sharing them.
@@Darkthrone-qi1ic My father came from Istria to Canada and I was born in 1966. Keep up your love for your family, keep making good food. Buon cibo, buon vino, buon amico - grazie e buon natale.
I liked the fact that most of the comments to this video are fair and objective. I do have an objection, though. Why did you call 'infamous' the Isbuscenskij cavalry attack on part of the Savoia Cavalleria during the Russian campaign? Even the Russians considered that a heroic episode, and it truly was so!
About 5:35, I think that the Hungarian thingies look worse (I have no idea what was more practical) Merry Christmas Stefan! I was considering cutting myself off the internet this Christmas (especially since I got some very interesting books as presents) but I couldn't miss your videos.
Stefan, thanks for the video! I have an uncle that fought in the Italian army and became a POW of Germany in early 1944. From stories I've heard moral among the Italian soldiers was always pretty low due to the fact of junk equipment and the fact that they really didn't like Mussolini. I'm looking forward to future videos on Italy during WWII. A video on why they switched sides would be interesting.
My grandfather fought in the battle of Greece in Nov 1940 against the troops of Mussolini. Temperatures were unusually very low. He was in the snow for a month and had his leg amputated because of frostbite. Another friend of my grandfather's was the only man from his unit to survive after an artillery barrage. Also, my grandfather and his brothers told me that the Italian occupying force of Greece was quite easy going. The Nazi Germans however more more strict and in some cases ruthless. Moreover, I was also told that the fascist occupying forces never harassed a woman in the region. My grandfather thought that they fascist officers must have instructed the cooks to add libido-drive-inhibitors into the soldiers food. Finally, the occupation ended abruptly in 1944 when all of the fascist occupying forces were withdrawn to the Russian front. The soldiers were gone very quickly. However it took Greece some time to recover, because the fascist had stripped the land of food and livestock and a civil war soon followed.
Strange to hear about restraint towards women: the Italian occupation forces were nicknamed the S‘agapò army - the love army in Greek. However i do not know if the nickname originated among the Greek population or was a product of the ever-inventive British propaganda. Love army or not, the Italian Army in Greece showed a mixed record, somewhere the occupation was benevolent, somewhere proper war crimes like massacres and arsons were committed by the Italians.
My father was in the US 15th Air Force stationed near Foggia in 1944-45. He maintained/repaired electronics including radar on B24 bombers. He said there were a number of surrendered Italian soldiers that helped at his base. He said they were very cooperative and a lot of fun.
6:30....those socks are actually really useful. They're footless and used often in mountainous terrain. Quite comfortable, quick to whip off when damp and easy to dry. Unwinding puttee's is a nightmare in comparison.
i'll be very interested to see part 2 (1943 - 1945) pls cover the Xa MAS, San Marco, etc. important note is that it took the allies (10+ nations) nearly 2 years to invade/liberate italy. the germans and RSI italians fought very hard to defend their land and extremely well with decent equipment. thx for the vid man. cheers.
For further details on the Italians in Russia read "death on the Don" by Jonathan Trigg.....it's astounding how ill prepared and exposed they and the other European Axis armies were.....the scale of their destruction was horrific!!!
You should read some of the accounts from actual Italian soldiers who served in Russia, we have quite an extensive literature. "The Sergeant in the Snow" by Mario Rigoni Stern, "Centomila Gavette di Ghiaccio" by Giulio Bedeschi, and "The Red Horse" by Eugenio Corti are three masterpieces which would be worthy of a Band of Brothers type series. They all draw from their own experiences, sometimes fictionalizing names as they wrote them soon after the war and didn't want to infringe on other soldiers privacy, but if you can find english translations they are truly worth the reading!
Thanks for the video Stefan. Really interesting info on the uniforms and equipment, sounds like it really sucked to be an Interesting Italian soldier😶. I have always thought that good shoes must make a huge difference, or rather that bad shoes make life super difficult. Years ago I as visiting Brussels and the weather was cold and rainy. My pair of South Africa department store boots disintegrated on the first day, lesson learned. Merry Xmas, blessings to you and your family 🧑🎄
to get a good picture of the italian army you also have to see it in complete context. the italian army has been fighting a war of exuberance in africa for more than 10 years. before the start of WW2. Italians had finished the war and were drawn in by Hitler and Mussolini without wanting to. the military didn't want any more and the population didn't want it at all. Hitler promised the Italian military to provide heavy artillery which never happened. also parts of ukraine where there were heavy industrial areas were promised to italy and this too was not given to them in the end. In short, the Crazy Hitler and Mussolini betrayed the Italians on all sides and the Italians no longer felt obliged to follow the agreements made. Italy was finished with the war and Hilter and Mussolini in 1943. At a time in the war in Greece and Russia. Italians soldiers shot even German soldiers because of the cruelty there dit against the civil populations.
2).1,000 men of the 'Sienna' infantry div together with a black-shirt Btg stationed in the krete island formed the italian volunteer legion 'Kreta',the artillery-group 'San-Giorgio' who later on fougth at Anzio, 2 armored squadrons "Leoncello" & "San-giusto" + a black-shirts armored group called "Leonessa".I also forgot to mention to add for alpines troops = officers from the Btg group "Valle" & some elements of the of the XXX "ragrupamento sciatori" that with the exiles btg helped shaping the future 4th alpine div.
My great great grandfather was a kid of 11 years in Dalmatia,NDH and he was saved by italian officer and his soldiers from the ustase, and also because he was hungry and was starving they gave him a bag full of bread. If there were no Italians many Serbs in ndh would be dead.
Good video. Please make another one. Maybe look into the MVSN legions a little. Interesting story about them holding the line on the Russian front during Operation Little Saturn while those around them fell.
@@fabriziomangione3231 my Italian heritage is a bit lost. Yes Lucca! It's near where the Santa Ana massacre occurred. I think they left because of the political climate of the time.
@@Nome_utente_generico yes there was a massacre of nuns hiding jews in a convent near there. Resistance was most prevalent in that part of the country.
👍 i am starting to sense Dutch people have their own strong sense of fashion. Funny video. 😁 You mentioned Cossacks in the Italian army. I didn't know this. I would like to know more about south east Europe and the Cossacks...okay nevermind i see you have a Cossack video from 3 months ago😀 LOL ill go watch that.
Great video Stephan. Just a tip: you showed the infantry (division structure, weapons and uniform) but could you also inform us about the (modern and big, though not so succesfull) navy and the airforce (Reggia Aeronautica) which had obsolete, bad types but also some very good types. Thanx
Thanks for your reply, Harco. Thing is, I'm not really interested in airforce so won't cover it anytime soon I'm afraid but in future videos I'll try to shed some light on it but don't expect much. There are other airforce channels out there for sure.
Very interesting insights on Italy in WW2. Lack of good armor and equipment, as well as bad generals brought us Italians to perform very bad on the whole. Nonetheless the Italian Army made miracles during some battles, which today are mostly forgotten outside Italy. I am very glad to see that some non-Italians try to give objective insights "sine ira et studio", as Tacitus would say. Grazie!
I'm a Sicilian immigrant, my grandmother used to tell me she got a brother that died during the war in Russia. That's the first video I see about that battle. Very good 👍 thank u
The binary division was the flawed attempt to confer agility to an army in the framework of alpine war (which ofc ww2 was not): the idea was to have 2 binary divisions to work together, one pinning the enemy frontally while the other one would flank it. Being "lighter", the binary division could move quickly. In practice, they were weaker infantry divisions, lacking offensive power and only capable of holding the line, actually adding up this numerical weakness to usually inferior or more scarce equipment than their opponents. Politically, it allowed the regime to booster 70 divisions - a tragic bluff soon to be found by their enemies.
The Italians seemed to have some realization of how bad an idea the binary division was. During the war they attached a Black Shirt Legion, effectively an understrength infantry regiment, to many of their divisions. This was of course inferior to having an additional regular infantry regiment.
Merry Christmas! My "Nonno" (Grandfather) Elio avoided conscription in 1942 to the Italian Army in Russia, needless to say, I would not be here if he didn't. He ended up acting as a "partisan" by helping wounded English and American forces in '44 by using his bicycle to evacuate the wounded. Everyone from that side of my family has a story to tell about that time, and its certainly still fresh in their minds... Again, merry Christmas professor!
Some minor misconception, the story of the "carboard" boots is just a myth continued by some pieces of Italian literature. The myth comes from the extreme conditions in which the Italian ended up in Russia and the lack of supplies that could be brought to the frontlines, in fact it isn't a common story with veterans that even participated on that front. Same thing with the greatcoat, of good quality and comparable with what the Germans and British had, but that in the extreme weather of Russia was not enough (much like the German greatcoats). The socks instead while not that good looking were cheap to produce and easier to put and keep on.
Shoes made of compressed cardboard covered with leather or cloth were in fact supplied to the army during the First World War, however the shoes given to the soldiers in the Second World War were pitiful, filtered the water from the nails and the sole was made of leather which from the passage of the cold and humid snow to the heat of the shelters they broke in a short time and testifies to a good number of vintage photos in which the soldiers have their feet bundled up with rags having no other means to protect themselves from the cold and the fact that repairing shoes forced the use of soldiers and therefore the story of cardboard shoes started with angry soldiers, above all because some units of the Alpine troops had modern amphibians with rubber soles.
Completely agree....I owe a few pairs of Italian boots. In terms of shape, materials and construction they're very similar to their British/ German/ French equivalents of the period.
@@Antonio_DG The case of the WW1 boots made of compressed carboard, it was more of an exception rather than the rule, it was actually a scam from one of the manufacuring companies. In regards of the WW2 boots how where they pityful? You know that with the exception of the US, all countries produced and issued boots with leather sole with hobnails, the problem wasn't just for Italy but for any Axis nation that fought on the eastern front.
Very interesting video as all the others. Italy was totally unprepared far a war. Perhaps, going back to june 1940 Mussolini decided to enter in the war because Hitler was winning and he tought the war would finish in a couple of months. It's easy to to judge the story after the end if WW2. Anyway the disaster was clear after the campaign against France and after the defeat in Libia in 1940. My father belonged to the fascist youth and fought at the end of the war under the R.s.i. as a bersagliere. Basically they had no food, no ammunition.... nothing. The war was defently lost. Marco
a small clarification: in those years the woolen socks and high-necked sweaters were worn by skiers and mountaineers. Therefore it is normal to see some departments dressed like this. just as today it is common to see soldiers wearing the keffiye in a desert environment
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing describing. Class A research project. The conscripted Italian soldiers didn’t have much enthusiasm. In being in the armed forces.
it's so interesting when weapons from WW1 are called obsolete because they are not there just old if you came under fire from WW1 artillery or WW1 rifles and machineguns you would not be able to tell the difference because if it works its deadly and i would rather not be shot at by anything than something old
As for rifles many were dating from before WW1 so most countries didn't have a newer model. That wasn't the problem. As for artillery, these guns have developed during the interwar years to smaller and more mobile. More suitable for a war of movement.
Definitely a subject that deserves more attention. Italy gets a bad wrap during the war and they earned that with their poor pre-war preparation. They simply weren't ready.
I really can't write a book regarding the Italian army and the poor performance until the allied landing of Anzio-Nettuno the 22nd January 1944. Aside the uniforms with the ridiculous putties (that was very unpopular with the troops) I believe that you should have mentioned that the army always suffered from bad leadership, from Mussolini that had very little understanding of military matters together with the General Staff that had little understanding of military and technical matters with poorly trained officers and by consequence poorly motivated troops. That said you have not mentioned that the Italian troops started to fight with much better determination in Tunisia under the command of General Giovanni Messe, probably the best Italian General that came from the ranks and because of his connections. Finally it must be said that the Italians, despite the armistice of 20th September 1943 fought with much better determination especially under the R.S.I. under Mussolini especially during the landing of Anzio-Nettuno which again and again the Italian troops demonstrated that were second to nobody. But already the troops was bleed white with too many troops dispersed in Croatia and fighting Tito's partisans much thanks to Badoglio that left, not only the army virtually without orders and leaving over 700,000 troops between Croatia and Yugoslavia but had the courage to flee with the Royal family to Brindisi shaming many Italians. It just a very incomplete picture but to understand a bit more. Hope I didn't bore...
@@HistoryHustle you are welcome! My late Italian father always told me that he was bitter about Badoglio that virtually left Italy in an terrible mess. My father was a passionate historian and I guess I picked some his passion...
"Italy is a country of style" but during fascism style was a luxury for higher-ups and carabinieri, the everyman would go to the Don river with cardboard shoes, without food and ammo. Anyone who spoke up against this bullshit was "not manly and fascist enough". No wonder so many people was fed up with Mussolini and his fascist bullshit.
LEARN about OTHER AXIS ARMIES:
SLOVAKS: ua-cam.com/video/BG5mDX21jkU/v-deo.html
HUNGARIANS: ua-cam.com/video/6OlyxHpzsx4/v-deo.html
Italijanska partizanska divizija narodnooslobodilačke vojske Jugoslavije Garibaldi. Divizija „Garibaldi“ je bila divizija Italijanska vojska i NOVJ sastavljena od italijanskih oficira i vojnika, koji su prešli na stranu partizana posle kapitulacije Italije. Divizija alpskih lovaca Taurineze je pokušala da se probije iz Nikšića i Danilovgrada do obale Jadranskog mora, ali su ih Nemci preduhitrili i razoružali oko polovine divizije. Ostatak divizije je prešao na stranu partizana. Od preostalih delova divizije Taurineze 11. oktobra 1943. je osnovana brigada Aosta, koju je činilo 800 boraca, raspoređenih u 4 bataljona. Od delova iste divizije 19. oktobra kod Kolašina je osnovana 2. italijanska partizanska brigada, koja je isto imala 800 boraca u 4 bataljona. 19. pešadijska divizija Venecija, čije je sedište bilo u Beranama, kolebala se da li da pređe na stranu partizana ili četnika. Posle razgovora sa Pekom Dapčevićem, divizija je prešla na stranu NOVJ 10. oktobra 1943. i na predlog štaba 2. udarnog korpusa pretvorena u 5 brigada. Te brigade je činilo oko 5000 oficira i vojnika. U Pljevljima je 2. decembra 1943. je od brigada divizija Taurineze i Venecija osnovana partizanska divizija Garibaldi, sastavljena od 5000 vojnika raspoređenih u 4 brigade, pod operativnu komandu štaba 2. udarnog korpusa NOVJ. Divizija je reorgaizovana 13. februara 1944. pri čemu je jedna od njene četiri brigade raspuštena, a vojnici su podeljeni među ostale tri, a nekoliko specijalaca je raspoređeno u druge partizanske odrede 2. korpusa. Uloga tih specijalista je bila obuka partizana za artiljerijce, veziste, inženjerce i druge zadatke. Davizija se najviše boriza uz 3., 29. i 37. diviziju NOVJ, a najteže borbe je imala u završnim borbama u dolini Lima u Srbiji. Po oslobođenju Crne Gore i Hercegovine, divizija je prebačena u Dubrovnik, odakle je u martu 1945. po dogovoru Vrhovnog štaba NOVJ i italijanske vrhovne komande prebačena na Siciliju, gde je dočekala kraj rata..
its more important how something works than looks
Thank you Stefan, my grandpa told me some of this stuff, but you put in the details! You should make short lived states episodes about both the RSI (the fascist puppet state of northern Italy) and the Southern Kingdom under ally occupation, it would be great!
@@fabriziomangione3231 thanks for your reply.
What is that field jacket you are wearing? It looks great
After my grandmother's family was murdered in Donetsk in the fall of 1941, she escaped to Odessa where she found work with an Italian high-ranking officer's family as a maid. She worked for them for a couple of years and even after they had found out she was Jewish they didn't turn her in. She learned Italian and never had a bad word to say about them.
There were many Italians who saved Jews, one example was the famous Italian cyclist champion who came in first in France both before and after the war.
@@eleanorkett1129 Often high ranking Italian Army officers made decisions to protect Jews. In Yugoslavia, one of the Italian occupation commanders authorized the distribution of false identity cards to Jewish families which facilitated their escape from the Nazis.
Respect from Italy, sorry for the war.
Thanks for sharing this.
@@eleanorkett1129 Yes, his name was Gino Bartali.
My dad while serving with the RAF in Italy in the 90s lived next door to an Italian family(not a shock there really!)who's "head" served in the Italian Army in Greece anyway cutting a long story short he ended up being taken prisoner by a Greek unit and they got on so well that several of them still came to visit him all those years later!
Cool😎
@Goran Vresk That narrative about taking Moscow always intrigues me because people say about Hitler he learned nothing from Napoleon... then conveniently forget that Napoleon took Moscow not even half way through Sept. That being said, I bet if you could spend 10mins chatting to Hitler about Mussolini and the Italian contribution to the war it wouldn't be glowing praise
As for the whole of WW2 I don't buy that, even if they had knocked the Soviet Union out in 41 Germany doesn't just change the dynamics of facing the UK without the means to invade, likely there would have been a long drawn out kind of stalemate until one side or the other could deploy nuclear weapons against their enemy.
@@mjc8281 In their own way both Napoleon and Hitler were trying for a European Union. Their successors achieved it much later using stealth, diplomacy and craftiness. England was never keen. Though we have our traitors as always. 🏴
@Goran Vresk Here's another one that doesn't know the story.
What you said about Mussolini and the Italian army is not entirely true, in fact Italy can very well place itself as fourth or fifth among the strongest nations of the time and despite having inadequate equipment, departments like "Folgore" and "Arditi" should teach you a lot about cowardice.
study again that you make a better impression.
The Folgore division during the second battle of El Alamein managed to resist, together with elements of the "Pavia" Division, the repeated breakthrough attempts carried out by the British 7th Armored Division, as well as the large concentric attack launched on 25 October by elements of the 7th Armored Division and the 44th and 50th Infantry Divisions, and the last attempt of the 132nd Infantry Brigade (44th Division) on the 27th.
In compliance with the orders of the ACIT, the "Folgore" division began its retreat on the night of November 3, 1942, in conditions made extremely difficult by the lack of means of transport. After two days of marching in the desert, at 14:35 on day 6, after having destroyed the weapons, what was left of the Division surrendered to the 44th British Infantry Division of General Hughes . The Italian paratroopers obtained from the British the honor of arms and, after the surrender, General Hughes wanted to receive generals Enrico Frattini and Riccardo Bignami and Colonel Boffa, congratulating them on the behavior of their men.
After the battle of El Alamein the "Folgore" Division and its Regiments will be awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor. Entirely destroyed in combat, the "Folgore" division was dissolved at the end of 1942.
There was no real animosity between Greek and Italian soldiers apart from the unjust war. There have been many stories about Italian soldiers taken as prisoners and been treated as friends by their "enemies". Also Italian sailors had the same fate when taken prisoners on greek warships.
You spoke mainly of the negative sides of Italy almost completely omitting the events where it was victorious or gave an example of great valor
I mention the cavalry charge. Feel free to add information.
@@ИльяКим-ю3еYes, half of the country opposed the Nazi-fascist regime as carabinieri and partisans who fought against the forces of the Axis
@@HistoryHustle We have had other successes such as the undertaking of Alessandria, Suda and Gibraltar, the conquest of British somaliland, the Italian invasion of Egypt, the actions at bir El gubi in November and December 1941, The battle of petrikovka and the operation daffodil
@@ИльяКим-ю3е Many Italians were interned in concentration camps by the Germans after 8 September
@@ИльяКим-ю3е yes
Seriously Stefan, you are the first non-Italian military historian who is interested in Italy and WW2! Kudos for your very informative videos!
Thanks for replying🇮🇹👍
WW2 shouldn’t be looked at from the nations aspect, but from the ideological aspect. Communists, Fascists and Social democrats. In the beginning it was Fascists and Communists versus Social Democrats, in the second half it was Social Democrats and Communists versus Fascists. Italy was a country nearly divided evenly between the three, hence, the civil war in Italy. The people suffered the most in Western Europe, and don’t deserve the reputation they have. 🇨🇦🇮🇹
@Goran Vresk You still believe this idiocy? The real reasons of why the Germans had to postpone Barbarossa were 2:
- the exceptional Rasputiza, which caused the Bug river to flood and turn Eastern Poland/Western Russia into a sea of mud;
- the lack of preparation of the Luftwaffe, which was still busy building airstrips and stockpiling supplies.
Open a history book, not a propaganda leaflet.
@@fraulens Not only that, they were still in the process of a major reorganization of their armored and motorized forces that was not completed until well into June.
@Goran Vresk The losers get to write history too. Especially when it comes to WWII. From the 1950 on, German generals and soldiers published numerous accounts of the war. There is a pretty clear intent to blame anyone but themselves for Nazi Germanys brutal racial and occupation policies or losing the war. For example, Rommel endlessly blamed the Italians for the fact his supply convoys were being sunk, thinking they were infiltrated by British intelligence, in reality his own coded Enigma messages were being read by British code breakers. If you think the Germans behaved themselves in France think again. In 1940 they routinely bombed and machinegunned refugee columns. After the French surrendered they massacred thousands of France's West African soldiers. They conducted brutal police operations during their occupation of France, most infamously at Oradour-sur-Glane where the SS Das Reich Division massacred 643 civilians including women and children. Some 75,000 French Jews were deported to concentration camps with all but 2,500 of them being killed in the camps. Mass murder and racial extermination were the official policy of the Third Reich. Theses policies were carried out by the Nazi Party, the SS, the Wehrmacht and police authorities, no branch of the German political system of innocent of crimes against humanity.
When we talk about italian troops in WWII we often speak about failure with some exceptions like the Ariete Division or the Folgore paratrooper Division or the commandos that attacked Alexandria but you have explained very well the deficiencies of italian armament and equipment. In this sense it is many times unfair to expect more than what was reasonable. Still some italians fought well, even in the eastern front. General Gariboldi was even awarded with the Knight’s Cross! Thank you for this interesting video and Cheers from Peru!
Thanks for sharing your insights, Luis!
Thanks Stefan, and yes please to a further video on the Italian army after the Sep 1943 surrender. My father, a Greek, was in eastern Crete during the war,. That part was occupied by the Italians as you showed. My father spoke fluent Italian as he was born in the Italian occupied Dodecanese island of Kassos, a result of the Italian-Turkish war of 1911, and he had many tales of the mild occupation of the Italians; they had no hatred of Greeks. That ended after Sep 1943 when the Germans occupied eastern Crete and imposed the same harsh occupation with executions inflicted elsewhere on Crete.
Hi George, thanks for your reply. As in parts of Yugoslavia the shift from Italian to German rule was terrible.
Another excellent video, Stefan. I vote “yes” for more on Italy - theirs is a sad story.
Thanks for replying 👍
Thank you for the video. Italy is so overlooked in videos about WW2, especially the campaign in Russia. So please more videos about CSIR and ARMIR. Overview about infantry and vehicles an perhaps some of the battles that were fought.
For what I understand a total of 220,000 Italian forces were sent to the Eastern Front , mostly Alpini [ mountain troops ] , more than half of them never came back . They served mostly on the bent of the river Don during the battle of Stalingrad . also in places like Stalino , [ todays Donetsk ] and Nikoljewka and others , the names I can't remember .
@@stironeceno Actually is the Alpini were the minority in Russia, the vast majority of Italian units were from the infantry
@Goran Vresk Just like that , the Russian fiasco by the Germans ,rest on the back of the Italian Army . Any other stupid thoughts you can come up with ?
Thanks for your reply, Kasper. Vehicles aren't much of my personal interest but battles can be covered.
@@thecommentaryking Italian Generals in North Africa 1941-1943 (Italian edition) Paperback - June 3, 2021
Italian Edition by Libro E. Di Zinno (Author), Rudy A. D'Angelo (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating
See all formats and editions
Paperback
$25.27
3 New from $25.27
I GENERALI ITALIANI di ROMMEL
IN AFRICA SETTENTRIONALE
1941 - 1943
Scritto dal Dott. Libro Di Zinno e Rudy D'Angelo, è un must per chiunque si interessi al ruolo dei militari italiani nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Il mio interesse per il Regio Esercito Italiano, è iniziato alcuni decenni fa, quando ho notato una certa mancanza di informazioni, per quanto riguarda il suo ruolo nella campagna del Nord Africa. Ho pensato: "Più della metà delle formazioni di combattimento in Nord Africa erano italiane - come potevano meritare solo qualche nota a piè di pagina, o frasi di passaggio, in un libro che copre 3 anni di combattimenti?" Per molto tempo è stato necessario rivolgersi alla letteratura in lingua straniera, per trovare una discussione più corposa sulle Forze Armate italiane nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Provvidenzialmente, autori come Jack Greene e Alessandro Massignani, e Ian Walker (tra gli altri), le cui opere coprono la guerra nel Mediterraneo e nel Nord Africa, è venuto alla scena con studi dettagliati in lingua inglese di quelle lotte. Ora arrivano il Dr. Libro Di Zinno e Rudy D'Angelo, con il loro libro, Rommel's Italian Generals in North Africa. Laddove Greene, Massignani e Walker hanno fornito gran parte del cosa e del dove, riguardo al Regio Esercito in Nord Africa, Di Zinno e D'Angelo forniscono il chi.
Entrambi questi uomini, osservatori preparati ed esperti - Di Zinno come medico e D'Angelo come detective - hanno applicato le loro conoscenze per svelare un persistente enigma della campagna nordafricana, vale a dire, le identità degli alti comandanti di campo italiani, che hanno guidato Formazioni italiane avanti e indietro nel deserto, nelle ondeggianti fortune di quella guerra. E il particolare nodo che sciolgono è legato all'identificazione con foto. Nel corso dei decenni Rudy e Libro hanno scoperto che in varie pubblicazioni i nomi dei generali italiani non erano stati abbinati alle foto di altri ufficiali.
Inoltre, hanno scoperto che questi errori non si ripetevano di rado, poiché le nuove generazioni di ricercatori, basandosi su lavori scritti generazioni fa, presumevano la correttezza delle immagini e delle informazioni in cui si imbattevano. Come qualcuno che ha svolto alcune ricerche sull'esercito italiano in quel periodo, ho un particolare apprezzamento per questo problema, specialmente per quanto riguarda l'identificazione delle unità. Con la pazienza degli scienziati, il dottor Di Zinno e il detective D'Angelo si sono assunti il colossale compito di confrontare e contrapporre le centinaia e centinaia di immagini di generali italiani, che loro, come storici collezionisti militari, avevano accumulato. E bene che hanno avuto la pazienza, come quello che era iniziato come un viaggio accademico, si è trasformato in una ricerca scientifica di molti anni. Il prodotto di questa impresa sono i generali italiani di Rommel in Nord Africa. In questo lavoro apprendiamo non solo le corrette identità fotografiche dei tanti generali italiani che hanno combattuto in Nord Africa, ma anche delle loro carriere e destini, molti dei quali hanno incontrato onorevoli fini in combattimento. I generali italiani di Rommel in Nord Africa è un libro di valore duraturo per chiunque voglia aggiungere alla propria biblioteca di storia militare, siano essi collezionisti, ricercatori o appassionati. Questo libro non deluderà e anzi getta la luce tanto necessaria su un argomento che merita più attenzione.
Patrick Cloutier
Autore della guerra di Mussolini in Spagna 1936-1939.
L
Worth bearing in mind that Mussolini was only spending 6% of Italy's relatively low GDP on the military in 1940 while Germany was spending 25% of a much bigger GDP (later to rise to 50% by 1944). It was all the fault of Mussolini for not preparing adequately for a long and arduous war.
He thought the war was effectively over when he joined. It seemed certain pretty much to the world Germany had won and Britain would soon fall or make peace. He wanted a position of influence at the negotiating table. He wasn't expecting Hitler to invade the USSR and declare war on the USA in 1941. I highly doubt he would have signed up for that. He was aware of Italy's military unpreparedness but Britain was beaten and about to fall... or so he thought.
@@distantthunder12ck55 He declared war on France without consulting the general staff and the king, who instead would not have started any war because instead of that corrupt braggart the accounts to modernize the army had done it, Italy needed 2 years to prepare for war, having said that the forces of the axis were too few to compete against the rest of the world and the countries of the axis did not even have the resources to last, also because it was not even known that Libya was full of oil and in fact Germany has declared war to the USSR in order not to get into debt with Stalin and get to the Caucasus oil wells. Mussolini was a donkey and not a leader, otherwise instead of burning money in propaganda demonstrations he would have had to spend money to organize the army, while under him he lost more and more quality and even dismantled a welded armor industry to restore the sector military armor riveted to favor FIAT.
@@Antonio_DG Mussolini was an asshat and the King spineless ! It was no major feat to defeat Ethiopia. Boy scouts could have done it.
never heard anybody say mussolini was a smart guy.
@@baronedipiemonte3990 I was a boy scout I don't think that it would be easy to invade Ethiopia, big country with not road in 1935 the italian army had to build them on the way , rough terrain , guerrilla all the time , a bit like Afghanistan, you think the boys scout could win in Afghanistan, the Americans didn't, a bit like the Russians.
I would love some more videos about the italians especially about battles on the eastern front and the composition of the divisions. Like how many at guns, how many man form a regiment and so on
👍
My Dad fought in Lybia and what he told me matches some of the points in this video. He commanded a platoon of tanks (if we can call them tanks). I remember he told me that a British piece of artillery struck his tank and went through its armor like a knife through warm butter. He didn't die because the communication between tanks was by shouting orders from turret to turret so he was sitting with most of his body out in the turret.
One thing very important that other Europeans still don't get is that in 1940 Italy had been a country for just 75 years. Most of the population spoke their local dialets and were much more attached to their regions than to Italy. Many, therefore, didn't feel a war to make great Italy as something that connected with them. Most Italians didn't want to go to war, even less invading other countries. This explains a lot the behaviour of so many Italians before and during the second war. Additionally, more than half the country was very, very poor, and the whole was under a megalomaniac dictator: Perfect recipe for disaster!
So Italians felt the same way as Americans before the Civil War, more loyalty to their home states that to the country.
@@samuelstephen8147 Why should anybody owe unconditional loyalty to any country? Why should anybody give his/her life for a flag or an anthem? Individuals are just tools for few powerful to achieve their objectives. I respect any common people who doesn't want to invade any foreign land, and the right thing to do is to desert such a war. The vast majority of the wars in modern history have not been thought for the benefit of the people who actually end up fighting and dying. In the last 150 years the children of the powerful, prime minister or presidents have never died in any war their parents have started.
So, I ask, why should Italians have fought for something that was unfair and inmoral? To fight a war in foreign lands for the benefit of few leaders?
@@piercoucy Frankly, your considerations, however correct in their ideal component, do not reflect the historical reality, not even the current one in which a nation that prevails over another nation always gains something.
@@Antonio_DG Yes, I can see the common Americans are richer after two Iraqui wars and Afghanistan.
@@piercoucy Neoliberalism is impoverishing the whole West and wars are holding the system up instead of kicking the ass of industrialists who evade all taxes.
I’d definitely like to see more about the Italian army and their battles. Also, the Italian Navy!!
Insert joke about glass bottomed boats
For sure. As for the Navy, not so much, sorry.
@@HistoryHustle iT'S A TASTELESS RACIST JOKE.
@@HistoryHustle You realize the Royal Navy lost 238 ships fighting the Axis primarily the Italians froom 1940-1943
@@Groovy_Bruce You mean referring to the 238 Royal Navy ships sunk in the Meditteranean.
Outstanding job as usual. Thank you
Thanks!
One interesting detail about the Axis is that the 3 main countries Italy, Japan and Germany all lacked(or assumed they lacked) a significant oil supply.
True.
@@HistoryHustle rofile
1
John Vento
·
Following
Lives in FloridaTue
Why are Italian WW2 planes underrated when they were so good?
Simple, as long as it was Italian there was a biased propaganda to disparage any thing Italian; tanks, planes, ships,leaders, troops, Mussolini, Italian uniforms, pizza. You get the idea.
Extremely rare that any “historian” told the truth about the exceptions or as to why some of Italy’s military equipment was poor. Do you ever hear it was the Germans who broke The Pact of Steel just 4 months after signing dragging an unprepared Italy into WW II? It stipulated Italy would be given 3 more years to prepare and upgrade it’s military and equipment and that the Germans never informed Mussolini of it’s intentions to invade Poland. Of course not, these historians and other lying channels of Bozo’s on You Tube calling themselves “Armchair Historian” or other self aggrandizing titles will tell you it was Italy that betrayed Germany because of another misleading label and lies of how Italy “switched sides” Of course that title applied to the other Axis members and every occupied European country that collaborated (switched) but then conveniently switched again when the Allies took control of the war. Finland switched 3X.
Here are but a few examples:
Rommel was a “genius” thanks only to the Italians:
“At that point, of course, the situation changed considerably and Rommel has gone down in history as one of the greatest military leaders of all time for his stunning victories over the British in north Africa.. What many fail to realize though is that the forces effectively under his command, which he used to win these masterful successes, were 2/3 Italian and the large majority of his armored forces were Italian tanks.”
“The German soldier has impressed the world, however the Italian Bersagliere soldier has impressed the German soldier.”
_Rommel
And Italian intelligence and bravery: NOTE: This video has since been removed due to copyright infringement. It showed how Italian Intelligence Services penetrated British Intelligence and relayed British fighting positions to Rommel, hence why he seemed to know their every move.
“This revisionist history convincingly argues that the Regia Marina Italiana (the Royal Italian Navy) has been neglected and maligned in assessments of its contributions to the Axis effort in World War II. After all, Italy was the major Axis player in the Mediterranean, and it was the Italian navy and air force, with only sporadic help from their German ally, that stymied the British navy and air force for most of the thirty-nine months that Italy was a belligerent. It was the Royal Italian Navy that provided the many convoys that kept the Axis war effort in Africa alive by repeatedly braving attack by aircraft, submarine, and surface vessels. If doomed by its own technical weaknesses and Ultra (the top-secret British decoding device), the Italian navy still fought a tenacious and gallant war; and if it did not win that war, it avoided defeat for thirty-nine, long, frustrating months.”
“Long the butt of ignorant jokes, the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) of World War II had capable professional officers, gallant sailors, and beautiful fast ships designed by gifted engineers. What it didn’t have was petroleum, and that was fatal. As British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon observed at the end of World War I, the Allies “floated
@@josephdalelio6684italian tanks had 12 gears, one forward & eleven reverse! The thinnest book in the world is the italian book of war heroes! You couldn't hold ground the germans had taken! Surrender specialists!🏳
I love your sense of humor. It adds to the great content.
Thanks 👍🏻
Dear Stefan...There is a topic that I was wondering about. My grandfather, who was not an Italian and not a Fascist (I add this for the sake of those people who read the comments with the goal of criticizing those who have something intelligent to write), had two remarks to make about Mussolini. First, he would say "At least he got the trains to run on time." I do not know if this is true, but the idea was at least he achieved something that cannot be done in Canada where trains and buses are almost routinely late. The second one was "He knew how to deal with the mafia - Shoot first, ask questions later." I also do not know if this was true, but here is something you might consider for further episodes: My grandfather and others mentioned how the Americans used in their invasion of Sicily and southern mainland Italy, mafia people who had fled to the USA because of Mussolini's hard line. It was said that they best knew the terrain. They also knew who were Mussolini supporters in each village and pointed them out to the Americans or shot them with their own guns supplied by Uncle Sam. I would like to know if this was true. It was also said that once the mafia people were there, they once again set up their cosa nostra networks and the Americans turned a blind eye toward it as they were focused on pushing north and taking Rome. Incidentally, my other grandfather was a Canadian soldier in Italy during the time of the invasion. Since he was married and had five children, he was kept at the back of the invasion and told to drive a lorry usually filled with ammunition, food and supplies. It was considered a safe job, but he went over a land mine and was almost killed. He spent the rest of the war recovering in hospitals and eventually made it to England where he met his second wife, but that is another story. Stephan in Canada
Your story remembers me of , how Generals Mark Clark and Dwight Eisenhower appointed former Vichy Admiral François Darlan to be head of a Free French administration in Africa.
The French Resistance was furious, and soon had him killed.
So the US really didn't care if it was a good guy taking control..after they left.
And the biggest example is how they gathered knowledge , instead of prosecuting the Japanese Army Unit 731.
Well, you should read the book "Mussolini ha fatto anche cose buone" from Francesco Filippi about stupid thinks that are still in the air regarding supposed accomplishments. He's demolishing all these nice theories about the Duce. I don't know if the book is translated, hopefully, I'm fluent Italian....
It's history. OSS's James Jesus Angleton (pre Cia secret service) used mafia during and AFTER the war .
@Goran Vresk Italian army was poorly trained with obsolete equipment. Furthermore they were not very motivated.
In Corsica fascists, sent 100 000 soldiers for controlling an island with 250 000 people!
For some historians, invasion of Russia was delayed by one month by operations in Greece. It does not seems very realistic as 4 millions german soldiers invaded Russia and only 25 000 did operate in Greece.
Yeah It is...You can view a video of the UA-cam channel *simple history* on this topic
I hope you have a great Christmas Stefan! Thanks for the video on Italy! 🇮🇹
Cheers, hope you had a good Christmas also.
Amazingly detailed
👍
Yes finally an Italian episode. Btw Stefan can you do another video on the Italian social republic army?
One day for sure.
My grandfather Luigi was an alpino officer who served with Pusteria division in the Ethiopian wars, then during WW2 he was a combat engineer with XXXI Guastatori under the command of the famous Colonel Paolo Caccia Dominioni the Count of Sillavengo in Libya and Egypt. Went AWOL in 1943 and joined the Partisans in the northeastern front close the Austrian and Yugoslav borders. His brother Bruno was an Alpino Captain in the UORK AMBA battalion and fought at the battle of Keren in the East Africa campaign and after spent the duration of the war as a POW in Kenya. Another brother Primo was a sergeant in the 8th Alpino battalion of the Julia division and fought in the Greek campaign and then served on the Russian front but was killed in action on the Don river in December 1942. The youngest brother Gino served in Italy with 6th Alpine division “Alpi Graie” and went AWOL in 1943 and joined the partisans.
Bella storia, grazie per averla scritta.
@@fabriziomangione3231 Io in accordio,
Posso io scrivatto - grazie?
My Italian is not as good as I wish and I don't want to give the wrong Impression. It is wonderful that you keep in mind the history of your family as I maintain my memories of my Nonni others. Grazie tanto.
@@RichardDanielli my grandfather and his youngest brother emigrated to Australia and here I am. My Italian isn’t so good either. Will never forget the stories I was told and I love sharing them.
@@Darkthrone-qi1ic My father came from Istria to Canada and I was born in 1966. Keep up your love for your family, keep making good food. Buon cibo, buon vino, buon amico - grazie e buon natale.
I liked the fact that most of the comments to this video are fair and objective.
I do have an objection, though. Why did you call 'infamous' the Isbuscenskij cavalry attack on part of the Savoia Cavalleria during the Russian campaign? Even the Russians considered that a heroic episode, and it truly was so!
Thanks for your reply. I meant to say 'famous'.
Thank you. I would enjoy more information on the Italians involved in ww2
👍👍👍
Happy Christmas Stefan, hope you're having a great one! 🇮🇪
👍🎅
About 5:35, I think that the Hungarian thingies look worse (I have no idea what was more practical)
Merry Christmas Stefan!
I was considering cutting myself off the internet this Christmas (especially since I got some very interesting books as presents) but I couldn't miss your videos.
Many thanks as always, Artur. Happy 2022 🎆
⁰
Stefan, thanks for the video! I have an uncle that fought in the Italian army and became a POW of Germany in early 1944. From stories I've heard moral among the Italian soldiers was always pretty low due to the fact of junk equipment and the fact that they really didn't like Mussolini. I'm looking forward to future videos on Italy during WWII. A video on why they switched sides would be interesting.
Thanks for sharing this.
there was a country literally splitted in half with a brutal Civil War, that's way more than ''sWiTChINg SiD3s''
My grandfather fought in the battle of Greece in Nov 1940 against the troops of Mussolini. Temperatures were unusually very low. He was in the snow for a month and had his leg amputated because of frostbite.
Another friend of my grandfather's was the only man from his unit to survive after an artillery barrage.
Also, my grandfather and his brothers told me that the Italian occupying force of Greece was quite easy going. The Nazi Germans however more more strict and in some cases ruthless.
Moreover, I was also told that the fascist occupying forces never harassed a woman in the region. My grandfather thought that they fascist officers must have instructed the cooks to add libido-drive-inhibitors into the soldiers food.
Finally, the occupation ended abruptly in 1944 when all of the fascist occupying forces were withdrawn to the Russian front. The soldiers were gone very quickly. However it took Greece some time to recover, because the fascist had stripped the land of food and livestock and a civil war soon followed.
Very interesting to read. Horrible he lost his leg. Thank you for taking the time to share this.
Strange to hear about restraint towards women: the Italian occupation forces were nicknamed the S‘agapò army - the love army in Greek. However i do not know if the nickname originated among the Greek population or was a product of the ever-inventive British propaganda.
Love army or not, the Italian Army in Greece showed a mixed record, somewhere the occupation was benevolent, somewhere proper war crimes like massacres and arsons were committed by the Italians.
More Italian WW2 content please
Ok👍
Yes more Italian history! You are a great professor with a fantastic command of the english language.
Thanks, happy 2022 🎆
“Don’t get me started on this “🤣🤣🤣
That had me rolling laughing!!!
Another great and informative video Stefan. 👍
😂👍
A video on Italian occupation of Albania would be great
albania population 2m😂
For sure one day if I travel there.
Nice video and Merry Christmas. Greetings from Romania.
🎄👍
I hope that you enjoyed your Christmas. Once again you have produced a solid presentation. And delivered a solid narrative with enthusiasm. Kudos!
Many thanks, Fred 🎅👍
🎄 Stefan, thanks for your enlargements vids : entertaining and educational 👍
👍👍👍
I wish a good 2022 to you and your channel, broer! Obrigado! 🇧🇷
Happy 2022 🎆
I'd like to see more on the Italian forces in WW2.
👍
You like horror movies....
That was actually very good. Please do more about the Italian army.
Thanks for your reply.
My father was in the US 15th Air Force stationed near Foggia in 1944-45. He maintained/repaired electronics including radar on B24 bombers. He said there were a number of surrendered Italian soldiers that helped at his base. He said they were very cooperative and a lot of fun.
Thanks for sharing!
Yes please tell more about Italy in WW2! I love your utube channel! You are awesome at telling what really happened. Thank You!
Thanks for replying!
And for ONCE, I’m very proud to note that, finally, I have been the FIRST follower to click the ‘ like ‘ thumb !!!! What a Christmas present !
🎅👍
Hahaha the things people care about.
I Mr 772!!
And it’s a hell of an Xmas present!!
@@mikewest5529 Don’t you think so ? As a fellow ‘ History Hustle ‘ fan ? I was over the moon !
@@matthewwhitton5720
Yeah it was awesome!!
And I’m a huge fan and I’ll help him fund anything he wants to tell us!!
I’m a patron!!
Sir your video lecture on the subject was awesome 👍
🫡
6:30....those socks are actually really useful. They're footless and used often in mountainous terrain. Quite comfortable, quick to whip off when damp and easy to dry. Unwinding puttee's is a nightmare in comparison.
Thanks for sharing.
Definitely expand Prof. Stefan on Italy after 43. The shoes, boots, hilarious. Loved the turtle necks mention. Cheers bro, yet again well done.
Thanks as always Otis 👍
i'll be very interested to see part 2 (1943 - 1945) pls cover the Xa MAS, San Marco, etc. important note is that it took the allies (10+ nations) nearly 2 years to invade/liberate italy. the germans and RSI italians fought very hard to defend their land and extremely well with decent equipment. thx for the vid man. cheers.
Italy wasn't liberated, it was conquered just like Germany.
Al Swann We were “Liberated”
Much more to cover 👍
Merry Christmas and thanks for the informative episode
🎅👍
For further details on the Italians in Russia read "death on the Don" by Jonathan Trigg.....it's astounding how ill prepared and exposed they and the other European Axis armies were.....the scale of their destruction was horrific!!!
You should read some of the accounts from actual Italian soldiers who served in Russia, we have quite an extensive literature. "The Sergeant in the Snow" by Mario Rigoni Stern, "Centomila Gavette di Ghiaccio" by Giulio Bedeschi, and "The Red Horse" by Eugenio Corti are three masterpieces which would be worthy of a Band of Brothers type series. They all draw from their own experiences, sometimes fictionalizing names as they wrote them soon after the war and didn't want to infringe on other soldiers privacy, but if you can find english translations they are truly worth the reading!
Good book.
I love the comedy and I like that you are so relaxed just telling us all a story!
Thanks for this perfect Xmas present!!
Cheers, Mike. Hope you had a good Christmas!
Thanks for the video Stefan. Really interesting info on the uniforms and equipment, sounds like it really sucked to be an Interesting Italian soldier😶. I have always thought that good shoes must make a huge difference, or rather that bad shoes make life super difficult. Years ago I as visiting Brussels and the weather was cold and rainy. My pair of South Africa department store boots disintegrated on the first day, lesson learned. Merry Xmas, blessings to you and your family 🧑🎄
An army marches not just on its stomach but also it's boots.
Indeed.
Another great vid thank-you. And a very Merry Christmas..from Canada
🎅👍
Merry Christmas 🎅, Stefan !!!!
🎆
Make the video about the Italian Civil War, so people can understand that Italy didn't switched side but was divided between the allies and the axis
👍
very interesting - yes more on Italian WW2 campaigns please :)
👍
Prima geschiedkundig research weer, Stefan. Erg interessant allemaal. Heb me geabo'd.
Super om te lezen. Welkom op het kanaal!
to get a good picture of the italian army you also have to see it in complete context. the italian army has been fighting a war of exuberance in africa for more than 10 years. before the start of WW2. Italians had finished the war and were drawn in by Hitler and Mussolini without wanting to. the military didn't want any more and the population didn't want it at all. Hitler promised the Italian military to provide heavy artillery which never happened. also parts of ukraine where there were heavy industrial areas were promised to italy and this too was not given to them in the end. In short, the Crazy Hitler and Mussolini betrayed the Italians on all sides and the Italians no longer felt obliged to follow the agreements made. Italy was finished with the war and Hilter and Mussolini in 1943. At a time in the war in Greece and Russia. Italians soldiers shot even German soldiers because of the cruelty there dit against the civil populations.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Great video!
Thank you 👍
Merry Christmas Stefan and a HAPPY New Year . Love your channel, content and traveling locations on history ✌️🍻💪
=) Jesse
Thanks Jesse. Happy 2022 🎆
2).1,000 men of the 'Sienna' infantry div together with a black-shirt Btg stationed in the krete island formed the italian volunteer legion 'Kreta',the artillery-group 'San-Giorgio' who later on fougth at Anzio, 2 armored squadrons "Leoncello" & "San-giusto" + a black-shirts armored group called "Leonessa".I also forgot to mention to add for alpines troops = officers from the Btg group "Valle" & some elements of the of the XXX "ragrupamento sciatori" that with the exiles btg helped shaping the future 4th alpine div.
👍
My great great grandfather was a kid of 11 years in Dalmatia,NDH and he was saved by italian officer and his soldiers from the ustase, and also because he was hungry and was starving they gave him a bag full of bread. If there were no Italians many Serbs in ndh would be dead.
Thanks for sharing this.
Hey thanks, what a great xmas gift. 🍀🥂🍸 Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones.
🎆👍
Talking about those uniforms haha, has a great sense of humor.
Glad you appreciate it!
Good video. Please make another one. Maybe look into the MVSN legions a little. Interesting story about them holding the line on the Russian front during Operation Little Saturn while those around them fell.
Thanks for your reply!
My Italian side of the family came from Luka, Italy during occupation or just before. There was a lot of nazi resistance in that part of the country.
It's Lucca, but the rest it's correct, thanks for sharing!!!
That's something you don't hear in bbc documentaries, but it's true
@@fabriziomangione3231 my Italian heritage is a bit lost. Yes Lucca! It's near where the Santa Ana massacre occurred. I think they left because of the political climate of the time.
@@Nome_utente_generico yes there was a massacre of nuns hiding jews in a convent near there. Resistance was most prevalent in that part of the country.
@Christina: thanks for sharing.
thanks good job
👍
Nice vid
👍
Great video brother !
👍👍👍
👍 i am starting to sense Dutch people have their own strong sense of fashion. Funny video. 😁 You mentioned Cossacks in the Italian army. I didn't know this. I would like to know more about south east Europe and the Cossacks...okay nevermind i see you have a Cossack video from 3 months ago😀 LOL ill go watch that.
Many thanks for your reply. Hope you liked the Cossack video as well. Happy 2022!
@@HistoryHustle i am sure i will
Great video Stephan. Just a tip: you showed the infantry (division structure, weapons and uniform) but could you also inform us about the (modern and big, though not so succesfull) navy and the airforce (Reggia Aeronautica) which had obsolete, bad types but also some very good types. Thanx
Thanks for your reply, Harco. Thing is, I'm not really interested in airforce so won't cover it anytime soon I'm afraid but in future videos I'll try to shed some light on it but don't expect much. There are other airforce channels out there for sure.
Very interesting insights on Italy in WW2. Lack of good armor and equipment, as well as bad generals brought us Italians to perform very bad on the whole. Nonetheless the Italian Army made miracles during some battles, which today are mostly forgotten outside Italy. I am very glad to see that some non-Italians try to give objective insights "sine ira et studio", as Tacitus would say. Grazie!
Thanks for your response.
Stephan, please, make a video about the Italian Navy. Merry Christmas.
Sorry not a navy guy here.
a vid on the italian divisions in the ss would be nice
One day for sure.
I'm a Sicilian immigrant, my grandmother used to tell me she got a brother that died during the war in Russia. That's the first video I see about that battle. Very good 👍 thank u
Thanks for your reply.
The binary division was the flawed attempt to confer agility to an army in the framework of alpine war (which ofc ww2 was not): the idea was to have 2 binary divisions to work together, one pinning the enemy frontally while the other one would flank it. Being "lighter", the binary division could move quickly. In practice, they were weaker infantry divisions, lacking offensive power and only capable of holding the line, actually adding up this numerical weakness to usually inferior or more scarce equipment than their opponents. Politically, it allowed the regime to booster 70 divisions - a tragic bluff soon to be found by their enemies.
The Italians seemed to have some realization of how bad an idea the binary division was. During the war they attached a Black Shirt Legion, effectively an understrength infantry regiment, to many of their divisions. This was of course inferior to having an additional regular infantry regiment.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Another interesting but often overlooked subject. Thankyou.
👍👍👍
Buon lavoro, grazie.
Thanks for watching.
More Italy I love them! Especially the RSI!
Also do you know any info on the semovente 75/46
One day for sure.
Merry Christmas! My "Nonno" (Grandfather) Elio avoided conscription in 1942 to the Italian Army in Russia, needless to say, I would not be here if he didn't. He ended up acting as a "partisan" by helping wounded English and American forces in '44 by using his bicycle to evacuate the wounded. Everyone from that side of my family has a story to tell about that time, and its certainly still fresh in their minds... Again, merry Christmas professor!
Thanks for your reply. Sorry for my late response. Hope you had a good Christmas.
Thank you for the Christmas present Stefan!Merry Christmas to you and yours 🇨🇦
🎅👍
Poor Italians, it just gets worse for them :(
Yeah.
Great video as usual! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!
🎄😁
Buon Natale
My nonno was in the Italian Navy, he now in this planet not on the planet - I still remember Italo as he was my friend first and foremost.
Buon Natale!
@@HistoryHustle Buon anno
Did you just do an Inglorious Bastards reference at the end officially love this channel
You're the first one that noticed it 👍👍👍
Some minor misconception, the story of the "carboard" boots is just a myth continued by some pieces of Italian literature.
The myth comes from the extreme conditions in which the Italian ended up in Russia and the lack of supplies that could be brought to the frontlines, in fact it isn't a common story with veterans that even participated on that front.
Same thing with the greatcoat, of good quality and comparable with what the Germans and British had, but that in the extreme weather of Russia was not enough (much like the German greatcoats).
The socks instead while not that good looking were cheap to produce and easier to put and keep on.
In that case I stand corrected.
Yeah I'm guilty too, but I guess it's because "cardboard shoes" is kind of a meme at this point.
Shoes made of compressed cardboard covered with leather or cloth were in fact supplied to the army during the First World War, however the shoes given to the soldiers in the Second World War were pitiful, filtered the water from the nails and the sole was made of leather which from the passage of the cold and humid snow to the heat of the shelters they broke in a short time and testifies to a good number of vintage photos in which the soldiers have their feet bundled up with rags having no other means to protect themselves from the cold and the fact that repairing shoes forced the use of soldiers and therefore the story of cardboard shoes started with angry soldiers, above all because some units of the Alpine troops had modern amphibians with rubber soles.
Completely agree....I owe a few pairs of Italian boots. In terms of shape, materials and construction they're very similar to their British/ German/ French equivalents of the period.
@@Antonio_DG The case of the WW1 boots made of compressed carboard, it was more of an exception rather than the rule, it was actually a scam from one of the manufacuring companies.
In regards of the WW2 boots how where they pityful? You know that with the exception of the US, all countries produced and issued boots with leather sole with hobnails, the problem wasn't just for Italy but for any Axis nation that fought on the eastern front.
Would like to see more. Thank you.
👍
Very interesting video as all the others. Italy was totally unprepared far a war. Perhaps, going back to june 1940 Mussolini decided to enter in the war because Hitler was winning and he tought the war would finish in a couple of months. It's easy to to judge the story after the end if WW2. Anyway the disaster was clear after the campaign against France and after the defeat in Libia in 1940. My father belonged to the fascist youth and fought at the end of the war under the R.s.i. as a bersagliere. Basically they had no food, no ammunition.... nothing. The war was defently lost. Marco
Thanks for your reply Marco!
a small clarification: in those years the woolen socks and high-necked sweaters were worn by skiers and mountaineers. Therefore it is normal to see some departments dressed like this. just as today it is common to see soldiers wearing the keffiye in a desert environment
Thanks for sharing this.
My Italian Ancestors took the wrong path with Hitler and found doom with him...
That's where it came down to.
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing describing. Class A research project. The conscripted Italian soldiers didn’t have much enthusiasm. In being in the armed forces.
Thanks for your reply.
Niceee and informative :)
Thanks 👍🏻
Damn more dark history on auspicious day 😍
👍
Yes please tell more about Italy in WW2! I love history
👍
it's so interesting when weapons from WW1 are called obsolete because they are not there just old if you came under fire from WW1 artillery or WW1 rifles and machineguns you would not be able to tell the difference because if it works its deadly and i would rather not be shot at by anything than something old
As for rifles many were dating from before WW1 so most countries didn't have a newer model. That wasn't the problem. As for artillery, these guns have developed during the interwar years to smaller and more mobile. More suitable for a war of movement.
@@HistoryHustle that is true
So.. how about a video about Italian Social Republic and it's forces from 1943-1945?
One day...
I had wondered how a WW1 army would have fared against a WW2 army.
I guess the Italian Army answers that question?
In a way yes. Although many weapons and uniforms from 1918 were also used in 1939.
Definitely a subject that deserves more attention. Italy gets a bad wrap during the war and they earned that with their poor pre-war preparation. They simply weren't ready.
Indeed.
I really can't write a book regarding the Italian army and the poor performance until the allied landing of Anzio-Nettuno the 22nd January 1944. Aside the uniforms with the ridiculous putties (that was very unpopular with the troops) I believe that you should have mentioned that the army always suffered from bad leadership, from Mussolini that had very little understanding of military matters together with the General Staff that had little understanding of military and technical matters with poorly trained officers and by consequence poorly motivated troops. That said you have not mentioned that the Italian troops started to fight with much better determination in Tunisia under the command of General Giovanni Messe, probably the best Italian General that came from the ranks and because of his connections. Finally it must be said that the Italians, despite the armistice of 20th September 1943 fought with much better determination especially under the R.S.I. under Mussolini especially during the landing of Anzio-Nettuno which again and again the Italian troops demonstrated that were second to nobody. But already the troops was bleed white with too many troops dispersed in Croatia and fighting Tito's partisans much thanks to Badoglio that left, not only the army virtually without orders and leaving over 700,000 troops between Croatia and Yugoslavia but had the courage to flee with the Royal family to Brindisi shaming many Italians. It just a very incomplete picture but to understand a bit more. Hope I didn't bore...
Thanks for sharing this additional information.
@@HistoryHustle you are welcome! My late Italian father always told me that he was bitter about Badoglio that virtually left Italy in an terrible mess. My father was a passionate historian and I guess I picked some his passion...
Thank you Stefan I've been enjoying your informative videos
Thanks Adam
"Italy is a country of style" but during fascism style was a luxury for higher-ups and carabinieri, the everyman would go to the Don river with cardboard shoes, without food and ammo. Anyone who spoke up against this bullshit was "not manly and fascist enough".
No wonder so many people was fed up with Mussolini and his fascist bullshit.
Understandable yes.
Escellent video. Very well documented….As the italians say: “La guerra è bella ma é scomoda”
Thanks for your reply, David!
Merry Christmas Stephan!
🎅👍
Great video - can you do a video on the RSI?
One day yes 👍