Italy’s reputation in World War Two is generally marked by its
decision to switch sides from the Axis to the Allies. This generally leaves us
wondering why the Italians would have felt so compelled to betray their initial teammates,
but it also tends to distract from the first decision made by the Italians to even be part
of the Axis, to begin with. And consequently, this often results in a lack of understanding for why
the Italians ever aligned themselves with Germany if they were only going to deceive
them with such ease later on. So, why did Italy ever join the Axis Powers?...
To understand why the Italian leadership felt that they would benefit more from
an alliance with Hitler than with anyone else,
we first have to look at why Italy may have viewed the alternatives as adverse options.
One of the main reasons for this was likely due to the outcome of the Paris Peace Conference.
Similar to the Germans, the Italians were profoundly unhappy with the terms of the Treaty
of Versailles.Although Italy could technically claim victory, considering the fact that they
had ended the war alongside the Allied Powers, it seemed that the aftermath did not treat them
as victors. Having already lost a vast number of casualties during World War One,
the Treaty of Versailles additionally stripped the Italians of lands that they had believed
they should have been promised by the Treaty of London.
During the negotiations of the Paris Peace Conference, Italy reminded the allies of their
earlier commitment, demanding that they be given the new territory to add to their northern border,
and asked for an additional strip of land as well. To the Italians’ great agitation,
the Allies declined the new request for more additional land beyond the prior agreement
and instead gave that strip and more to neighboring Yugoslavia.
This anger drove them to a nationalist-led Italian occupation of Fiume
which eventually ended when the Italian government refused to annex the city.
As Italy and Germany now, both tried to bounce back from the war and figure out how to deal with
the disappointment of the peace treaty, they began to develop a sense of cooperation with each other…
Something that helped with this kindling friendship was the advancement of
fascism in both nations. While Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany and
established the Third Reich, Italy’s government made a shift of its own.
The country’s National Fascist Party came to power in 1922 with Benito Mussolini at its
helm as Prime Minister. This new leadership quickly began to stamp out any competition
and established their totalitarian rule. The Nationalist Party was violently anti-socialist,
despite the fact that Mussolini himself had actually been a part
of the Socialist Party until he was booted for supporting Italy’s entry into the Great War.
Nonetheless, since he had newly adopted a strongly anti-socialist sentiment, this put Mussolini and
his Party on the same page as the German National Party, which would greatly benefit them later on…
By the end of 1925, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini had now become il Duce,
or, The Leader of the entire Italian government. This made the position of the Fascists and the
fight against Socialism in Italy even stronger, which would have begun to have great appeal to
Germany as their own government soon went in the same direction. Furthermore, as the German
National Socialist Party rose to power and fascism gripped their nation as well, Mussolini would
have seen Germany in an even better light. Still by this point though,
before the rise of German Fascism, Mussolini viewed Germany as a much better potential ally
than the actual Allied Powers. At the start of his reign, Il Duce was already looking to
partner with the contemporary Weimar Republic during their dispute with Yugoslavia and France
over the previously occupied territory of Fiume. Hoping to consolidate his own power and keep his
former Socialist Party at bay, having the Germans on his side was likely a good idea…
When the 1930s rolled around, even Hungary’s prime minister was aware of the growing bond
between the Nationalists of Germany and the Fascists of Italy. The Hungarian leader, Gyula
Gömbös, was so enamored by the German-Italian relationship that he even hoped and attempted to
add his own nation into this unofficial alliance. Unfortunately, Gömbös unexpectedly died in 1936,
before having finished negotiations concerning a partnership with Germany,
which left Hungary with no more than the Rome Protocols from Italy.
The relationship between Germany and Italy was also on the rocks at this point.
The matter of Germany annexing Austria had thrown a wrench in things, as Mussolini was strongly
opposed to the idea of Anschluss. The government in Austria at the time was largely anti-Socialist,
and Mussolini warned Hitler that he wanted to see this leadership remain.
The latter responded quite indignantly, stating that he wished to throw the Austrian Chancellor,
Engelbert Dollfuss, into the sea.
Mussolini did not take this lightly, and he quickly began to lose trust
in the German government. Not only was he displeased by the Austria situation,
but he found the likelihood that the Germans would leave the region of South Tyrol to Italy,
as they had previously promised, concerningly low.
Nonetheless, both leaders were still open to maintaining friendly ties and decided
to meet for the first time in 1934. This Venice conference quickly became contentious as Hitler
tried to strongarm Mussolini into approving of Annexation of Austria, and Mussolini refused
to give in. Despite the heated nature of the negotiations, the German Chancellor eventually
agreed to at least temporarily respect Italy’s wish and leave Austria alone.
Only a few weeks after the tense meeting though, Chancellor Dollfuss was assassinated and Mussolini
immediately blamed his German counterpart, which may have been partly valid given the fact that
it was supporters of the annexation who took down the Austrian leader.
Italy reacted by deploying troops and warning the Germans that any military action against Austria
might end in a war with Italy - despite how hard the Italians had previously worked to build
friendly relations. Luckily for Mussolini, Germany promptly cut ties with their supporters in Austria
and took no responsibility for the assassination. Still, the italian leader had lost confidence in
Germany and now turned to France in hopes of forming an alliance that would better protect
Austrian independence. After Germany’s support, despite all around condemnation, of Italy’s
invasion into Ethiopia though, the tide turned back in favor of a German-Italian alliance...
A perfect opportunity to restore the friendly ties came when the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936
and Italy decided to intervene. Possibly as a symbol of unity, the Germans did the same.
Both sides sent airplanes, men, and weaponry to the nationalists.
Following this joint intervention, the Italian Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano,
was invited to Berlin in hopes of taking the alliance even further.
Deliberations were soon scheduled between the German Ambassador, and Ciano, so they could
discuss the next steps. Though the negotiations were at times heated, and there appeared to once
again be a risk of losing the friendship, the results, in the end, were positive. By
the conclusion of the talks, Germany and Italy had set up the new Rome-Berlin Axis alliance…
The reason behind Italy’s determination to form this partnership, both politically and militarily,
up to this point had been based on more than just the similar governmental structures and shared
anger over the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Maybe more importantly, the alliance had become
readily significant for Italy because they wanted a war with France. The aim was to begin
war preparations in 1935, despite the temporary cooperation with France, because, by this point,
Germany would be freed from some of the terms listed in the 1919 treaty. Both sides
were in need of rebuilding and rearmament before the retaliatory war could be truly
considered against France though, and Germany was especially desperate for increased weaponry
after its military had been nearly stripped bare by the Treaty of Versailles.This
likely played a role in why Germany was also eager to form an official alliance with Italy.
So, when the Pact of Steel was finally signed on May 22, 1939, the reason which had led to
Italy’s decision to join the Axis side of World War Two was rooted almost entirely in the regime
of Mussolini. The need to consolidate and grow his rule and the determination
to fight off socialism were both key priorities for Mussolini that the Germans could easily assist
him with. Furthermore, the shared frustration brought on by the Treaty of Versailles had
already brought Germany and Italy together to some degree, and a shared animosity aimed at
France pushed them even closer together. Despite the temporary disputes between the fascist powers,
it appears that both sides understood the greater benefit in staying together than
attempting to align with those whom they both deemed as unreliable after the Paris Peace
Conference. Italy, at points, had been skeptical of Germany’s intentions and trustworthiness as
well and eventually would betray their ally yet again, but for the time being, Mussolini felt
that his best chance of expanding his party and regime, keeping socialist enemies at a low or
non-existent, and retaliating for the losses after Versailles, was to work with the Axis powers…