After its defeat in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, and poor performance in World War I,
the Italian Army's reputation was stained; however, it was Italy's performance in the Second
World War that influences our current perception of the Italian Army the most. Like the French,
the Italians became a bit of a meme in the decades after the war, and this unfortunately causes some
of us to overlook the true bravery of the Italian soldier. In this video, we're going to dispel some
of the common misconceptions and myths surrounding the Italian Army of the Second World War.
As we discussed in our recent video on morale, soldiers with low morale are more inclined to
disobey orders, flee the battlefield, and break under the stresses of combat.
In terms of the Italians in World War II, many were fighting a war they didn't want to fight,
and as such, it's agreed that the Italian Army was often plagued by low morale. This, however,
does not mean that the Italians were cowards, nor that they always suffered from low morale.
Considering many Italians knew they were dying for the desires of their superiors
and Italy's fascist leaders, fighting in the first place is an indication of Italian bravery,
as opposed to cowardice. Also, as historian Ian W. Walker argued, simply going up against
enemies who had both better training and better equipment is an indication of bravery in itself.
German General Erwin Rommel reinforced this, stating that the Germans "had
always demanded more than [the Italians] were able to do with their bad armament."
There are some great examples of singularly brave Italian soldiers too.
Rosario Randazzo, a soldier in the Italian 80th Infantry Regiment, for instance,
was awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valour for taking up a machine gun just after a piece of
mortal shrapnel had slashed his *entire right arm* off. He operated the weapon with his remaining arm
and his teeth, gunning down his enemies until he himself was gunned down. This occurred in November
1941 on the Eastern Front, so it's very likely Randazzo's last stand was against the Soviets.
Luigi Giorgi, captain of the Italian 44th Infantry Division Cremona, is another great example. He
was awarded two Gold Medals or his bravery. For the first, he singlehandedly stormed a
German fortification in Italy in 1945, spamming hand grenades until 19 German soldiers freaked
out and surrendered to him. To top it off, that night, Giorgi crawled out alone into a minefield
to rescue one of his fellow, wounded soldiers who was laying in the field, dying. In April, Giorgi
scored his second Gold Medal attacking an armoured German convoy with anti-tank weapons and grenades,
inspiring 80 Germans troops to step out, drop their guns, and put their arms above their heads.
Before we move onto morale, it's also important to note that surrendering — which many Italians
did indeed do during the war — in itself can be a quite a brave thing to do. Firstly,
their enemies may have shot them by accident (or intentionally),
and secondly, there were "friendly" repercussions to consider as well,
such as being punished their own side's officers. Not to mention the actual shame of surrender.
As for the Italian Army's morale, it certainly wasn't high throughout the Second World War,
but it was not consistently low either. Losing a battle — say, Operation Compass,
in which 133,000 Italians were captured by the Allies — is enough to crush most men's morale,
though Italian morale would definitely have been higher when they were winning battles — such as
the First Battle of Bir el Gubi, the Charge of the Savoia, and the Battle of Petrikowka,
all of which we'll get to soon. Additionally, sticking with the example of Operation Compass,
while morale might have been low after that Italian defeat, Canadian historian Richard
Carrier suggested Italian morale was improved when they were reinforced by other Italians and,
specifically, the Germans. This was because, despite the tensions between the two Axis armies,
the Germans provided the Italians better training as well as better equipment. Lastly,
after the Italians switched sides and declared war on Germany on the 13th of October 1943,
and especially when they were fighting on home ground in Italy, it's safe to say their morale
would have been significantly higher, a phenomenon we discussed in our aforementioned video on morale
While morale affects a soldier's performance, Italy's performance in the Second World War cannot
*solely* be attributed to low morale. There are many factors to consider, but the notion
of "Italian soldiers being *bad* soldiers" is one that needs some myth-busting. While
many Italian soldiers lacked the training and equipment boasted by some other nations' armies,
they were not *all* incompetent, and they *were* capable of winning fights without the Germans.
In reality, the Italian Army was quite experienced, having fought and won the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War, and having played a crucial role in the Spanish Civil War.
The Italian Army also maintained many spec ops units, such as twelve Bersaglieri regiments
and the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore." On the former, Rommel said, "The German soldier stunned
the world; the Italian Bersagliere stunned the German soldier." And on the latter,
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, "We really have to bow our heads in front of the
lions of the Folgore." Italian alpine units, of which six were fielded throughout the war,
received equal praise, with German General Frido von Senger stating, "[...] Alpine units, the best
that the Italian Army could produce — proud, quiet, outwardly not very disciplined troops,
but reliable types, [...] accustomed to camping in the eternal snows with only the
barest supplies. They were magnificent soldiers [...]." If that wasn't enough, further proof of
Italian competency can be found in some of the battles they won without the Germans.
In the First Battle of Bir el Gubi on the 19th of November 1941, for instance,
the Italian 132nd Armoured Division Ariete — which included a Bersaglieri Regiment — dealt a crushing
defeat to the British in Libya. While both sides sustained relatively low human casualties (between
100 and 170 each), the Italians managed to destroy 52 British tanks for a loss of 34 Italian tanks.
In the August 1942 **Charge of the "Savoia Cavalleria" at Izbushensky** in the USSR,
the Italian cavalry regiment charged an entrenched Soviet position on horseback
with swords and hand grenades, while also making effective use of horse-drawn artillery.
All in all, the Italians manged to kill 150, wound 300, and capture 600 Soviet troops,
all for price of less than 100 human casualties... and 100 pretty ponies.
Between the 27th and 30th of September 1941, three Italian Army divisions fought against a Soviet
armoured division in Petrikowka in the Ukraine. While the Italians *did* outnumber the Soviets,
under the command of one of Italy's best World War II generals, Giovanni Messe,
they *still* managed to capture 10,000 Soviets, all for just under 300 Italian casualties.
Speaking of Giovanni Messe, this brings us to our next Italian Army myth — that all Italian
leadership was poor. This was certainly *not* the case. While Mussolini filled
Italian high command with fascists rather than strategists, and while inter-service rivalries
plagued the Italian military, the Italian Army *did* field some effective generals.
Giovanni Messe was a brigadier general and, later, major general, in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War,
and in World War II, he commanded Italian troops in Greece, Russia,
and North Africa. He was a career soldier who rose through the ranks and was respected by his men.
He was also loyal to Italy, continuing to fight for his country after the Armistice of Cassibile.
Orlando Lorenzini was another Italian career soldier, whose military career began in 1910,
when he fought in the Italo-Turkish War. He also led Italian soldiers in the Great War,
the Pacification of Libya, and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, before becoming a
respected leader in World War II, in which his command of the Italian 2nd Colonial Brigade,
especially in the Battle of Keren, was commended by his enemies. Lorenzini also received a Gold
Medal; the citation read: "At the head of his battalions, which he inflamed with [...] his
indomitable valor, he did all he could to counter the [...] opponent, [...] attacking him with
superhuman audacity even when the situation had become desperate."
To abuse a Rommel quote once again, the German general said,
"Many Italian generals and officers earned our respect as men as well as soldiers."
Overall, I think this quote by Australian Sergeant Major Robert Donovan
sums up the truth of the Italian soldier — specifically Italian artillerymen — quite well:
"We were saved from serious casualties because of the amazingly poor quality of
[Italian] projectiles [...]. The [Italian] gunners fought their guns to the last,
[and] many were found dead in their gun emplacements. The Italian dead were
everywhere. [...] [They] fired to the very last. [They] fought like hell at Nebeiwa."
Much of our modern perception of the Italian Army has been influenced by Allied wartime propaganda,
especially British propaganda surrounding the Italian defeat in Operation Compass,
but also German propaganda, which turned on the Italians after the
Italians switched sides under the armistice.
But what do you think? Do you think the Italian Army has been hard done by? Do you
agree that the myths we've presented in this video are actually myths?
Can you think of any others? Please share your thoughts in the comments.