Even if a definitive confirmation of this theory still has to be found, the Italian confidential or lesser known documents report plenty of phrases, references, and veiled admissions about the suspected French-German plot. One of the most emblematic proofs is the short passage of Mussolini’s speech at the Italian Ministers Council (dated July 5, 1940) which resumes many of the suspicions he had on France and Germany.
“ We must to be careful with France, which now is preparing a trick to ask the (Axis) membership card. We shouldn’t be surprised. I have alerted our German friends who were almost moved by the losers. Losers, but how did they are beaten? When the crust was broken the Germans marched like (a blade) into the butter. Take a look at their war movies: the Germans had no casualties.”
Conclusion
The Italian attack on France allows us to see how the Axis was actually very far from the propaganda’s representation of a “Pact of Steel” and nobody should be surprised that these things happened in the same time in which the Mussolini’s public speeches were in favor to Germany.
Indeed, the dualism and the double strategy, were a constant in the politic career of the Italian dictator. Despite his representation, Mussolini was actually a mercurial man, reflective but often unsure and suspicious, and always had the habit to change course at the last moment, sometimes generating a great surprise with his staff too.
If by a political point of view these attitudes have made Mussolini’s fortune in times of peace, surely they had a decisive effect on his luck in wartime where the facts are more important than the words and there is no time for late afterthoughts.
History has shown us that after the attack on France, the Axis evolved in a different way than Mussolini expected. But currently nobody can tell us how real was the risk of an invasion of Italy in June 1940.
A thing that remains certain is the sacrifice of hundreds of men who gave their life in one of the smaller, but also darker, operations of the Italian war. An operation which was only the prelude of many bigger tragedies.
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This is a really interesting article cause we have only a few information about the Regio Esercito´s performance during the battle of France. When the french armistice was assigned by General Hutzinger is known that he refused to pronounciate the name of Italy, a country that, by his point of view, had not defeated France…But, altough we know the problems that the italian army feced at the beginning of the campaign, we must recognize the efforts of italians soldiers to let their forces inside french territory. By this way, I would like to thanks for this example of historical search of truth, in memory of all italians fighters.
Nice article Lorenzo. Faced with the immense geographical obstacles an army would face advancing north from Italy into France, an attack would make more sense if the objectives were in fact more limited, as the theory you mentioned touches upon. You would think that some type of official record would have appeared in either Mussolini’s or the Regio Esercito archives after the war if the theory had some meat to it. Maybe something will show up some day, and give some degree of credibility to a military operation that seemed rushed, ill prepared, and for the most part ineffective. Again, thanks for the cool article!!!