Italian machine gun gives support to advancing troops in USSR. Picture courtesy Armchairgeneral.com
In 1941 the Axis powers undertook their greatest and most daunting challenge of World War Two; the invasion of the Soviet Union. This massive land has remained virtually unconquered throughout it’s long history; Instead of victory, the invading forces often found themselves fighting to avoid their own complete annihilation at the hands of her defenders.
The armies of Charles XII, and later Napoleon, met such fates. Nearly 130 years before the start of World War Two, Napoleon had lead his 400,000 strong army on their attempted conquest of this unforgiving land. Within a year of the invasion’s start, Napoleon and his army were in full retreat. The harsh winter environment and starvation became an even bigger threat to the retreating men then the Russians who continued to attack them as they fled back westward.
His battered and desperate army finally escaped into the safety of their homeland of France that November. As they returned back to their families and homes, the civilian populace was shocked to discover that only 40,000 men had survived the bloody failed invasion. The rest lay dead along the retreat line from Moscow; their corpses a warning that should have reverberated throughout history forever.
The German army, the Wehrmacht, is considered by many the greatest military force in history. On June 22nd, 1941 Adolf Hitler unleashed his armed forces against the USSR during his massive Operation Barbarossa. This attack had a ferocity about it more pronounced than in any of the previous military campaigns that Germany had undertaken so far during the war. Hitler’s hatred against the USSR, it’s people and political structure, was deep and intense. Victory here would be the crowning achievement in his military driven attempt to make Germany the master of Europe.
Hitler attempted to justify this new invasion to the German public, and also to the world in general, on several reasons he believed in wholeheartedly. While his so called ‘justification’ might make the opening of yet another front easier to swallow for those Germans starting to feel the strain of nearly two years of continuous war, most of the rest of the world would not be sold on his rationale.
Hitler, through his very effective media branch, stated that the German attack on the Russians had in fact been a preemptive one; he claimed the Soviets were very close to unleashing their own armed forces in an invasion against Eastern Europe in an attempt to ‘extinguish the Aryan Race’. Hitler stated that Germany was fighting not just for itself, but for all of Europe to stop the spread of communism, and to save European culture from those who looked to destroy it.
He had also spoken for years on how the German people needed Lebensraum, “living space”, to survive. This meant not just additional land, but the raw materials contained within. A victory here in the east would supply Hitler’s Reich with more than enough of these commodities for both his people and his mighty war machine.
He also articulated the need to put an end to the “Jewish Bolshevik”, whom he stated enslaved the masses and secretly controlled much of the entire world. Hitler’s intense anti-Semitism knew no bounds, and with this war that he had instigated, Hitler and his henchmen would unleash a program of genocide on a scale that the world had never before witnessed.
Mussolini and Hitler. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
The invasion of Russia, later described by historian Ian Kershaw as Hitler’s own personal “Crusade”, was launched to ensure his Reich it’s ’1000 year’ rule. So that June day in 1941, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of non-aggression signed in 1939 by the USSR and Germany, was broken with the thunderous sounds of the beginning of the German Blitzkrieg. A student of history, Hitler was well aware of all the past failures invaders had suffered on the march into Russia. He was very confident however, that he and his army would not suffer the fate of Napoleon.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was furious at not being informed of the Germans invasion into Russia beforehand. Much like the attacks on Poland and France over the previous years, the Italians were left in the dark by their allies. But Il Duce put his initial anger behind him, and informed Hitler he would send in Italian troops to assist the Axis cause.
The main reason often attributed to as why Mussolini ordered troops to the Eastern Front is that he wanted to show the world continued unity between Italy and Germany; the ‘Pact of Steel’ alive and strong. And though Mussolini did not share Hitler’s fanatical obsession with the “Jewish Bolshevik”, he did possess a deep hatred against Communism. Mussolini had felt strongly since the 1930’s that there would be a European war, with the belligerents divided by political and ideological views. Italian Fascism, most likely aligned with German Nazism, would be on one side; Democratic countries and their allies on another. The Communist were on yet another side, often feared or distrusted by both.
This invasion would be the chance to finally put an end to what both Mussolini and Hitler had preached about for years; the spread of Communism around the world. With what they assumed would turn into a quick Axis military triumph in this endeavor, the ‘Red Menace’ that both Mussolini and Hitler feared would someday attempt to topple their regimes could be eliminated in one fell swoop.
It should also be taken in to consideration that just as in Italy’s ill planned and belated attack on France after Germany had already overran much of the country in 1940, that Mussolini felt Italy must “shed blood” in order to sit at the negotiation table when Russia would eventually capitulate. There were vast areas of land and raw materials that Mussolini must have craved for his ‘New Roman Empire’, and he needed his armies to fight and bleed in battle to share some of the wealth when the war was over.
The logistical challenge on just how his government would adequately meet the vast supply requirements of supporting a large fighting force in this distant theater of battle did not concern Mussolini much; winning glory and treasure did.
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An excellent fictionalized version of the Italian army on the Eastern front can be found in The Red Horse, by Corti The author fought on the Eastern front and while this is a work of fiction it is historically accurate
Very interesting article. Does anyone know of any good books covering the Italian army in general, but in particular on the Eastern Front? It seems most of what I read gives them little attention or credit at all. Yet I have read here, among few other places, that the Italians were pivotal in the capture of Stalino and I’ve seen references to the “Battle of Christmas” before but never much on it. I’ve read Corti and I note that some Germans have credited some Italian units (Alpini and Bersaglieri) with great courage during the great retreat, but again, nothing much out there. If anyone can recommend a work to me, I’d appreciate it. Thanks a lot,
Rich
Great article! But you should change the photo on page 2, it was taken in the summer of 1944, nearby Anzio.
regards