Countdown to War ITALY: How Mussolini's Fascists Prepared for WWII 

You could surprise me by saying mussolini actually prepared for the war

I am Italian and I truly appreciate this video, is always nice to see in the history of your country with a foreign look. It reminds you of the countless bias that is still in place. Thank you for looking at my country :)

I'm very sorry to say there's a *major mistake* in this video. Mussolini never participated in the march on Rome. He was in Milan with his luggage ready and a ticket to France if the march failed. Instead he received a phone call from that waste of oxygen of a king we had. *This is a historical fact.* Mussolini was always an "Armiamoci e Partite"(We arm ourselves and You go Fight) kind of guy. A craven PoS.

Loved this 😍 I attend an almost daily college level lecture and my professor is Simon Whistler. He teaches geography, history, sometimes astronomy and chemistry, he even has a class on criminology. Thank you Simon.

Just one little sidenote: Mussolini didn't lead the Blackshirts during the March on Rome, he was in Milan ready to flee if things went wrong

1:40 - Chapter 1 - Great war & aftermath 7:15 - Chapter 2 - Mussolini rise to power 11:00 - Chapter 3 - Dictatorship 16:45 - Chapter 4 - War & expansion 20:55 - Chapter 5 - Point of no return 23:40 - Chapter 6 - Aftermath

Having served with Italian officers in Afghanistan.....I can tell you that the Italians emphasis on logistics, strategic vision and hard work is not the priority. As an example, tell a group of NATO officers, "the meeting starts at 0800" and notice the only country that comes in 30 minutes after the meeting ends.

9:08 The police didn't just "not stand in the way" but also supplied weapons and vehicles for Fascist squads when raiding union or cooperative headquarters.

We can't have an episode on Mussolini without the Alexei Sayle quote in the Young Ones. It's been a terrible blow to my life looking like Mussolini, you know. Especially when I was a kid, you know, I was about seven, right, and I was down the Youth Club, you know, dancing away, right, like in the sixties, doing the Twist you know. And, em, there was this girl, right, and she comes up to me, and she goes "'Ere! Are you Mussolini?" I said, "Emmm... Yeah." She says, "I thought you was dead." I says "No, it was just me day off, you know." So she pulled me over the dance floor and butted me in the face! I said, "What's that for?" She said "That's for the invasion of Crete!"

We didn't hear enough about "Don" Benito Musselini 🇮🇹 when learning about WW2 until now! This is a Warographics we're definitely gonna love!! 👏

Loving the countdown to war series, going to do not-see Germany next I assume?

I absolutely loved this video! Though I'm not seeing anything on a countdown to war Germany, hopefully it's an issue that can be fixed cause I can't understate how great that video would be

Love this series of these countdowns to wars

Great video

A little unfortunate that almost every Italian war stereotype was rehearsed during the opening section with reference to WW1, but no mention was made of the successes on the Piave river and in particular Vittorio Veneto that in effect triggered the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of 1918.

My grand father fought in Italy in 1944 and was on a patrol with around a dozen comrades when 500 Italians surrendered to them.

I looked and I can’t find Countdown to War: Germany. Only Japan and Italy.

Greetings, Mr. Whistler. Can you make videos about the Lebanese Civil War and the Algerian War of Independence, please? Thank you!

Still waiting for the Battle of Britain 🇬🇧 Volunteer Canadians and poles ALSO made up a few who fought for the RAF! I DO love this 1 too though

How could you forget italys 12 battles for the Isonzo?! That’s way more important than that other one . The whole reason Austria hungry broke through was because they wasted so many resources on a useless battle

Hey guys , in the 11th battle of the isonzo let’s do the same thing we did last time ! It’s bound to work eventually .

Video suggestion: "Greatest Naval Battle in History". The battle of Leyte gulf.

Will you be doing videos like this on the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Soviet Union, and Australia?

My favorite channel in the Whistlerverse. Allegedly. Cheers from Tennessee

I will consider historical precedent in both Italy and in America in the future to come.

11 seconds ago? Nice. This is a pretty interesting topic too.

Eating spaghetti and sipping espresso at 4 in the afternoon doesn't count as "preparing for WWII."

I'd love to see a video on the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979

Where is the countdown to war Germany episode, Simon?

To paraphrase William L. Shirer, the Italian people were too civilized, too sophisticated, and too down-to-earth to be truly swept up by fascism the way that the German people were. They merely suffered fascism, knowing it would come and go. Thoughts?

You've done a video on the Russo-Japanese war, may i ask for a video on the Battle of Tsushima please on this channel?

Remember people: you are not a true Simonite unless you subscribe to all his channels but once you do, you also become a legend!

Do a video on Operation Anthropoid.

Topic suggestion: the voyage of the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron in 1905.

Steve Carell (black jacket) left of Mussolini at 21:00. No Way!

Italy didn't just "held the line" it destroyed AH amry, something Entente couldn't do against Germany 3vs1

I’m surprised this video didn’t talking about his execution

"How Italian fascists prepared for WWII" They didn't

I have to take issue with a couple of things. First, there wasn't a single march on Rome, but several, and Mussolini was only present for one of them, and then only when he was sure that the king wouldn't start a shooting war. Second, the Italian military didn't "roll over" Ethiopia, they got their asses handed to them. The only way Italy managed to win in Ethiopia was by the use of chemical warfare, and gassing the Ethiopians into submission by genocide. Which the other European colonial powers did nothing about.

"Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State." - Benito Mussolini

Rest in peace to those that passed away.

Please do 1812

You never mentioned Mussolini's initial opposition to Hitler's agression and the potential "Franco-Italian" alliance where Mussolini wanted to be prepared and France wrote off quite support for the Italian fascist invasion of Abbyssinia.

3:59 "This kind of Brute Force governance went about as well as one can expect in a representative republic". Well... Italy was a monarchy at the time, and about being representative... Since 1912 only male citizens above 21 years old who attended primary school or military service, or above 30 without any restriction could vote. Universal male suffrage in Italy is introduced in 1918, and the right to vote is finally given to women only from 1946 on the occasion of the referendum about choosing monarchy or republic as type of government.

The answer is “not very well.” Italy was completely unprepared to fight WW2.

they didn’t really they invaded egypt wihout propper supply and logistics arrangements (sound familiar), they invaded greece without proper intelligence or again good logistics the only textbook operation was in east africa because the local commanders actually used their brains and carefully conducted the operation also helped by local incompetence by the british command in the area.

Mussolini could really strike a pose in front of a camera. If he wasn't such an ideology nerd, he probably could have been a good actor.

Mussolini's imperial ambitions were quite broad, and were well articulated before the war. Specifically he resented British control of both entrances to the Mediterranean Sea (Gibraltar and Suez), referring to them as "the walls of a prison" in speeches. He also wanted to take over the islands of Malta and Corsica, as well as Tunisia, referring to them as "the bars of the prison". He wanted to link up his territories in East Africa and Libya by invading the Sudan, which was controlled by Britain. Unfortunately for him he never really had the naval power to take on the British fleet in the Mediterranean. He also had ambitions of taking over Yugoslavia and Greece, in an attempt to rebuild the Roman Empire. He wanted Spain to become a client state of Italy, something Franco probably wasn't too keen on. Italy's military and industry were completely unprepared for WWII. Almost all of their equipment was obsolete, with them never having started projects for modern fighters or tanks. While Mussolini talked about a "reckoning" for the European democracies, and fully intended to go to war with them at some point, he always imagined that point being well in the future. When Italy signed the Pact of Steel with Germany they were thinking about a war being years away, not months. Thus when Germany kicked off the war in 1939 Italy had barely started mobilising its military, and did not have production lines churning out tanks and other weapons. The start of the war took Mussolini completely by surprise, as Germany had not communicated their intentions. Consequently Italy got their asses handed to them by the allies.

The Arden, you got a video about that. It's just history.

Rommel stated the Italian troops were excellent soldiers, expect their equipment, generals, and leaders idea to invade Greece, and Egypt.

Italy in WW2 was the "kamchatka" of the Axis powers.

Note, though, at the very end of World War I, the Italian/British/French alliance won the battle of Vittorio Veneto, which was the straw that broke Austria-Hungary's back (along with the surrender of Bulgaria, which left Austria-Hungary wide open from the south). Also, though this is the countdown to war, Italy's disastrous performance in North Africa deserves some attention. The fact is, the Italians didn't really want war all that much in either world war, and suffered accordingly.

Have you done the Germany video yet???

That round light behind you in many of your videos, what the hell is that? It's always kinda bothered me.

Short answer, they didn’t. But thanks for a fascinating analysis

up next;Belleau Woods

Wait, they did prepare??? Imagine if they hadn't... (HOI4 vibes)

Ya gotta admit, though - of all the world leaders at the time Mussolini definitely knew how to strike a pose.

The first rule of Fighting Leagues is that you don't talk about Fighting Leagues...

Imagine how different the European theater would have been if the Italians had a navy similar to Imperial Japan. Hindsight is 20-20 though.

Hmm, I have watched Countdown to War Japan, around a month ago, and now Italy. Thing is that you haven't released CtW Germany yet 😎

Can you do a video on the Battle of Culloden please. The English-Scottish wars are always interesting to me.

Like you said we don't hear so much of this compared to the rise of Nazi Germany, so this was rather informative

Wait! They prepared for WW2? Wow I couldn't tell.

To make it short, they didn't

Surprised you left out his last stop at a petrol station…

This channel needs maps. Sorry, but true. Depiction of military history should include maps!

The Fascist were ready for war. *Italy was not*

I can't find a "Countdown to War Germany" in Warographics?

*sees title* "How they prepared for WWII? They didn't." *watches video* "They didn't."

Who knew that the battle over whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza could turn into such a conflagration that last onto this day!

Check out our companion video Countdown To War: Germany I would love to but you guys haven’t released that one yet… 😂

Azog the Defiler looks like Mussolini.

I read somewhere that Hitler told Mussolini to execute the Jews,Mossolini told Hitler to buger himself.

Fun Fact my wife works with Mussolini's great grand niece (Mussolini's brother or sisters great grand daughter

I can’t find the countdown to war nazi germany video

They packed ammo, pasta and tomato sauce and were ready for war

They put their daps on.

Sounds a lot like Trumpalini.

Poorly...they prepared poorly...then probably made plans on how to switch sides again

14:33 Uncensored! 😅

You breeze past a bunch of really important and interesting facts. Hitler went out of his way to ensure that Musolini had no idea the Nazis were about to steamroll through Poland because his lack of respect for the Italian army and Musolini himself. He made sure Italy would not have a chance to do anything to screw up Poland and France.

How Mussolini was prepared to WW2: he wasn't.

Italy prepared for war by installing far more reverse gears in their tanks than forward gears.

The axis power of Italy was unprepared for war

This was interesting and entertaining. Quite a few things wrong in the video, and could have been forgiven. Funny thing. Don't you think a video about the first fascist dictator, Simon would have defined the word fascist? He never does.

Spoiler alert: they Didn’t. But it is good to see how they failed

❤❤❤

Most informative ,interesting documentary coverage video about Mossolini dictatorship authority uprising and dominate on Italian peninsulas & and its North African colonial ( Libya 🇱🇾) ..what was notable that Fascists regime was not successful didactic to removing bad effectiveness of WW1 on economic, society of Italy 🇮🇹 , Mossolini reforming economy foundational processes in industrial & Agricultural fields also weren't successful ..Mossolini Socialist processes , invading of Ethiopian 🇪🇹 empire territory ..hesitated & frightened British suddenly. so British economic conspiracies & sanctions against the Italian peninsula started before WW2...economic capabilities of Italy reduced to half before WW2

There's a contradiction right there: "fascists prepared."

Take away symbols , wait six months

That's the neat thing...... They didn't!

Wasn't Italy both times who actually shot the fires round in the continuous fightings, which led to each of the world wars? September 1911 against the Ottoman empire and October 1935 against the Abyssinia? Both times totally out of the blue, interrupting more than a decade of peace in Europe. The sacred Italian egoism, or so..

Does anyone else think Mussolini looked like a cancer patient 90% of the time?

*pascetti*

Where's the countdown to war Germany

Italy and the catholic church history are pretty much tied to together I’m sure if the church choose to fight they might have actually have a chance

Mussolini destroying the Constitution... This looks like a job for Zombie Giuseppe Garibaldi!

The axis power of Italy ask Germany for help in Greece and north Africa

I need a long casual criminalist for work not that 15’minute Christmas crap! We want a John Wayne gacy type episode .