answersLogoWhite

0

That of a very weak ally. That, according to various transcripts of Chancellor Hitler himself, and also from the numerous eyewitness memoirs now available from Wehrmacht and SS soldiers. Interestingly, Chancellor Hitler is reported to have said something like, "It is better to have weak allies than no allies at all!" On 5 December 1934, a border incident provided justification for Italy invading Abyssinia(present day Ethiopia) in northeastern Africa. On 18 July, 1936, a civil war erupted in Spain and Mussolini began to secretly support the right-wing army general Francisco Franco. Soon it became public knowledge, and Italy sent more troops. For awhile, Mussolini tried to be friends with the British and other countries and he tried to keep Hitler from taking over Austria, but by 1938 he fell under the spell of Hitler and did not raise any objection to Germany marching into Austria. While Hitler was trying to negotiate a treaty with England, Mussolini was growing impatient and made plans for an invasion of either Yugoslavia, Greece or Egypt. On 13 September 1939, his desert army in Libya crossed into Egypt. In four days they had pushed the British army back 60 miles. Without telling Hitler, he launched an attack on Greece(later, he had to rely on German support to win that country). Italian troops crossed the Albanian border on 28 October, 1940. In summary, Italy initiated the campaign in North Africa that would continue on until mid 1943. Italy pushed Germany into expanding further into countries such as Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania. Custermen

User Avatar

Wiki User

17y ago

What else can I help you with?