Mussolini is always right - Italy AAR

Chapter II: Dictator, Fire and booze

Beginning of the year 1933 (XI E.R) was a quiet time in Italy, however in Germany things were about to change.


January 30. Adolf Hitler is appointed as Reichskanzler of the German Reich.
Il Duce does not even sacrifice one thought to that austrian corporal.


27. february the Reichstag fire. Marinus van der Lubbe, young Dutch communist burned the place down, he was executed after quick and "fair" trial. Good riddance, says Il Duce.

In Italy some naval reorganization was completed.
The Naval department of the Ministery of Defence ordered several old ships to scrapyard.


Among the old vessels was the RN Taranto, originally an Imperial German cruiser SMS Strassburg.

just before february turned to march, we received a nice suprise from our scientists:

mmm...Rockets...


In USA: The Cullen-Harrison Act, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 22, 1933, authorized the sale of 3.2 percent beer and wine, which allowed the first legal beer sales since the beginning of Prohibition on January 16, 1920.
Mussolini sent lots of hugs and kisses for american people, because they can get drunk again. (legally)

In Germany much less happier events took place:

Enabling Act of 1933 made Hitler the dictator of Germany. (Italian censorship prevents you from seeing barbaric germanian symbols.)


Il Duce is the centre of Fascism, and all revere him.
He has improved the Italian people morally, materially, and spiritually.


Mussolini has promised to the italian people, that they shall have an empire, only way to expand (for now) is the african nation of Abyssinia, wich dealt a humiliating defeat to Italy in the war of 1895-1896.
We are slowly expanding our forces in the surrounding italian colonies, and wait for international situation to turn to our favour.


Native Ascari policemen of the Polizia dell'Africa italiana

Caramel95 said:

you seem to show a lot of hate to Germany as Italy? Does this predict a different path that your Italy will take?

Click to expand...

I recently read a book about Mussolini, and he seemed to have a lot of hate against Germany. (He never really liked Hitler, not even during the war.)
What comes to different paths, unfortunately alliance with Germany quarantees a lot more territorial gains than joining the allies, but who says i should be allied to them forever.

Chapter III: Si vis imperium, para bellum

Rest of the year -33 went just as peacefully, as years before.


Some diplomacy was discussed in the Palazzo Venezia.


Important events took place on september 24th.
Soviet Union might prove to be an important partner for us in the future. (To contain the german expansion.) It is imperative to keep good relations with the Bolsheviks.


The first month of the Anno EF XII (Fascist Era Year 13)


Il Duce declared that Italy will protect Austria against any foreign agression.


Speaking of foreign agression.
14-16 June 1934 Herr Adolf of Germany visits Venice. (Mussolini later commented that Hitler looked like a plumber in a raincoat)


Il Duce and the plumber inspecting the honor guard.
Mussolini knows the weakness of Germany, so naturally he proceedes to present the Italian Royal Navy to his guest.
"Hey Hitler look what i've got! What about german navy? Oh, right its in the bottom of Scapa Flow!"


In June we also became the world champions in football. (or soccer like some guys across the ocean call it.)
Being a man of the people, Il Duce bought his ticket like any normal italian, waiting patiently in line while shouting "Come on you idiots! Even my granny sells tickets faster than this!"


Italian industry is growing well, unemployment is continuously dropping.
Il Duce declares: Jobs for everyone! Even if you dont want it!

Our brave troops resisted the attempts of the Abyssinian troops to invade the Italian Eritrea.
Time of revenge is getting closer.


In preparation for the upcoming events, Il Duce has taken direct control of the Ministero delle Colonie from minister Alessandro Lessona.


In the first days of the year XIII E.F the French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval and Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed the Italo-French agreements in Rome.
He proposed a treaty to Il Duce that defined disputed parts of French Somaliland as part of Eritrea, redefined the official status of Italians in French-held Tunisia, and essentially gave us a free hand in dealing with the Abyssinia Crisis with Ethiopia. We were also to receive the Aouzou strip which was to be moved from French-ruled Chad to Italian-ruled Libya.
In exchange for all these concessions, France hoped for our support against German aggression. (You can allways hope...)


Italian soldiers marching to the Italo-Ethiopian border.

Next time: Lovely stroll to Addis Ababa

Chapter IV: Impero Italiano


Men of of the Blackshirt Militia in Italian Eritrea.
Soon these men would be called to action...


Our preparations are now complete, soon the Tricolore will fly in Abyssinia.


We are positive that after this the germans will not attempt to destroy the Treaty of Versailles...


On may 13th Il Duce signed the naval expansion plan. (To be completed in 1941)
The plan authorised the construction of the following vessels for the Regia Marina:
4 battleships (Construction for the first two, Littorio and Vittorio Veneto, started immediately, the other two will follow later.)
2 aircraft carriers (Possibly converted from civilian vessels.)
4 battlecruisers (To protect the carriers as part of a fast task-force.)
8 lightcruisers (Number of vessels maybe increased.)
30 destroyers (Will be divided to two sub-classes, one with increased AA-capabilities and another with extra torpedo launchers.)
20 submarines (These vessels will be able to travel in Atlantic, where the conditions are a lot tougher than in Mediterranean.)


Design for the new battleship.
The vessels will be 237.76 m (780.1 ft) long
and has a beam of 32.82 m (107.7 ft)
Its main caliber is 308 mm (15.0 in)
It should achieve the speed of 30kn.
1 830 crewmembers are needed to operate them.


March 11th, the day we have been waiting for.

"Black Shirts of the revolution! Men and women of all Italy! Italians spread throughout the world, beyond the mountains and beyond the seas! Hear me!

A solemn hour is about to sound in the history of the fatherland. At this moment twenty million men occupy the public squares of all Italy.
Never in the history of mankind has there been seen a more gigantic spectacle. Twenty million men, but one heart, one will, one decision.

Their demonstration must and does show the world that Italy and Fascism constitute a perfect, absolute, and unalterable identity.
For many months the wheels of destiny have been moving toward their goal under the impulse of our calm determination. In the latter hours their rhythm has become more swift and by now cannot be stopped.
It is not only an army that strives toward its objectives but a whole people of 44 million souls against whom an attempt is being made to consummate the blackest of injustices? That of depriving us of some small place in the sun.

In the League of Nations there is talk of sanctions instead of recognition of our rights.
Until there is proof to the contrary, I shall refuse to believe that the real and generous people of France can support sanctions against Italy....
Similarly, I refuse to believe that the real people of Great Britain, who have never had discords with Italy, are prepared to run the risk of hurling Europe along the road to catastrophe for the sake of defending an African country universally branded as a country without the slightest shadow of civilization.

We shall face economic sanctions with our discipline, our sobriety, and our spirit of sacrifice.

Against military sanctions we shall reply with military measures.
To acts of war we shall reply with acts of war.

Italy, proletarian and fascist, Italy of Vittorio Veneto and of the Revolution, arise! Let the cry of your decision fill the heavens; let it be a comfort the soldiers who wait in Africa, a spur to friends, and a warning to enemies in every part of the world: a cry of justice, a cry of victory."

Viva Il Duce! Viva Vittoria! Viva Italia!


Marshall Pietro Badoglio began the invasion of Abyssinia only few hours after Mussolinis speech.
The Abyssinian tribal chiefs and their private troops stood against our forces, and a bloody battle followed.
The mountainous territory provided some difficulties, ambushes cost us many lives.


Italian troops firing from cover.


The invasion proved the fractured state of Abyssinia, some chiefs actually supported Italians, and simply surrendered to our advancing troops.
Few days into the invasion, Haile Selassie Gugsa and 1,200 of his followers surrendered to our troops, he is Emperor Haile Selassie's son-in-law.


Victory followed, and the only big battle of the war came to an end.


Capturing the capital of the enemy will bring this "empire" to its end.
The hardest part of the invasion was now over.


On april 17th Addis-Ababa, capital of the "Ethiopian Empire" was captured by our victorious troops, next morning the country officially capitulated.


Emperor in-exile Haile Selassie arrived to Jerusalem aboard a british cruiser HMS Enterprise.


"King-Emperor Victor Emmanuel III waited for the crowds in the Quirinal Palace on Quirinal Hill.
"Emperor! Emperor! Salute the Emperor!" ("Imperatore! Imperatore! Salute Imperatore!") chanted the crowd when Victor Emmanuel, in full Army uniform, showed himself on a balcony. The first Emperor in Rome in 1,460 years raised his withered hand to the visor of his cap and said nothing.
While the King-Emperor was silent, the Il Duce was not. When victory was announced by Mussolini from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, the Italian population was jubilant.
This was Mussolini's hour of glory. He knew that the Italian nation was united around him as it never was before."

[video=youtube;r6NdDMg8DTQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6NdDMg8DTQ[/video]
Benito Mussolini declares the creation of the Italian Empire.


The tiny King-Emperor Victor Emmanuel III was becoming increasingly problematic figure in the Fascist state,
maybe its time to get rid of the Savoyan monarchy that nobody really even wanted in the first place....

BONUS PICTURE:

King of Italy with King Albert I of Belgium this photo shows his small size. (1.53 metres or 5 ft 0 in)
Do we really want this gnome to be our leader when we could have Caesar?

Chapter V: Rebellions and Civil war




Immediately after the defeat of Abyssinia the italian colonies in East-africa were reorganized,
italian Eritrea and italian Somaliland were combined together with Ethiopia to form the Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI)
Its estimated population was over 12 000 000. Il Duce encourages italians to travel to this new land of opportunities, and colonize it.


If you look at the sea from the hills
Young brunette slave amongst slaves
Like in a dream you will see many ships
And a tricolour waving for you

Little black face, little Abyssinian
We will take you to Rome, as a free person
You will be kissed by our sun
and a black shirt you will be too

Little black face, you will be Roman
Your only flag will be Italian!
We will march together with you
and parade in front of the Duce and the king!

Strength of the Italian Army, 1933 (upper) and 1935 (lower)


The army was increasing in strength, equipment has been upgraded, still reports from the war in Abyssinia says that the army is capable of only fighting a colonial war, a real war with a proper opponent might prove too much...
We also lack vehicles, both for transportation and combat purposes. That will have to be remedied with haste.


One of the main problems of the italian military are incompetent officers, to correct that a large scale war games are being arranged to educate our personnel to the secrets of modern warfare.
Sometimes Il Duce and the king would follow these exercises.


On july 5th, troublesome news from Germany.
The german armed forces have reinstituted conscription and changed their name from "Reichswehr" (Reich Defence) to "Wehrmacht" (Defence Force)
Nazi german plans for re-armament are now public information.
Mussolini has spoken to the Grand Council of Fascism, he declared in a closed session that the german plans might actually be working for our favour.
(Is Il Duce thinking of allowing the germans to shake the balance of power in Europe? Will Italy play two or even three sides in this potential conflict situation? Only time will tell...)


While the german industrial might is far greater than ours, we are enjoying a substantial industrial development, wars have allways been a vitamine for industry.
The expanded trade with both Germany and Soviet Union are proving to be good sources of income.


"The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and despising suicide; he rather conceives of life as duty and struggle and conquest, life which should be high and full, lived for oneself, but not above all for others — those who are at hand and those who are far distant, contemporaries, and those who will come after."
Benito Mussolini, "The Doctrine of Fascism" (1932)

October 1935 France

France was in turmoil, demonstrations all over the country led the military to deploy its troops everywhere, soon general strike was organized, both far-right and far-left rioted against the goverment.
The worst case however was the town of Nice (Nizza in italian) near the franco-italian border.
Nice was given to France by the Piedmont-Sardinia as a territorial reward for French assistance in the Second Italian War of Independence against Austria in 1860.
The city has a sizable italian population, and was considered to be a part of the "Italian Irredenta".
There a full rebellion started on october 12th, italians and some french fascists took up arms against the goverment,
rebellious people from all over the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region arrived to Nice to support the rebels.
Il Duce however refused to support the rebels, he still needed France as a democratic country to resist Germany.


Men of the rebellion.
After three weeks of hard fighting, the goverment troops regained total control of the city.
16 500 french army soldiers were lost, of these some 7 300 dead, rest are wounded or MIA.
Rebel casualties are harder to determine, french army sources claim:
25 300 dead, wounded or captured.
Civilian casualties are not included.
Several italians and few french rebels escaped trough the border to the italian province of Liguria and naturally Il Duce welcomed them. (In secret)
Afterwards the french goverment trialed several italian leaders of the rebellion in a military tribunal to death, Il Duce strongly protested against this, but in vain.


December brought presents for the children of Libya.


Latest investments of the armed forces, particulary the secret rocket program interests Il Duce, and he keeps a close eye on the project.


New year, new problems.
In French Morocco an influential french colonists took over the country, placing once exiled Muhammed V to the throne.
They declared that their goverment was greatly influenced by italian fascism, this once again worsened relations between France and Italy, and was quite akward for Il Duce.
Independent Morocco thankfully came to an end quickly, when french forces entered the capital and took control of the country once again, with little bloodshed.


Italian plans however were now beginning to turn towards the balkans, where possibilities for expansion was great, Albania would provide us a foothold towards Yugoslavia and Greece...
There we could find resources to fund an even greater empire for the italians.


To achieve expansion in the Balkans we needed some support, the Entente would never help us, so we must turn to that litte austrian corporal for some assistance.
Italy is not ready to sign an alliance or any kind of treaty with him tough, we must wait and see what happens.


Summer of 1936 was a beautiful time in Italy, in Spain however boots of war marched onwards as the country divided.
Il Duce must now decide will Italy support the "Nationalists" or remain neutral. From objective point of view Italy has no reason to meddle in the war.
Nationalist victory would not bring any gains and ideological similarities are few, or nonexistent.
Lastly, sending troops and supplies to them would once and for all end the friendly relations with the Western powers.
Still, italian army could gain valuable combat experience for the future, and relations with the west were no longer so important.
Mussolini began gazing to the East instead, for one country that could possibly end Germany once Italy had received all she wanted from the germans and their mentally ill leader.

(I have been making this update for nearly three and a half hours. I never tought it would be ready.) :sleep: