Italy Invades France

On June 10, 1940 Italy invaded France declaring war on France and Britain. As hard pressed as they were the French easily stopped the Italian attack after it had progressed only a few miles. Italy was not ready for war but Mussolini couldn’t resist the temptation to jump in and try to claim a share of the spoils in what looked like a sure thing.

Meanwhile in response to a renewed German offensive, which had begun as soon as the Dunkirk evacuation ended and was gathering steam, the French government began evacuating Paris and started setting up a temporary capital in Tours. This German attack was, of course, the real threat to France. The French army fought more effectively during this phase of the campaign but its earlier losses were too great for this to affect the final outcome.

I have not found any serious treatments in English of the Italian decision to enter the war. The immediate impact was to spread the war to the Mediterranean and to Africa. It is not clear to me if Italy had any well considered war aims. The results would be anything but what Mussolini envisioned and Mussolini would end up paying with his life for some serious bad judgment on his part.