Italian Expansion: Albania, Pact of Steel and Entry into the Second World War
The Invasion of Albania (April 1939) - Events
- Albania was under Italian control since 1927, when Mussolini had established a semi protectorate with King Zog leading a client state.
- This means that Albania was nominally politically independent, but was heavily influenced and controlled by Italy in economic and militarily terms.
- When Mussolini went into Albania in 1939, he wasn’t looking for resources.
- Albania had small oil reserves, which were especially valuable in the 1930s for military and industrial purposes.
- It also possessed chromium, copper, bitumen, and iron ore, which Italy saw as useful for its war economy.
- Nevertheless, the main asset that Albania had was its location: controlling it gave Italy access to the Balkans, the Adriatic, and a forward base for future military campaigns, particularly toward Greece and Yugoslavia.
- Also, Mussolini was keen on showing Hitler, who had recently expanded into Czechoslovakia, that he could keep pace with German expansion while recovering the glory of the Roman Empire.
- The invasion was swift, met with no strong resistance, and Albania fell in a matter of days.
Historiography
- Why did Mussolini invade Albania?
- For the intentionalists, Albania was another step in the long-term expansionist goals rooted in fascist ideology and imperial ambition.
- In this sense, Albania should be seen as part of Mussolini’s consistent plan to:
- Build a new Roman Empire.
- Dominate the Balkans.
- Assert Italy’s place as a great power alongside Nazi Germany.
- For the structuralists, Mussolini was opportunistic and reactive, driven by domestic pressures, such as economic instability, the need to distract from internal weaknesses, and competition with Hitler.
- The invasion of Albania was not the result of a long-term plan, but rather a last-minute show of force to compensate for Italy’s declining prestige and growing subservience to Germany.
- For historians like Denis Mack Smith, the invasion is symptomatic of Italy's weak strategic planning and reliance on spectacle over substance.
The Invasion of Albania (April 1939) - Responses
France and Britain’s Response to Italy’s Invasion of Albania
- In mid-April 1939, France and Britain issued security assurances to Greece and Romania, aiming to block further Italian or German interference in southeastern Europe.
- These moves were driven by rising fears that Nazi Germany sought economic dominance over Romania, especially due to its valuable oil reserves, prompting urgent diplomatic action.
- Nevertheless, guarantees were largely symbolic: The British and French pledges to protect Greece and Romania were meant as deterrents, but there were no concrete military deployments or defensive alliances to enforce them at the time.
The Pact of Steel
- In 1939, Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel, a formal agreement pledging mutual military and economic cooperation, though Italy was reassured that conflict would not occur soon.
- Behind the scenes, Germany may have viewed this deal more as a strategic move to isolate Italy from Britain and France than as a true alliance.
- At the time, Italy was facing deep economic troubles due to the lingering effects of the Great Depression, overspending on prior conflicts like the Abyssinian war and the Spanish Civil War, and lacked sufficient military capacity or supplies for a new war.
- Mussolini’s regime became alarmed when it realized Germany was preparing for immediate conflict, and declared “non belligerency".
- Italy issued a long list of military equipment it would need in order to fight, but Germany declined to assist, instead allowing Italy to remain in the alliance without joining the war effort.
- Italy entered WW2 in June 1940, when France was about to fall and once Hitler was on a clear winning run in Western Europe.
- By the time Mussolini joined the war, the Axis already controlled Poland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.
Historiography
- Why did Mussolini enter World War II?
- For the intentionalists, Italy’s involvement in the Pact of Steel and in the eventual declaration of war is the climax of Mussolini’s expansionist ambitions.
- Since 1935 he had shown a sustained ideological drive towards territorial conquest, and WW2 was a new and more far reaching arena to achieve his dream of the glory of the Roman Empire.
- For the structuralists, Italy entered the war more as a symbolic or diplomatic move.
- The low level of Italy’s army and the bad performance in Spain made it impossible to commit to a long term and large-scale expansion.
- For Renzo De Felice and Giorgio Rochat, the entry into WW2 was a ‘modest commitment, underpinned by the belief in a short war and a swift, ‘better peace.”
