Menton, the sole Italian gain

On 20 June 1940, the Italian army launched its offensive in the Alps, hoping to wrest territorial gains from a dying France before the armistice. But it ran up against General Olry's Army of the Alps, far inferior in numbers but solidly entrenched in mountainous terrain and modern fortifications. The offensive stalled everywhere.

The Italian command, pressed by Mussolini to obtain results before the fighting ended, had to choose where to direct its effort. To persevere along the entire Alpine front despite the failure and the losses, in an attempt at a breakthrough. To concentrate the effort on the coast, towards Menton, where a limited advance seemed possible. Or to suspend a costly and futile offensive.

The stakes were above all political: Mussolini wanted conquests to present at the armistice table, however symbolic. But the Italian army, poorly prepared, managed to penetrate French territory only to a derisory extent. The prestige of the Fascist regime was at stake in this improvised campaign.