Mussolini in the winter of debacle

The winter of 1940-1941 is catastrophic for Mussolini: his army falls back in Albania before the Greeks, his 10th Army is annihilated in Libya, and East Africa is collapsing. The prestige of the Fascist regime, built on the myth of military power, is in ruins. Launched in October 1940 in hopes of a swift triumph, the Italian offensive against Greece has turned into a fiasco: the Greek counter-attack has carried the fighting deep into occupied Albania, and the loss of East Africa now appears inevitable. The Duce looks for gestures to restore morale and mask the failure of his staff.

A spectacular measure is under study: send to the Albanian front, as combatants, the high dignitaries and ministers of the regime under 45 years of age. The idea is meant as an example of sacrifice by the Fascist elite, designed to galvanize the nation.

Mussolini must weigh this choice of political communication in the storm: multiply such symbolic gestures to keep alive the mystique of the regime; on the contrary, acknowledge the gravity of the military situation and reform a failing command in depth; or resign himself to asking for massive German aid, at the cost of a loss of independence.