Italy During World War II
Italy was a major player in the Second World War. Led by the fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Italy made up one of the three Axis Powers (the others were Germany and Japan respectively.) On November 1st, 1936, The Germans and the Italians announced their alliance as the Rome-Berlin Axis, one week after signing a treaty. Shortly after WW2 broke out. the Italians weren't really for getting into another war, but Mussolini, with his promises to fix the economy and to help Italy regain the power it had in the Roman Empire, convinced many and threw the country in to basically feed his power-hungry ego. During the war, Italy occupied Ethiopia in Africa and some parts of present-day Greece. Italy was unprepared for most of the war and was taken over by the Allies through the island of Sicily and from there they traveled up the Italian peninsula in 1943. Italy surrendered in 1943 with the arrest of Mussolini in September. Allies had control of Sicily and Southern Italy for the rest of the war, while Italian forces in Northern Italy were basically taking commands from Germany until the end of the war in 1945.