What was Italys involvement in World War 2?
Italy should have recognized their inferior military position in 1940 – lack of oil for naval operations, obsolete and incompetent air forces, pitiful armored units, unmotivated troops, inept officer corp, horribly corrupt and inefficient industrial base, etc. Instead of actively joining the war effort they would have been much more effective playing a role similar to that of Spain. They should have stayed neutral but funneled supplies to the Axis, used their armed forces as displays to force the British to continue arming their African forces, and negotiated for advantage whenever possible.
