Italian Claims Against France 1940

[Terranix]

Although a failure to actually attempt to fight for the territory and Hitler not forcing to French to accede resulted in the Italians getting practically nothing from their hundred hours war, I'm curious to know just what territory they actually desired from France proper.

As far as I know it was Nice, Savoy and Corsica they were after, and I'm going by the following map to identify these territories: http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Graphi ... aps_o1.gif

Is it correct that the provinces outlined at Nice and Savoy here are the provinces Mussolini claimed? Did they have designs on Monaco also, or Provence?

[lavella]

Although a failure to actually attempt to fight for the territory and Hitler not forcing to French to accede resulted in the Italians getting practically nothing from their hundred hours war, I'm curious to know just what territory they actually desired from France proper.

As far as I know it was Nice, Savoy and Corsica they were after, and I'm going by the following map to identify these territories: http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Graphi ... aps_o1.gif

Is it correct that the provinces outlined at Nice and Savoy here are the provinces Mussolini claimed? Did they have designs on Monaco also, or Provence?

Bonjour

Musso was wide and vague enough ,regarding Nice , Savoie .............Would have he been more precise afterwards?

He had more claims about Djibouti , Tunisia and French North Africa

Remember the harangue of that "Cesar de Carnaval" to an enthousiastic mob ( who ignominiously ,5 years after , will spit on his corpse )

Nizza a noi , corsica a noi , savoia a noi , Djibouti a noi ,Tunisia a noi..!!!.............punctuated with loud applause

[Lupo Solitario]

sincerly, apart propaganda boasts, Italy had very few interest on French mainland. The two old territories of Nice and Savoy (overall the first one) had been given from Sardinians to France in 1860 as a pay for french help in italian unification and they were always "felt" as a giveaway piece of Italy. Of the two only the italian-speaking coastal Nice was of some interest. The mountain, resourceless french-speaking Savoy was only a "satisfaction".
For the rest, no interest in cutting france.

The real italian targets were, overall, Corsica, Tunisia and Gibuti in a strategy aimed to create a defensive ring around Italy, fix an italian control on Mediterrean and form northeast africa in an italian empire.

bye

[dragos]

The real italian targets were, overall, Corsica, Tunisia and Gibuti in a strategy aimed to create a defensive ring around Italy, fix an italian control on Mediterrean and form northeast africa in an italian empire.

bye

Did Mussolini want to create a new Roman empire? What was on his mind when started attacking left and right?

[Lupo Solitario]

I prefer speaking about an ITALIAN empire. "New Roman" sounds good for propaganda but miss the point about forming a XX century empire. Italians acted in very stupid way but the strategical targets were mainly: acquire control of Suez Channel and Gibraltar Street, be the dominant power in Balkans and Middle East and master Africa from Tunis to Mogadishu.
Practically: expel UK from Med and East, and keep France and Germany in their national areas.

A design over italy possibilities, IMHO

[luigi]

I prefer speaking about an ITALIAN empire. "New Roman" sounds good for propaganda but miss the point about forming a XX century empire. Italians acted in very stupid way but the strategical targets were mainly: acquire control of Suez Channel and Gibraltar Street, be the dominant power in Balkans and Middle East and master Africa from Tunis to Mogadishu.
Practically: expel UK from Med and East, and keep France and Germany in their national areas.

A design over italy possibilities, IMHO

"such a great hunger and such little theet..."

[lbj]

So were Nice, Savoy, Corsica, Monaco all actually annexed by Italy?

[Lupo Solitario]

neither; they were all militarly occupied in 1942 but never formally annexed

[lavella]

neither; they were all militarly occupied in 1942 but never formally annexed

Buon giorno

an interesting and well known fact :

Many jews ,fleeing Nazis and Vichy police were protected till september 43 ,in Nice ,by Italians (consul Donnato ?).........at the deep discontent of french authorities !
Another ambiguous look of Fascist antisemitism.......

[luigi]

I'm not as knowledgable as others here so I say it with great caution, but I dare say that the jewish presence among the fascist movement, at least in the "first hour", was indeed not negligible.
The racial laws did in fact hardly affect the life of Italian Jews, however to a lesser extent than in other countres bound to the Axis (not to speak about Hitler's Germany itself, of course).
This is not to say that Italy or Italian controlled areas were a safe heaven for Jews, of course, or, that Mussolini should be looked thankfully at for this: they faced harsh living conditions and were deported to Germany as well, but with much more reluctancy than in other countries, one could say parhaps, and this reluctancy came form the single individuals who had to apply the laws or acto conform to them, rather than from those who deliberated them.

Regards

[Lupo Solitario]

not properly my field but I believe the point is that before September 1943 in Italy and in italian occupied territories were active the Italian antisemitic laws which didn't include deportation, jailing or killing of jews, neither Italian could give jews to germans (or croatian, or frenchmen...). So in an italian area a jew had granted at least life and personal freedom.

my 2 cents