“I need only some thousands of casualties to have a place at the peace treaty table”.
According to many historians, this was Mussolini's phrase that generated the Italian attack on France (June 13 – 24, 1940) which was the first Italian military operation in World War Two, and without any doubt, was one of the most criticized of the whole Italian war. Indeed, the larger opinion is that Mussolini ordered the attack after he saw the brilliant results that Germany was obtaining in the French campaign. Hoping to gain as many benefits as possible from the armistice, Mussolini jumped on the German bandwagon when France was almost beaten.
For this reason, the attack of France was considered by many observers as a very dishonorable action, and Italy was defined as the nation that “stabbed the neighbor's back” ( F.D. Roosevelt) or which “killed a dying man” (G. Salvemini).
This interpretation of the facts has a partial truth, but an accurate analysis of the military and political aspects of the operation reveals a scenery which is not so plain and where an action like the Italian one seem to require an explanation more extensive and complex than expected.
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