» The Italian invasion of Egypt in 1940
The Italian invasion of Egypt in 1940
written by August 30, 2021
The Italian advance into Egyptian territory in 1940 marked the started of the North African campaign. The offensive was ill prepared, and the consequences soon materialized
Context
After the fall of France, the war seemed to be near the end, at least in the minds of Axis leadership and especially of Benito Mussolini. The idea of an attack against Egypt from the Italian colony of Libya started to take shape in the Supreme Command, fuelled by Mussolini’s infinite ambitions. , governor of Libya and superior commander for the North African theatre, was well aware of the deficiencies in equipment and training that his forces experienced. He urged the supreme command to send machine guns, tanks, artilleries and, most importantly, trucks. Balbo died on the 28th of June, crushing with his pane, shot down over Tobruk in a friendly fire accident. He was hastily replaced by , a veteran of Italian colonial wars who took over the task of planning the attack on Egypt. Graziani quickly realized the same issues that Balbo faced and forwarded new requests for supplies and reinforcements. Mussolini renews his pressures for an attack and, in early July, he urged Marshal Graziani to act. This attack was just a political move that, in Mussolini’s calculations, would have increased Italy’s prestige (and claims) during the peace talks (believed to be imminent). He recklessly disregarded most of Graziani’s requests, who was requesting more anti-tank weapons, tanks and trucks. Graziani tried to delay the operation as much as he could but was never determined to confront the Duce with the reality on the ground and oppose the attack, fearing to be sacked by the Dictator.
