But was it necessary to die? As we have seen, Mussolini was counting on German aid to drive back the invaders. But even within his own party, a majority of its leaders thought that Hitler’s intentions were less to defend Italy than to defend Germany in Italy, and that the final defeat of the Third Reich was written in the stars anyway. The peninsula must therefore not be allowed to become a battlefield. Italy must get out of the war one way or another-and immediately, as she had already lost the war irremediably. We have seen that Ciano, Grandi, and Botta'i, all three former ministers of the Duce, shared this opinion with Marshals Bado-glio and Caviglia, with the "young” Generals Castellano and Carboni, with the former Prime Ministers of the liberal era Orlando and Bonomi, and with those close to the King. The Chief of the General Staff accepted the principle of a rupture of the Axis and a cessation of hostilities but, as he continually urged him, preferred Mussolini to take the initiative for this change of tack. Failing this he envisaged arresting the Duce. Finally, General Chierici, Chief of Police, and General Hazon, Commander of the Corps of Carabinieri, also declared themselves in favour of an eventual show of force.
The King, however, hesitated to give the signal. We would impute this not to lack of personal courage but to the fear of provoking indescribable chaos if the elimination of Mussolini, which he thought would be necessary, were to be carried out by other than legal means. In particular the presence in the Lake Bracciano area, some 25 miles from the capital, of the Blackshirt "M” Armoured Division, militated against any ill-considered gesture, and whilst Germany was reinforcing her strength in the peninsula, she could be counted upon to react with some force.
The King’s reserve caused Count Grandi to lose patience. On June 3, recalling to Victor Emmanuel III the ups and downs of the House of Savoy, he said: "Your Majesty, there is no choice: either Novara, namely abdication, or a change of front in the style of Victor Amadeus II who, when he realised the mistake of the alliance with the King of France, saved Piedmont and the dynasty at the last moment, by going over to the Imperial camp.”
Marshal Badoglio felt the same way on July 17, when he said to Senator Casati: "Either the King accepts the solution which, in agreement with us, he has already anticipated, or he resigns himself to waiting for another moment. In the second case each one of us can choose the way he wishes to follow.”
A Tough, well-armed, and with a superb combat tradition: German paratroopers, who formed the core of the Axis defence of Sicily and went on to add to their laurels on the defensive in Italy.
A Zn Italian marshalling-yard gels a dose of Allied bombs.
All key strategic centres were thoroughly bombed before the invasion, as well as the defences along the coast.
World History
