Italy has had more time to repair its forces, though mountainous Greece and Mediterranean geography still limit what that improvement can achieve. Germany may defeat Poland more readily than Italy can break Greece, but Britain and France are expected to honor their guarantees. Better Allied logistics, radios, air-ground coordination, and mobile forces could make the Phoney War much less passive. At sea, Italian and German fleets must face a larger Anglo-French capital-ship and carrier force, while their submarine forces have not reached their historical wartime scale. The conclusion remains conditional, but the scenario tends toward a difficult stalemate or a rapidly worsening German position rather than a repeat of 1940.
Chapter · 3:33:47-3:54:51
A coordinated German-Italian war in 1942
The third scenario imagines Germany and Italy attacking Poland and Greece together, but finds their stronger armed forces still constrained by Allied production, French resistance, and uncertain Soviet choices.