Italy was already overstretched

Italy entered the new conflict with its military already strained by the Abyssinian war, the Greek campaign, and the large commitment in North Africa. One possibility raised is that North Africa also held some of Italy's most capable commanders because Mussolini wanted potential political rivals kept away from him. Much of its planned rearmament was not due to mature until 1942 or even 1945, because Mussolini had originally expected a later war. He had joined the European conflict in 1940 in the belief that victory was near and Italy needed a place among the winners. By December 1941 that calculation had failed, yet he expanded the war again. Declaring against the United States converted American matériel, industry, personnel, and political support from an indirect danger into an official belligerent commitment.