Italian power was unevenly prepared for a war of movement

Italy’s attack across the French Alps was cut short by the Franco-German armistice, and its subsequent attack into Greece required extensive German support. The discussion contrasts politically favoured troops sent toward Greece with more capable formations in North Africa, then explains why neither deployment solved Italy’s wider problem. British pressure on Ethiopia and East Africa also threatened the overseas positions that Italy had to support. Italian forces were still being modernized for mobile war, and limited industrial capacity constrained both the pace and scale of that transition. Italian aircraft improved as the war continued, illustrating how a belligerent could enter combat before its planned rearmament had matured. Britain, meanwhile, had particular strengths in radar and electronic warfare, reinforcing the broader point that every belligerent began the war at a different place on an uneven spectrum of readiness.