Italian defeats could end the Mediterranean war

Losing Libya alone would have less political effect than the broader shock of also losing Albania and failing against Greece. That sequence could remove Mussolini and push Italy either toward neutrality or toward the Allied side, as happened later under different conditions. An Italian change of sides would open pressure through the Alpine approaches and eliminate the need to fight through Sicily and mainland Italy. The Mediterranean war would largely end, letting Allied naval and ground resources concentrate against Germany or move east.