Pier Paolo Battistelli

While I would have preferred to read this two-part study in order, dealing with the initial invasion of Greece by Italy first, the second book is what Inter-library loan presented us. This number is rather dense, and is focused on how the German military scythed through the Balkans, with the weak road net often being more of an obstacle than the British, Greek, and Yugoslavian militaries. I was particularly interested in getting an Italian take on the whole misadventure, and Battistelli can only shake his head in disbelief over the whole sideshow, mostly due to Mussolini's "pigheadedness," and really finding no higher strategic meaning in events.

However, my thought is if one wants to take 1914-1945 as a unit, this was a campaign that was definitely a continuation of old business, between Rome trying to redeem the "mutilated" peace of 1918, Budapest working at overthrowing the Treaty of Trianon, and Athens, Belgrade, and Sofia having another round of the Balkan Wars.

That leaves me with the question of just how the British intervention could have been so pathetic. Was it simple lack of mass, professional incompetence, or a simple failure to cooperate enough with Athens to put up a better fight?… (mere)