Europe 1941: Italian Fiascos
 
	
	26 February 1941
											
												26 Feb 1941
											
										
										
									
										
										
										
									
										
										
										
									
										
										
										
									
										
										
										
									
										
										
										
									
										
										
										
									
										
											World War II: Blitzkrieg
									
										
											
												-27–68 Julio-Claudian Dynasty
											
										
									
										
											
												68–96 Flavian Dynasty
											
										
									
										
											
												96–192 Nerva–Antonine Dynasty
											
										
									
										
											
												192–235 Severan Dynasty
											
										
									
										
											
												235–268 Crisis of the Third Century: Turmoil
											
										
									
										
											
												268–284 Crisis of the Third Century: Restoration
											
										
									
										
											
												284–311 Diocletian and the Tetrarchy
											
										
									
										
											
												311–363 Constantinian Dynasty
											
										
									
										
											
												363–383 Valentinianic Dynasty
											
										
									
										
											
												383–408 Theodosian Dynasty: Divided Empire
											
										
									
										
											
												408–425 Theodosian Dynasty: The West Besieged
											
										
									
										
											
												425–441 Theodosian Dynasty: Fall of Africa
											
										
									
										
											
												441–455 Theodosian Dynasty: Hunnic Wars
											
										
									
										
											
												455–461 Last Hope of the Western Empire
											
										
									
										
											
												461–476 Fall of the Western Empire
											
										
									
										
											
												476–1803 NO MAPS FOR THIS PERIOD YET
											
										
									
										
											
												1803–1814 Napoleonic Wars
											
										
									
										
											
												1814–1815 Vienna and Waterloo
											
										
									
										
											
												1815–1848 Congress Europe
											
										
									
										
											
												1848–1850 Springtime of Peoples
											
										
									
										
											
												1850–1859 Crimean War
											
										
									
										
											
												1859–1862 Italian Unification
											
										
									
										
											
												1862–1871 German Unification
											
										
									
										
											
												1871–1914 Imperial Europe
											
										
									
										
											
												1914–1918 Great War
											
										
									
										
											
												1918–1922 Armistice Europe
											
										
									
										
											
												1922–1939 Rise of Fascism
											
										
									
										
											
												1939–1942 World War II: Blitzkrieg
											
										
									
										
											
												1942–1945 World War II: Fall of the Third Reich
											
										
									
										
											
												1945–1990 Cold War
											
										
									
										
											
												1990–2010 Post-Cold War Europe
											
										
									
										
											
												2010–pres Crisis of Europe
											
										
									
								
							Italian Fiascos
						
							
								16 Sep 1939 Invasion of Poland
							
						
							
								11 Mar 1940 Winter War
							
						
							
								21 Apr 1940 Invasion of Denmark and Norway
							
						
							
								25 May 1940 Blitzkrieg in the West
							
						
							
								21 Jun 1940 Fall of France
							
						
							
								7 Sep 1940 Battle of Britain
							
						
							
								3 Nov 1940 Mussolini’s Offensives
							
						
							
								26 Feb 1941 Italian Fiascos
							
						
							
								16 Apr 1941 Germany in the Mediterranean
							
						
							
								21 Jun 1941 Eve of Barbarossa
							
						
							
								31 Aug 1941 Operation Barbarossa
							
						
							
								4 Dec 1941 Battle of Moscow
							
						
							
								20 Jan 1942 The War Expands
							
						
							
								27 Jun 1942 Western Desert Campaign
							
						
							
								16 Sep 1942 Case Blue
							
						
					
				By late 1940, Mussolini's invasion of Greece had become a debacle, with the Greeks instead invading Italian Albania. Meanwhile, Britain devastated the Italian fleet at Taranto and overran Italian possessions in Africa. All this worried the Germans, who began sending troops to aid the Italians, and encouraged the Americans, who announced the start of Lend-Lease.