The History of WWII Podcast XX
[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.
[2] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[3] What do they know?
[4] What are their skills?
[5] And what would you do in their position?
[6] Vengeance felt good seeing these.
[7] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.
[8] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[9] Hello, and thank you for listening to a History of World War II podcast, episode 11, Abyss.
[10] First off, I'd like to thank Michael Duncan of the History of Rome series on iTunes for some technical help.
[11] If you haven't checked out his podcast, you certainly should.
[12] You can search Michael Duncan or the History of Rome, and it's really one of the best that's out there.
[13] I wish I could say that I was going on one of his History of Rome tours next year, but if I get half the numbers that he does as far as listeners, I would be happy to...
[14] to arrange something, I'd love to go to Europe, England, probably North Africa, and maybe as far as Moscow, and then set up something in the Asian theater as well.
[15] So, you know, fingers crossed on that.
[16] Benito Mussolini met his last mistress in September of 1933 in Ostia.
[17] Her name was Claretta Patacci.
[18] She was 21, and he was 50.
[19] She had told him that she'd always wanted to meet Il Duce.
[20] He was flattered, got her phone number, and called her three days later.
[21] She came over, and by most accounts, the affair started pretty much right away.
[22] But this was Italy, with the Vatican nearby, and she still lived at home.
[23] So she would come over when she could, and they kept it as discreet as possible.
[24] She did get married in June of 1934.
[25] He certainly didn't leave his wife, and she carried on with her life.
[26] And by 1936, her husband was sent to Japan as a minister or a representative, so he was out of the picture.
[27] Years later, looking back on the affair, Mussolini said that he still thought that young women were good for a man's body, but not for his soul, and that really only women enjoyed sex.
[28] As far as politics in Italy, there was a new party secretary, Staracci, and he was taking more power, arresting or demoting more established fascists, basically carrying out his own subtle little purge.
[29] But Mussolini did nothing.
[30] He was either distracted by Claretta or by Adolf Hitler or probably both.
[31] His plate was certainly full.
[32] Italy still supported the Croat fascists, the fascists that actually killed King Alexander of Yugoslavia and the French foreign minister during a meeting.
[33] Italy also supported the generals of Spain ever since 1931 when the monarchy had been kicked out.
[34] But in general, when it came to foreign policy, Mussolini's eyes were focused on Ethiopia.
[35] They had been since 1931, and Mussolini was on again, off again about it.
[36] There was a precedence for this.
[37] In 1896, Italy had tried to invade Ethiopia.
[38] They'd got as far as one of the border towns, Ottawa, but were pushed back, and there was a lot of Italian casualties.
[39] So in some ways, you can think of that as their Vietnam.
[40] Whenever they thought about that, it was pretty brutal.
[41] They didn't like to think about it, and they just wanted to pretend it never happened.
[42] Now, Mussolini, being the cynical, realistic person that he was, knew war was coming.
[43] He had to adapt to the idea that European politics from 1933 to 1939 was pretty much all about German rearmament.
[44] Everybody was reacting to it, and he had to as well.
[45] Hitler talked about peace, but it was obvious to Mussolini.
[46] that it was all lies.
[47] Now, before Hitler came along, Mussolini was the bad boy on the scene.
[48] You had all these pasty, weak prime ministers, and then there was Mussolini, this man of action, dressed in dark colors, making bold statements.
[49] And he was dark, he was kind of scary, he was a little bit sexy.
[50] But then in 1933, Hitler comes along, and Hitler represents true evil, a real threat to stability, a real threat to peace.
[51] And at this time, the...
[52] European powers just didn't have any time to placate Mussolini or his ego.
[53] They really had to focus on Hitler because something was happening there.
[54] Mussolini guessed he had until about 1937 to get what he wanted before Europe was in total chaos, which wasn't a bad guess.
[55] Like Giolini, the Prime Minister Giolini, before World War I, when they took Libya in 1911, Mussolini wanted to get Ethiopia before it was too late.
[56] So by February of 1934, He's back on the Ethiopian bandwagon.
[57] Mussolini had to be honest with himself looking at a map.
[58] Italy was certainly the least of the great powers, and they had to get land while they could.
[59] But after the Dolphus Affair in July of 1934, he was back off of the situation because he was focused on the Brenner Pass.
[60] But then Mussolini noticed that Hitler was not only not punished by the League of Nations, but the League of Nations, again, believed him in his speeches about peace and about being innocent of any wrongdoing and his desire for peace and anything he could do to help.
[61] But what shocked Mussolini most was after he moved his troops to the Brenner Pass, even though he got the thanks of France and Austria, the English papers for some reason denounced Mussolini and said he was no better than Hitler.
[62] And of course, if you know anything about Mussolini, there was a huge difference between the two.
[63] Mussolini saw himself as cosmopolitan, worldly, complex, and he saw Hitler as one -dimensional.
[64] So that really hurt.
[65] So he began to stir.
[66] So this is where Mussolini begins to change.
[67] He's not evil.
[68] He is selfish.
[69] He is weak.
[70] He wants what he wants, and he wants to be great.
[71] But he's not an evil person.
[72] He wouldn't...
[73] killed just because somebody was a certain way, and he disagreed with that.
[74] But the idea for the invasion of Ethiopia was pretty much him.
[75] If it hadn't been for him, it wouldn't have happened.
[76] He had to push it.
[77] Most of the country was against it.
[78] Most of the people in his party were against it.
[79] He made it happen.
[80] Now, in early December 1934 in Ethiopia, there was a clash between Italian troops and the Ethiopians.
[81] Pretty much the Italians' fault they were going too far, trying to take too much land unofficially, and there was a clash which left 150 Ethiopians dead and 50 Italians dead.
[82] And so by December 30, 1934, Mussolini issued a statement that said Italian -Abyssinian relations had changed.
[83] It was no longer a problem of diplomacy, but a problem of force.
[84] And keep in mind that Ethiopia used to be called Abyssinia.
[85] Through his intelligence, Mussolini knew that the emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was just a little too good at centralizing the country.
[86] He was bringing it all under his control, which would make the...
[87] country harder to take in a military crisis because it would be more organized.
[88] So Mussolini knew that time was working against him.
[89] So he started working to get the pieces in place.
[90] Italy was getting along with France and checking German aggression.
[91] And Mussolini liked the idea of the Japanese, what they did in China.
[92] There was no declaration of war.
[93] They just moved in.
[94] And when their troops were attacked, they said it was a defensive struggle.
[95] which Mussolini was planning on doing.
[96] But if there was going to be a war, it was best if it was over with quickly, which is, he knew, what Hitler was counting on in Austria.
[97] Now, Italy already controlled the area around Ethiopia.
[98] They had Eritrea in the north and Somaliland in the south, and they would use that as staging points for their invasions.
[99] Mussolini knew it would soon be time to get the propaganda machine getting people ready for war.
[100] Now, Rome occupying land is obviously a very old story.
[101] but this would have a fascist version to it.
[102] The occupation would be wearing a fascist black shirt.
[103] It was a chance for the younger fascists to show the country and Mussolini what they were made of, because Mussolini knew he wouldn't be around forever.
[104] He told his generals he wanted 300 ,000 fully armed men for the invasion, but somehow he gave surprisingly little thought to the details, to the cost, to the effect on the economy, or even what to do with the land once they had it.
[105] And because this was his plan, He wasn't thinking the details through.
[106] The others working with him didn't think it through either.
[107] The ground council was not asked for advice.
[108] They were not asked to give any assessments.
[109] Even his old lover heard rumors and came to talk to him, Margarita Safati, and she had no effect on dissuading him.
[110] Throughout the 1930s, all the economic news for Italy was bad, just like for everyone else.
[111] The stock market was down a third.
[112] Gold was leaving the country.
[113] Production was down, skilled foreign workers had left, unemployment was high, and tourism was down.
[114] But in the face of all this, there were still reports going out that Mussolini was an economic genius, where thought and action were one, he could take care of everything.
[115] Now, the fascists never controlled the economy like the Nazis did.
[116] The Italians had the Doppolavoro, which could be compared to the Strength Through Joy, except for these...
[117] activities through this organization were actually wholesome, they were healthy, there was a lot less propaganda, and actually after the war, the people were thankful for it and they missed it.
[118] And Mussolini got the idea from an American businessman.
[119] And Mussolini knew that the war would hopefully distract the people from the economic troubles.
[120] They did things like...
[121] public works.
[122] They drained the Pontine marshes and other marshes.
[123] And, of course, with Mussolini, there was a great quote.
[124] The quote was, to reclaim the land, and with the land, the man, and with the man, the race.
[125] He was always good at that.
[126] But the peasants, mostly in the South, were not impressed.
[127] For some of them, fascism still hadn't touched their daily lives.
[128] And it's kind of ironic that Mussolini, who was a good writer, but was a great speaker that his talents were wasted on the Italians.
[129] And what I mean by that is the Italians are some of the most laid -back people you'd ever want to meet.
[130] I took my honeymoon in Rome in 2002 for 11 days, and they're pretty much all about living life, being with friends, having lovers, and hanging out and just spending time together.
[131] and just to get up tomorrow and do it again.
[132] I think there's a quote that says, Americans live to work, and Italians work to live.
[133] And by the time I came back from the honeymoon, I was as mellow as I'd ever been.
[134] I wasn't taking too much seriously.
[135] Of course, being back in the States after 24 hours took care of that, but it was a great time, and I wish I had that mentality all the time.
[136] So Mussolini compared all his modernization and activity with the Ethiopians.
[137] He said they were backward people and they needed a firm hand.
[138] So he started conscripting for his army.
[139] But again, ironically, like the Piedmontese mountain people who had pretty much been untouched by fascism, when they were in the army, they had got to eat meat.
[140] Not for the first time, but they rarely had it.
[141] And so for them, being in the army was paradise.
[142] So his people weren't as vast as he thought they were.
[143] He was able to conscript from the Fascist Youth Party because that was the entry point for any career, just like what the SS did in Germany.
[144] You had to join them in order to get a leg up in work and government.
[145] Of course, the Nazis would have laughed at the Fascist Youth Party because if you joined them, you got reduced prices on sporting events and reduced prices at movies.
[146] Not exactly the same thing as the SS.
[147] And the fascist youth party had another great quote from Mussolini.
[148] He was good at that.
[149] The quote was, better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.
[150] So it had a military bent to it.
[151] Now, because of this building crisis, Italian -Franco relations were becoming strained.
[152] So the French foreign minister, Pierre Laval, came to see Mussolini in January 1935.
[153] Privately, according to Mussolini, France gave him a blank check to do whatever he wanted in Ethiopia, just because he was helping France check German aggression.
[154] But Mussolini wanted more.
[155] He wanted a signed document.
[156] He wanted to be able to say it.
[157] So he told the French that he would sign an anti -German pact if he was given a free hand in Ethiopia.
[158] But it still didn't work.
[159] They said no. He tried to bribe some of the pro -fascist French press.
[160] to say nice things, but that didn't work either.
[161] And while this is going on, Mussolini knows that England is trying to placate and appease Hitler and his lust for conquest.
[162] I think the British plan at first was to give him a little of something so he wouldn't take more.
[163] But Mussolini was wondering, why wasn't anybody trying to appease him?
[164] Wasn't he worthy?
[165] Wasn't he feared?
[166] And the answer was, not really, especially compared to Hitler.
[167] Mussolini knew that the British Navy alone could block his plans on Ethiopia.
[168] They certainly had the forces right there just to make sure that none of his ships got through.
[169] So he had to sound the English out.
[170] So he had his minister talk to the British once again and say, hey, France is okay with this, how much you?
[171] But England was very vague.
[172] They wouldn't say anything.
[173] The minister said it was hard to pin them down, like the English fog.
[174] And he knew that England was solely focused on Berlin.
[175] At this, Mussolini was very cross, and he was very hurt, and he knew that he was losing his place in international politics.
[176] So Mussolini told General De Bono that he would be the commander -in -chief of all the Italian forces in East Africa and to be ready in September or October to launch his invasion.
[177] And that's how you know when someone's serious, when they put someone in charge, that means they're pretty much ready to go.
[178] General De Bono would have under his command nine divisions in three corps.
[179] The I Corps, the Italian II Corps, and the Eritrean Corps.
[180] Graziani was de Bono's subordinate.
[181] He would be the commander -in -chief of the southern forces in Somaliland.
[182] By April of 1935, England and France want to formalize their pact against Germany with Mussolini.
[183] In hindsight, it looks like England and France was using Mussolini.
[184] And they all gather at Strasa in Italy, so it's called the Strasa Agreement.
[185] Mussolini was there with the French Foreign Minister Laval, the British Foreign Minister Simon, the British Prime Minister MacDonald and the French Prime Minister Flandon.
[186] And before they arrive, Mussolini sees this as his opportunity to again get them to agree to let him have Ethiopia.
[187] So they're on their way, and Mussolini pulls one of his old tricks.
[188] He writes an article in one of the newspapers in Italy, and he states...
[189] that one, Germany must be declared for what it is, a rogue nation that wants to conquer.
[190] Two, France needs to appreciate Italy's friendship.
[191] And three, England must understand the state of mind of the continental Europe.
[192] So they discuss things for two days, and they finally sign a document making it official, their desire for peace, their commitment to the League.
[193] In the end, Mussolini didn't get what he wanted.
[194] And the relationships between them were becoming more afraid.
[195] If Hitler had known this, he would have smiled.
[196] And Mussolini walks away from this, further emboldened, to take Ethiopia.
[197] He knows now that those two countries need him, so he should pretty much be able to do what he wants and get away with it.
[198] You know, because friends don't tell friends no. So in April of 1935, the buildup of the Italian Royal Army and the Royal Air Force...
[199] is in earnest.
[200] There are going to be eight more regular divisions sent to Eritrea and four more infantry divisions sent to Somaliland.
[201] Plus, there was already hundreds of thousands of troops there anyway, so this brings it to about 680 ,000 troops.
[202] The equipment alone for the buildup was pretty impressive.
[203] There were 6 ,000 machine guns, 2 ,000 pieces of artillery, almost 600 tanks, almost 400 aircraft, and that's not counting the material that was already there waiting.
[204] So by May 18th, Mussolini is telling General de Bono by telegraph that France is okay, but Britain is still on the fence, but he doesn't care.
[205] Even if it means a break with England, he wants this invasion to go ahead.
[206] He told de Bono by October to have three years' worth of supplies in case the Suez Canal is closed to them by the English.
[207] He then tells England and the League of Nations to stay out of this Italian situation.
[208] Even Mussolini's domestic supporters at home are getting nervous.
[209] And I can't help but compare this to Mussolini's childhood when he's been pushed too far and the pocket knife comes out.
[210] It's like he's a little boy.
[211] He's just pushing against the entire world because he's going to get this and he wants respect.
[212] And he just keeps going.
[213] He tells the Chamber of Deputies that France cannot expect Mussolini to keep troops in the Brenneprass forever, checking the Nazis, and ignoring its own desires and problems.
[214] Then he has the fascist propaganda start, demonizing the Ethiopians and trying to raise the Italian desire for empire.
[215] England knows it has to do something, so it sends a proposal.
[216] It's very weak.
[217] They don't even bother sending a diplomat to Mussolini.
[218] And for Mussolini, this is just further proof that Italy has been regulated to a small or secondary consideration.
[219] Everything is secondary to Germany now.
[220] To further clear Mussolini's path, he got reports from Italian spies in Austria that pretty much everyone in Austria hated Italians and hated Mussolini, and further patronage was not welcome.
[221] That's pretty short -sighted on their part, but everyone has national pride.
[222] And for Mussolini, this just drives home the point that everything is about Berlin now.
[223] And even for France, Italy was important, but Germany was essential.
[224] So as far as Mussolini is concerned, he has the assurance from France and Britain that he needs.
[225] And he begins to interpret every event with that mindset.
[226] There's a rift between Britain and France when Britain has a naval agreement with Germany.
[227] trying to placate Hitler, and Britain won't even tell France the details of the agreement, so there's just a further rift, which, as far as Mussolini is concerned, just means they won't organize against him once he invades Ethiopia.
[228] In June 1935, England knows they have to do something, so they send a diplomat, Anthony Eden, with an idea.
[229] England was holding the key to stopping Mussolini.
[230] They knew it.
[231] So the idea was for Italy to get the best part of Ethiopia and what was left of Ethiopia would have a channel to the sea.
[232] For Mussolini, this was enough.
[233] He exploded at the young British minister who had no idea how to respond.
[234] All his pent -up frustration came out.
[235] He bellowed that if there wasn't going to be a war, then Italy gets all of Ethiopia, and if there was a war, Ethiopia would be wiped off the map.
[236] The stress points between Italy, Britain, and the League were now becoming gaping holes very quickly.
[237] For Mussolini, there was no going back, and the British newspapers responded in kind against him.
[238] So pretty much there was a blinking contest with no one giving in, and Ethiopia would be the only one to suffer.
[239] Also tearing was the love affair between Mussolini and the foreign press.
[240] Before all this, if you got stationed in Rome, it was considered a pretty sweet deal.
[241] And you got to meet an amazing man who loved to sit around and talk to the press for hours.
[242] Before all this, Mussolini was seen as the great man, the man for all seasons.
[243] But now he was just seen as a thug, the worst of a lot.
[244] And for a while, he made Hitler actually look appeasable.
[245] But Mussolini, his blood was up.
[246] He fought back.
[247] He bribed again.
[248] pro -fascist British reporters and tried to get reports written, but it didn't have any effect.
[249] Mussolini's only hope at this point was France.
[250] But Foreign Minister Laval and the Prime Minister stayed officially uncommitted.
[251] Privately, they would have given 100 Ethiopias to keep the Italians at the Brenner Pass, checking a German aggression.
[252] But in the end, France decided to stay with England and with the League.
[253] They thought it was the best thing to do for the long haul.
[254] On September 4, 1935, the League of Nations exonerated the Italians and the Ethiopians for the Wellwell incident the year before.
[255] This was done to placate Italy because they still needed them as a check against Germany.
[256] And also the League didn't do anything as Italy was building up its forces in Eritrea and Somaliland.
[257] Now, of course, the League of Nations knew what was coming in Africa.
[258] So when they opened their session on September the 9th, they decided on sanctions if Ethiopia was attacked.
[259] Italy's economy was suffering like everyone else's, and so they thought this would be enough to stop them.
[260] For Mussolini, this reinforced the idea that if there was going to be an invasion, get it done quickly, occupy the country, and then negotiate with the League from there.
[261] So on September 29th, Mussolini tells General de Bono that the invasion date is set for October 3rd.
[262] With the attack appearing inevitable, Emperor Haile Selassie ordered a general mobilization of the army.
[263] And he recruited about 500 ,000 men.
[264] Most of them were armed with nothing more than spears and bows and arrows.
[265] Some of them had weapons.
[266] But it's about this time and maybe a little earlier that he was talking with the Nazis about getting weapons from them, which they were more than happy to do.
[267] just to weaken Mussolini, but also they wanted to make sure that no one would ever find out that it was coming from them, because at the same time, Hitler was communicating with Mussolini on a regular basis, saying, yes, you should have this empire, you deserve it, you should take what you want, don't listen to anyone else, which is the exact opposite message Mussolini was getting from England and France.
[268] So modern arms starts coming to Ethiopia from Germany, but it won't be until about Christmas that they...
[269] have an impact when the war starts ethiopia's got about 13 planes most of them are outdated and because ethiopia was run by a king as opposed to republic the uh the generals or the raz as they were called were either relatives and or friends which didn't necessarily mean they were good at their job as far as waging a war but they were trusted so some of them were some of them were decent but most of them were incompetent So everyone knows war is coming, and most of the Italian people are not happy about it.
[270] Businessmen, intellectuals, even King Emmanuel III was not happy.
[271] When they thought of the short war in 1896 at Ottawa, they think about, they feel fear, not a desire for revenge.
[272] Mussolini knows that the economy is important, so he tries to appoint respected members of the business community to bolster confidence, and he keeps telling everybody that tourism is going to rebound to help the economy.
[273] Of course, there's no absolute reason to believe this.
[274] If your country's at war, the last thing people want to do is come and visit you.
[275] And this whole pursuit of the war is not the Mussolini that we know from the 1920s.
[276] Was it age?
[277] Was it pride?
[278] Who knows?
[279] But he is definitely...
[280] changing as he gets older.
[281] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[282] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[283] So precisely at 5 a .m. on October the 3rd, 1935, General De Bono crossed into Ethiopia without a declaration of war.
[284] In response to the Italian invasion, Ethiopia declared war in Italy.
[285] Now, right away at the beginning of the campaign, the Italians have trouble.
[286] On their side of the border, the roads are paved and everything's fine, but as soon as they go into Ethiopia, there are no paved roads.
[287] It's mostly just very vague paths.
[288] They do the best they can, and the city of Ottawa that they had trouble with in 1896 is bombed.
[289] The first thing they wanted to do was break the curse of 1896.
[290] Back in Italy, Mussolini is all over the place diplomatically.
[291] He's still open to a bargain.
[292] He lets England know that Italy wants to be the natural partner against Germany.
[293] France tries to pressure Emperor Selassie to agree to something like having Italy have a mandate over Ethiopia.
[294] But the plan comes to nothing.
[295] Mussolini has a welcome mat out for negotiations.
[296] He waits and waits.
[297] Nothing happens.
[298] So he keeps pushing de Bono to advance.
[299] On October 5th, Ethiopian towns start to get captured.
[300] The 1st Italian Corps and the 2nd Italian Corps from the north are starting to take towns, and Emperor Selassie orders his armies to retreat, but to keep themselves in between.
[301] the capital and the Italian forces.
[302] On October the 11th, the emperor's son -in -law surrendered with his forces.
[303] And trying a different track, on October 14th, De Bono issued a proclamation suppressing slavery.
[304] But then he says, however, I'm obliged to say that the proclamation did not have much effect.
[305] The Ethiopians themselves attempted to abolish slavery for a long time.
[306] And so the slaves, once they were freed, went to the Italians and said, who's going to feed me now?
[307] So that didn't work very well.
[308] By October 15th, De Bono's forces had advanced to Ottawa, the city that they were so worried about, and were able to take it because it was bombed.
[309] And very soon they were able to take the holy city of Aksum.
[310] General De Bono entered the city riding triumphantly on a white horse, but his entry was ruined by his Italian soldiers who had looted the obelisk of Axum.
[311] So De Bono's advance continues slowly, methodically, but Mussolini was starting to feel the diplomatic pressure at home.
[312] He wants this to be hurried and wrapped up.
[313] Some more towns are captured.
[314] But Mussolini's had enough and he's ready for a change of command.
[315] On November the 16th, De Bono was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy, but by December he was replaced with another Marshal, Pietro Bagdolio, because De Bono was just being too slow.
[316] He didn't have the killer instinct or how to follow up on a success.
[317] Bagdolio did not have that problem.
[318] But Emperor Haile Selassie decided to test the new Italian commander with his own offensive.
[319] And now he had some German armaments coming in.
[320] And what's going to become known as the Ethiopian Christmas Offensive had the plan of splitting the Italian forces in the north and then trying to send someone to invade Eritrea.
[321] So Raz Samum was in the center with about 70 ,000 men.
[322] Raz Irru had about 40 ,000 men on his left.
[323] And Raz...
[324] Mulu Gete, had about 80 ,000 men on his right.
[325] So these three armies are the only thing between the Italian armies and the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
[326] And so they are able to lure the Italians into an ambush because of their overconfidence and their relying on their technology.
[327] But the deserts and the sand made the tanks almost unusable.
[328] So the advanced guard of the Italians is ambushed and destroyed, and about 3 ,000 Italian troops are killed.
[329] So the Italians are forced to fall back to the holy city of Aksa I mentioned earlier.
[330] Again, the Ethiopians didn't have a lot of weapons, but they had a lot of men.
[331] And so the men were just running together.
[332] And as soon as one man was killed, another man would pick up the gun that he dropped and just kept on going.
[333] So they were able to push them back.
[334] In November, the League of Nations condemned Italy's aggression and opposed the economic sanctions.
[335] But honestly, the sanctions were pretty weak.
[336] put an embargo on material that Mussolini either didn't need or already had, and there was no follow -through on the sanctions.
[337] So it was pretty meaningless.
[338] In early December 1935, Britain and France came up with a pact trying to appease Italy.
[339] Under the pact, Italy would get most of Ethiopia, and Mussolini was ready to agree to this, but he waited a couple of days to make his opinion public.
[340] But on December 13th, details of the plan were leaked by the French newspaper, and everyone involved was denounced as selling out of the Ethiopians.
[341] The British government disassociated itself with the idea, and the British and French representatives who came up with it were forced to resign.
[342] For Mussolini, this was just another diplomatic embarrassment, and on the ground, Bagdolio had no intention of going the way of de Bono.
[343] So on December 26, he asked for permission, and it was approved to use chemical agents and mustard gas against the Ethiopians.
[344] Mussolini wanted this over with.
[345] This was definitely not the Mussolini of the 1920s.
[346] The gas was delivered by special artillery canisters and with bombers using the Royal Air Force.
[347] The poorly equipped Ethiopians had some success against Italy, but they did not understand why the terrible rain that came down burned and killed their troops.
[348] So the Christmas offensive slows down and starts to come to a halt.
[349] Anywhere there's an army, the Italians just fly right over, spread the gas, and everyone in the Ethiopian army dies.
[350] And also more Italian troops were sent over.
[351] The Italian 3rd and 4th Corps were sent to Eritrea in early 1936.
[352] So on January 20, 1936, the Italians resumed their northern offensive.
[353] And the way it was working now was the Italians would move forward.
[354] They would meet resistance.
[355] stall the Ethiopians, the planes would fly over, spray the gas on them, and pretty much wipe them all out, and then continue on.
[356] So in early 1936, Emperor Selassie starts letting the world know what the Italians are doing with the gas.
[357] But again, no one's doing anything about it, so the Italians keep doing it.
[358] In early February, the Italians capture more cities, and one of the armies mentioned earlier, under Raz, was destroyed.
[359] And that was pretty much through the use of gas.
[360] The Italians lost about 800 men and the Ethiopians lost about 6 ,000 men.
[361] In late February, the two other armies under the Razas were destroyed, again with poison gas.
[362] Another army is put together, but that is destroyed in early March.
[363] And at this point, it's clear there's no tactics, there's no strategy, there's no counter thrust.
[364] It's pretty much whenever the Ethiopian troops were together, they were bombed from above and they all died.
[365] So by March 31st, 1936, the Italians are almost at the capital, and the emperor puts together one more army and leads it himself.
[366] The Italians are entrenched, they have their defenses up, and just out of sheer desperation, Selassie just launches one attack after the other.
[367] The men are running at the Italians, the men are riding their horses, and they just get shot down before they get anywhere near the Italian line.
[368] And they just did this all day, just one launched attack after the other.
[369] exhausted Ethiopians would withdraw.
[370] But then the Italian Royal Air Force finishes off what's left of Haley Selassie's army by, again, with mustard gas.
[371] So the Italians suffer about 400 casualties and the Ethiopians suffer about 11 ,000.
[372] And on April 4th, Haley Selassie looked on despair at the horrific sight of the dead bodies just covering the ground.
[373] And there was a lake nearby and just everything in the lake as well was dead.
[374] It was just a...
[375] horrible sight, and it would be one of the last things for him to see before he was forced to leave the country.
[376] For the war in the south from Somaliland, it was pretty much the same thing.
[377] The Italians have some initial success.
[378] The Christmas offensive comes, and they're able to push the Italians back, but then the Italians start using mustard gas, and pretty much all of those Ethiopian open armies are wiped out.
[379] On May 2, 1936, Graziani, who's the leader of the army in the south, finds out that Haile Selassie is on a train leaving, and he asks for permission to bomb the train and to kill him, but Mussolini, a little bit more like his former self, refused the request.
[380] So Emperor Haile Selassie, he's in exile, he goes to England, and Bagdellio's forces march into Addis Ababa on May 5, and they restored order.
[381] So during the war, Mussolini's international image just suffered.
[382] And Hitler was the only one saying to him that he was right to do this.
[383] He supported him.
[384] Everyone else was condemning him.
[385] So it's natural that Mussolini began to move closer towards Hitler and viewing him in a different way.
[386] And it wasn't too long after the war that Mussolini was openly talking about a reproachment with Germany.
[387] And on May 9, 1936, Mussolini announced that Italy finally had its empire, even though it wouldn't last very long.
[388] So back in Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III, in the Quirino Palace, would let the people cheer him, even though he had nothing to do with it.
[389] And he certainly didn't make any announcements.
[390] That was pretty much for Mussolini to do, and he knew better.
[391] So he would come out onto the balcony, and the people would shout, Imperatore, Imperatore, salute Imperatore.
[392] and he would just stand there and wave his hand.
[393] Of course, most people wanted to see Mussolini, so he would come out on his balcony, and he proclaimed, during the 30 centuries of our history, Italy has known many solemn and many memorable moments, but this is unquestionably one of the most solemn, the most memorable.
[394] People of Italy, people of the world, peace has been restored.
[395] And the crowds, of course, didn't want to let him go.
[396] He was recalled back 10 times to the cheering and waving fans of the empire.
[397] And this lasted for days.
[398] Four days later, he came out onto the balcony again, and he yelled at the people, At last, Italy has its empire.
[399] The Italian people have created an empire with their blood.
[400] They will fertilize it with their work.
[401] They will defend it against anyone with their weapons.
[402] Will you be worthy of it?
[403] He then claimed that past defeats like Adawa in 1896 were erased and that Mussolini would give the people a place in the sun, showing that their empire could be just as extensive as Britain's or France.
[404] This was Mussolini's finest hour.
[405] Even though he was condemned internationally, Italy was behind him as they had never been before.
[406] And the Italian people appeared to have good cause for rejoicing.
[407] Italy had gained a vast territory with untold mineral riches.
[408] Fascism in Italy was never so popular, and the shouts of military victory drowned out the grumbles about the economic problems they had.
[409] Politically, the war is best remembered for exposing the weaknesses of the League of Nations.
[410] The crisis was a clear example of the ineffectiveness of the League.
[411] Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, and yet the League was unable to control Italy or protect Ethiopia.
[412] On May 4, 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie was sailing to England via Gibraltar, and he sent a telegram to the League of Nations.
[413] He said, the most unequal, most unjust, most barbarous war of our age, and have chosen the road of exile in order that our people will not be exterminated, and in order to consecrate ourselves wholly and in peace to the preservation of our empire's independence.
[414] We now demand that the League of Nations should continue its efforts to secure respect for the covenant, and that it should not decide to recognize territorial extensions or the exercise of an assumed sovereignty.
[415] resulting from the illegal recourse to armed force and to the numerous other violations of international agreements.
[416] The Emperor's telegram caused several nations to temporarily defer recognition of the Italian conquest.
[417] On June 30th, Emperor Haile Selassie spoke at the League of Nations, and he gave a stirring speech denouncing Italy's actions and criticizing the world community for standing by.
[418] And at the conclusion of his speech, which appeared in newsreels throughout the world, he warned that...
[419] Today, it is us.
[420] Tomorrow, it will be you.
[421] It's assumed about just over 760 ,000 people died in Italy's conquest of Ethiopia.
[422] International response to the Italian invasion was mixed.
[423] As stirring as the emperor's speech was before the League of Nations, his resolution for the world to deny the recognition of the Italian conquest was defeated.
[424] In addition, he was not granted a loan to finance a resistance movement.
[425] On July 4, 1936, the League of Nations voted to end the sanctions it imposed on Italy in November of 1935, and by July 15, the sanctions were lifted.
[426] Interestingly enough, on November 18, 1936, the Italian Empire was officially recognized by the Empire of Japan.
[427] Italy, in return, recognized the Japanese occupation of Manchuria.
[428] The Italian invasion of Ethiopia meant that the Stresa Front was at an end.
[429] The only thing in Hitler's way now was France, Britain, and the League of Nations, and they had proved themselves unable to do anything.
[430] Only five nations refused to recognize Italy's sovereignty over Ethiopia.
[431] That was the United States, Mexico, the Soviet Union, New Zealand, and the Republic of China.
[432] By December of 1936, Graziani declared that the whole country of Ethiopia was pacified and under effective Italian control.
[433] But Ethiopian resistance did continue.
[434] and when there was guerrilla attacks on the Italians or Italian property, the reprisals normally were mustard gas or summary executions of prisoners.
[435] On December 11, 1936, the League of Nations voted to condemn Italy for all this action after the war, and Mussolini declared his country's withdrawal from the organization.
[436] The church's reaction to all this was mixed, fearing retribution for Mussolini, who obviously proved himself capable and willing to go to extreme ends.
[437] The bishops either gave it praise or were neutral on the subject.
[438] Italian propagandists tried to outdo each other in praising Mussolini.
[439] They called him the conqueror, a god.
[440] He was divine.
[441] He was perfect.
[442] He was a Roman god.
[443] He was a titan.
[444] But soon something came along that...
[445] brought back the real Mussolini, the one who was insecure, sensitive, and depressed.
[446] In June of 1936, his daughter, his youngest child, Anna Maria, suffered from poliomycelitis.
[447] She was near death for about a week, and he was at her side the entire time.
[448] The empire that he had just conquered didn't mean so much, and the changed maps on the walls couldn't help his daughter.
[449] She did recover, and I think she lived until 1968.
[450] Think about his other children, and he had to admit to himself that his sons had grown up vain and empty, but they were taking their places in the adult world because they were of age.
[451] But his brightest hopes for the future was his son -in -law, Galeazzo Ciano, Etta's husband.
[452] Mussolini, thinking of tomorrow, made his son -in -law foreign minister on June 11, 1936.
[453] He was only 33 years old.
[454] He was young and inexperienced, but at the same time, complex and worldly, unlike his sons.
[455] But for Mussolini, events outside of his ego and his country would increasingly take up his time.
[456] For him, it would become a time of policy, not politics.
[457] On July 17, 1936, generals in Spain attacked the democratic government.
[458] It was supposed to be a quick coup d 'etat.
[459] but it inevitably became a three -year civil war.
[460] Since 1931, Italy had backed the generals when the monarchy was kicked out.
[461] In an early summer, the Italian diplomats knew that an uprising was coming, but Mussolini didn't care because at the time it didn't affect him or his country.
[462] And General Franco, who was one of the generals, didn't have any diplomatic ties with Mussolini.
[463] At the time, he was a commander of an army in Morocco.
[464] At the end of the podcast, we'll get into the Spanish Civil War, but for now, Franco, wanting to get into the fray, asked Rome for some planes to carry him and his troops across the Strait of Gibraltar on July 19th.
[465] But the exiled Spanish King Afonso VIII had Italian contacts, and he asked Rome for help as well.
[466] So Rome told Franco no, but the new foreign minister, his son -in -law, Chiano wanted cash for the planes, which showed Hitler was learning something.
[467] But then Mussolini found out that France was letting supplies get through their country for the Republicans, for the government.
[468] So Mussolini finally said yes to the planes.
[469] So the planes left Morocco, but only nine of the 12 planes made it.
[470] One crashed into the sea, and two crashed in Morocco.
[471] The pilots quickly confessed about the details of the mission, and the French press attacked Italy and Mussolini.
[472] But then the fascist newspapers in Italy fought back.
[473] Then the Italian Catholic papers joined in because they hated everything French, and it was getting pretty ugly very quickly, and it might have turned into a wider war.
[474] By early August 1936, Italian and German experts were holding meetings coordinating the supplies to Franco.
[475] By October of that year, 50 ,000 Italian troops were helping Franco's forces.
[476] No one gave more to the nationalist effort than Italy, and Germany was in second place.
[477] And together, they pretty much determined the outcome of the Spanish Civil War.
[478] Now we're going to go back a bit and focus on Hitler.
[479] At the outbreak of the Ethiopian War, Hitler brilliantly saw the possibilities and explained them to his generals.
[480] He said either Mussolini gets tangled up in Africa, which would make him weaker for Austria, or he wins, and if he does, he breaks with England and France.
[481] But either way, it's good for Germany.
[482] So he gave weapons to Ethiopia trying to prolong the conflict.
[483] Russia and France in the fall of 1935 signed a mutual protection treaty, but it had not yet been ratified by France's parliament.
[484] And Hitler was going to use the ratification for his own ends, so he had to wait out the winter of 35, 36.
[485] But during that winter, Germany went on with its rearming and training.
[486] France finally voted on and ratified the treaty with Russia on February 11, 1936.
[487] So now he had his excuse for his generals insofar that he needed one.
[488] So he told his generals that he needed to fortify the western border with France.
[489] He ordered General Blomberg to get ready to move three German brigades, which was about 12 ,000 men, across the Rhine bridges on March 7th into the demilitarized zone.
[490] This zone had no German army or infantry or anything in it since World War I. And this was part of the Versailles Treaty, but...
[491] Not that Hitler feared that, but he did fear the 100 divisions that French had under arms ready to go at any time.
[492] So he told the...
[493] the German officers that once you cross the bridge, if French does anything, if they move any trips into the area, to turn around and come right back across the bridge, it pretty much would have been the end of Hitler's government, but he was willing to take that chance.
[494] The French had an idea of what was happening through their minister.
[495] He had pretty good contacts in Germany.
[496] And months earlier, the French military asked the French government what they should do in that case.
[497] The government just said that they would take it up with the League of Nations.
[498] So on 10 a .m., On March 7th, the troops have crossed the bridge, and the German foreign minister at Neurath called in the ambassadors to France, Britain, and Italy, and he denounced the Lacarno Treaty, but said he had plans for a new peace plan.
[499] Later that day, Hitler was in the Reichstag and said that Germany only wanted peace.
[500] It had no territorial demands.
[501] It was only going into its own territory, and it was willing to sign a non -aggression pact with anyone.
[502] But even with this move, the German high command was getting nervous.
[503] The French government asked the general staff for options.
[504] They wanted action.
[505] But the French military made excuses.
[506] It said there's no such thing as a partial general mobilization.
[507] We either go all the way or we don't.
[508] And, of course, they didn't want that.
[509] General Gamlin of the French staff did concentrate 13 divisions.
[510] We're talking a lot of men here.
[511] But that was only to reinforce the Maginot line.
[512] Germany could possibly invade France with 12 ,000 men.
[513] But even this movement of the French military scared the German high command, and they wanted to withdraw.
[514] So Blomberg and Jodl went to Hitler, and Hitler flatly said no. And then the generals asked Hitler to say he would not fortify the demilitarized zone, at least soften the blow.
[515] Maybe France won't do anything.
[516] But again, Hitler said no. He was bluffing, and he was going for it all.
[517] On March 11, 1936, the French were still trying to do something in reaction to...
[518] the Germans putting their military into the Rhineland, which is right up against the border with France.
[519] The minister flew to London and talked to the British about a combined military counteraction in the Rhineland.
[520] Britain said no. Now, the French could have easily pushed the Germans out of the Rhineland, but they wanted a partner in this.
[521] They didn't have the will to do it alone.
[522] But the British reaction was pretty much summed up by one of the House of Lords, and he said, Germany is only going into their back garden.
[523] So the Lacarno Treaty said that France was entitled to take action against Germany for breaking the treaty, and Britain was obligated to help them.
[524] But Britain let themselves believe Hitler's latest peace speech, and Britain pointed out the details to France about Hitler's plan, that he was willing to sign a non -aggression pact with anybody, and he was willing to demilitarize both sides of the German -French border, which of course would have meant the Maginot Line, France's only defense against a German invasion, and there was no way France was going to give up the Maginot Line.
[525] So Britain asked France to go along with Hitler's plan of peace.
[526] France said no. So Britain said no to helping them so they could blame each other and nothing was done.
[527] As you can imagine at home, Hitler was more popular than ever.
[528] Again, German pride was restored, and this proved that Hitler was smarter than his generals, that they should not question him on anything.
[529] He expected obedience, and if they were to follow him to glory, all they had to do was listen.
[530] So Britain was a never -never land, and France was tearing itself apart.
[531] The conservatives and the liberals weren't sure what to do about Germany.
[532] Coming together and facing Germany, they fought each other.
[533] And of course, all this unfolded under the watchful eyes of the eastern powers, like Russia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and they saw the hard reality of the situation.
[534] If France would not fight for the Locarno Treaty, a treaty it helped create, and Germany was rearming and building its western wall, which would keep...
[535] the French out of Germany, that would allow Germany to attack in the east with very little reinforcements in the west.
[536] They would be able to focus on the east.
[537] And again, they all just shook their heads that 100 French divisions were afraid of three German battalions.
[538] I mean, it was just overwhelming odds.
[539] So after the Rhineland occupation, King Leopold of Belgium withdrew from the Locarno Pact because it was useless, and he adopted a policy of strict neutrality, hoping never to upset Germany.
[540] So as far as the Locarno Pact is concerned, Italy's out of it, Belgium is out of it, Britain and France are fighting, and everything is just falling apart.
[541] Now concerning Austria, after Dolphins was assassinated, he was replaced by Kurt von Schuschnigg.
[542] And he knew that he needed to appease Hitler in order to survive.
[543] He didn't want to do anything to give Germany any excuse to evade Austria.
[544] He took to heart Hitler's peace speech on May 21, 1935, when Hitler said he had no interest in Austria.
[545] Germany was glad that France, Britain, and Italy had renewed the stress accord.
[546] But then, of course, everything fell apart.
[547] Italy was focused on Ethiopia.
[548] There was also a break between France and Britain.
[549] And then after the Rhineland occupation, Dr. Schuschnigg wanted a new deal with Germany.
[550] So he started talking to Papen, the German minister in Austria.
[551] And the result was a new agreement, July 11, 1936.
[552] Papen had made this up.
[553] He didn't consult Hitler.
[554] He wanted to surprise him with it.
[555] And in it, the agreement would say that...
[556] Germany would not interfere in Austrian affairs.
[557] It reaffirmed its independence.
[558] But there was a secret clause, of course, which had amnesty for Nazi prisoners and appointed Nazis in Austria to political positions.
[559] So basically it was massive appeasement on Schuschnick's part.
[560] Papen typed all this up and he sent it to Hitler.
[561] And he called Hitler on July 16th and Hitler just exploded.
[562] He said he did not approve it.
[563] He did not approve the terms of the accord.
[564] And he wanted a free hand when it came to Austria.
[565] Austria because he had other plans.
[566] But it did show Hitler how far Shushnik was willing to go, and Papin almost got himself killed again.
[567] So on July 16th, the Spanish Civil War starts.
[568] Hitler calls in Goering and von Blomberg to arrange support for Franco.
[569] By the time it's all over with, Germany gives about a half a billion marks in material to Franco.
[570] And when Franco wins three years down the road, France is going to be surrounded by the third non -republic country, which for some reason leads France to just tear itself apart even more instead of coming together.
[571] In Berlin, on October 21, 1936, Italian Foreign Minister Ciano and German Foreign Minister Neurov signed a secret agreement that Italy and Germany would have the same foreign policy.
[572] On November 1, 1936, Mussolini gives a speech in Milan, and then he refers in very general terms to the agreement, and he says that the agreement constituted an axis on which other European countries may work together.
[573] And, of course, the name was born for the partnership.
[574] By November 25, 1936, Germany had signed an anti -Kanturim pact with Japan.
[575] They were trying to use it to be popular by fighting communism, but of course there was a secret agreement that if either one was attacked, the other would come to their aid and attack the Soviet Union.
[576] And again, the winter of 1936 -37, Germany spent its time rebuilding its army, blooding its troops in Spain, and testing its pilots in different techniques and materiel.
[577] Now, in May 1937, Hitler watched with interest as the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin retired and was replaced by Neville Chamberlain.
[578] And Neville Chamberlain claimed that he wanted to come to a final understanding with Germany.
[579] Germany casually said that they would ask for colonies and Freedom Act in the East, and that would make them happy.
[580] But in September, Mussolini was invited.
[581] to Germany by Hitler.
[582] He wasn't going to try and talk him to anything.
[583] He simply took him on a World War tour of Germany, took him everywhere, showed him all the armaments, he told him the size of the army, everything, and Mussolini walked away impressed, and he knew that he was going to...
[584] tie his fate to Germany because Hitler knew that Mussolini was always wanting to be on the winning side, and he showed him the winning side.
[585] So in November of 1937, Lord Halifax, who's representing Chamberlain, comes to see Hitler.
[586] Halifax made it clear that England wanted high -level talks, no playing around.
[587] They wanted a settlement in Europe, and England was willing to give up colonies and a certain amount of freedom in the East to Germany.
[588] Hitler thanked him and said no for now, which shocked them.
[589] He just wanted to see their hand, which they amateurishly showed him.
[590] But somehow England walked away from all this and was encouraged.
[591] They thought Germany was willing to deal.
[592] But days before Halifax even came to the meeting, Hitler had his own meeting with his generals.
[593] And that happened on November 5, 1937.
[594] It was a secret conference, and Hitler stated that June of that year, months before, he looked around and he knew that there was no country willing and able to attack Germany.
[595] Germany was safe.
[596] He had a detailed plan drawn up, and the threat assessment was zero.
[597] France had the army, but not the will.
[598] Britain had the money, but not the army or the will, so they were safe.
[599] It was now time for Hitler to tell his secret plans to a select few, and those present were Bloomberg, the Minister of War, General Fritsch, Commander -in -Chief of the Army, Admiral Rader, Commander -in -Chief of the Navy, General Goering, Commander -in -Chief of the Air Force, and Baron von Neurath, the Foreign Minister.
[600] The meeting lasted from 4 .15 to 8 .30 p .m. And Hitler considered this so important what he was saying that if he died, he wanted this to be his last will and testament.
[601] History had shown Hitler that all the land worth having had been taken.
[602] And he didn't care about colonies, except maybe for material.
[603] The land he wanted for his Germans was in Europe, in Central Europe, Lebensraum.
[604] But of course, when Hitler said it and talked about it, it took on a mystical connotation.
[605] The land that he wanted was to be in the East.
[606] They were to wipe out the Slavs, which controlled most of that.
[607] And that is where Germany needed to expand it.
[608] That was their destiny, and it was his destiny to lead them.
[609] So he pointed out three possible scenarios for when Germany could attack.
[610] who they could attack and where they could attack.
[611] And for now, his immediate goals were Austria and Czechoslovakia.
[612] He was certainly willing to go to war with Britain and France for Austria.
[613] Of course, the generals in the room looked at each other with great concern.
[614] They had enjoyed the renewed Germany.
[615] They had enjoyed getting away with Hitler's bluff after bluff, lie after lie, and they enjoyed watching the republics cower before Hitler.
[616] And they didn't mind attacking and conquering people, but they didn't think Germany was ready.
[617] And now they were nervous because Hitler was naming specifics.
[618] They were paranoid that they could lose everything and go back to the political and military situation, like right after World War I. Germany would be isolated, it would be weak, and it would be vanquished.
[619] So after this meeting, Blomberg, Fritsch, and Neuroth decide that they have to do something to make Hitler see the light before it was too late.
[620] goes until the end of 1937, but we'll cover the Spanish Civil War up to that point.
[621] And of course, this gave the Nazis and fascists a chance to test their weapons, test their tactics, and bloody their men to get ready for the future.
[622] The Spanish Civil War...
[623] was from July 1936 to April 1st, 1939.
[624] It was supposed to be a quick coup d 'etat by the generals in the army, but it didn't happen because of certain resistance around Madrid.
[625] So it ended up splitting the country.
[626] So in general, even though it was a very confused and confusing time, think of Spain split down the middle and there'll be maps on the website and on the podcast.
[627] And the right -hand side was controlled by what we'll call the Republicans, even though...
[628] They weren't very republic.
[629] And the left side was controlled by the nationalists.
[630] And they were also getting help from Portugal.
[631] Now, the Soviet Union is going to help the republican side.
[632] One, they're not going to offer too much aid.
[633] And they're pretty much going to try to do in Spain what they brilliantly did in China, which is take over both sides of the war so they would be ready no matter who won.
[634] But it didn't work in Spain because...
[635] The two sides were both comprised of loose confederations of a lot of different groups.
[636] The U .S. government offered no official support to either side, although 2 ,000 Americans volunteered for the Republican side.
[637] And the way it started was in 1931, after the revolution when the monarchies kicked down, a republic is established.
[638] But the republic was very anti -clerical.
[639] It was very against the church.
[640] And so they were supposed to be all about freedom and rights, but they took away a lot of the Catholic rights.
[641] They weren't allowed to teach.
[642] They weren't allowed to hold land or have investments.
[643] And so a lot of people were upset by that.
[644] By the election in 1933 to their parliament, the Cortes Generales, the Spanish right won a plurality of the seats, but it wasn't enough to form a majority.
[645] So the president didn't invite them to be a part of the cabinet.
[646] So there was further tension between the two.
[647] The radicals on both sides became more aggressive, and they turned to paramilitary actions.
[648] There was assassinations, political violence, general strikes, and a lot of arson, especially of religious buildings.
[649] So by the time you get to the 1936 elections, there was a new coalition of socialists, liberals, communists, and they won an extremely tight election.
[650] They won 34 % of the vote, and the incumbent government won 33%.
[651] So, of course, there's no majority, and in the politically unstable environment, revolution is bound to happen.
[652] In July of 1936, some high -ranking members of parliament on the right were abducted and assassinated.
[653] And at this time, the generals had pretty much planned on staging a coup, but they just used this as an excuse to make it official.
[654] They were using this as cover.
[655] The leader of the rebellious generals was Jose San Giorgio, and under him was Emilio Mola and Franco.
[656] But during the fighting, San Giorgio and Mola die, and Franco takes over, and he, like Mao, uses the military to force all the different factions on the right who were loosely fighting for him to accept him as their leader.
[657] Now, the League of Nations was unable or unwilling to do anything about this.
[658] They did try to put a blockade so no one could go in and control the outcome or contribute to it, but Hitler and Portugal and Mussolini pretty much ignored that, and of course nothing happened to them.
[659] So France and Britain on their own tried to set up a blockade, which wasn't very effective.
[660] And anyway, France was allowing shipments of arms into the Republican side, at least according to the Italians, and that was their justification.
[661] Now, Hitler was excited about the...
[662] possibilities of the Spanish Civil War.
[663] Germany had been working on its tactics and strategies since the end of World War I. When you lose a battle, you look at the reasons why you lost.
[664] It's the victors who don't change anything.
[665] So the Germans had come up with different weapons, with different tactics, and they went to Spain and used them.
[666] They tried out different things.
[667] They would put some men in, get them bloody, take them out, rotate some more men, and try different tactics, try different weapons.
[668] They had their light tanks, their heavy tanks, their planes, their bombs.
[669] And they were really getting a lot of experience through this.
[670] So Hitler did everything he could to keep the war going, giving them just enough, but not too much to overwhelm the Republicans.
[671] And it worked brilliantly for him.
[672] Mussolini pretty much did the same thing, but Mussolini was trying to win the war.
[673] So very early on, the Nationalists were able to push east and cut the Republican territory into two.
[674] Then a couple more victories, and they were able to cut off the border touching France.
[675] And so the Republicans' material coming from France was stopped.
[676] Franco was chosen as the overall Nationalist commander at a meeting of ranking generals in Salomonica on September 21, 1936.
[677] Franco won another victory on September 27 when they relieved...
[678] Alcazar, which had been under siege for a long time.
[679] It was a nationalist garrison, and it had been under siege since the beginning of the rebellion, resisting thousands of Republican troops who had it completely surrounded.
[680] The Republic's inability to take Alcazar was a serious blow to their prestige, and considering they had overwhelming numerical superiority in the area.
[681] So two days after relieving the siege, General Franco proclaimed himself Generalissimo Encantillo, which means chieftain, forcibly unifying the various Spanish fascists and other elements within the national cause.
[682] So he's fighting the Republicans and also making sure no one else can challenge him in his authority being in charge of the nationalist group.
[683] In October of 1936, Franco launched troops, a massive offensive towards Madrid, trying to take it over in early November.
[684] He launched a massive assault on the city, but it was pushed back.
[685] The Republican government did have to shift their capital from Madrid to Valencia on November the 6th.
[686] However, the Nationalists kept attacking the capital, but it was repulsed in some very fierce fighting.
[687] Having failed to take the capital, Franco had Germany and Italian planes bombarded from the air, and for the following two years, he mounted several offenses trying to encircle Madrid.
[688] Franco would try again to capture Madrid in January, February of 1937, but again he failed.
[689] On February 21st, the League of Nations started the non -intervention committee, banning foreigners from volunteering to either side of the war.
[690] In response, on March 7th, the German Condor Legion...
[691] bombed the city of Guernica, which killed hundreds of innocent civilians.
[692] And two days later, Franco's army overran the town.
[693] In fact, the cover of this episode is a painting by Picasso after that happened to Guernica.
[694] He was horrified by it.
[695] So after the fall of that city, the Republicans started to fight back with increasing effectiveness.
[696] They made some moves in July to recapture several towns, forcing Franco to pull away from Madrid to stop their advance.
[697] Then the Republican troops launched a counteroffensive in the Madrid area, trying to push Franco's troops further away from the city.
[698] The nationalists stopped them, but with great difficulty.
[699] A lot of people died on both sides that day.
[700] So then Franco invaded Aragon in August and took the city of Santander, and that was in the north.
[701] So the surrender of the Republican army in the Basque territory, with that Franco pretty much had won the fight in the north.
[702] And by the end of November 1937, Franco's troops were closing in on Valencia, the new capital, which forced the Republicans to move again, this time back to Barcelona, which was barely holding on.
[703] So in summation, at the end of 1937, Franco is winning the Civil War in Spain.
[704] It's near the end.
[705] Ethiopia has been conquered.
[706] Hitler has Mussolini as a partner.
[707] In fact, in November of 1937, Mussolini pretty much told Hitler he could do whatever he wanted with Austria, and Hitler plans on doing that.
[708] The Strasse Accord is gone.
[709] Britain and France are arguing and are afraid.
[710] The League of Nations is ineffectual, to say the least.
[711] The Locarno Pact is all but gone.
[712] Germany has remilitarized and is fortifying its western border with France.
[713] Hitler is now ready to bring his home country of Austria into the Reich.
[714] and this time he will personally make sure it succeeds.
[715] Welcome to True Spies.
[716] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[717] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.
[718] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[719] What do they know?
[720] What are their skills?
[721] And what would you do in their position?
[722] Vengeance felt good.
[723] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[724] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.
[725] Wherever you get your podcasts.