Battle of the Western Alps (1940)
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Battle of the Netherlands
Maastricht - Mill - The Hague - Rotterdam - Zeeland - Grebbeberg - Afsluitdijk - bombing of Rotterdam
Invasion of Luxembourg
cobblestone line
Battle of Belgium
Fort Eben-Emael - KW line - Dyle plan - Hannut - Gembloux - Lys
Battle of France
Royal Marine - Ardennes - Sedan - Maginot Line - Weygand Plan - Arras - Boulogne - Calais - Dunkirk ( Dynamo - Wormhout ) - Abbeville - Lille - Paula - Fall Rot - Aisne - Alps - Cycle - Saumur - Lagarde - Aerial - Fall Braun
The Battle of the Western Alps ( French Bataille des Alpes ) refers to acts of war between the Kingdom of Italy and France between June 10 and 25, 1940.
prehistory
During the last stages of the German campaign in the west , the Italian army marched under the command of Crown Prince Umberto of Savoy on the border with France and on June 21, 1940 launched an unsuccessful attack on the Maginot Line, which was heavily fortified in this section .
course
The French Armée des Alpes under General René Olry had a nominal number of 176,000 men, but on June 10 there were only about 85,000 soldiers at the front. A further 30,000 soldiers were also collected in the Lyon area , but were not deployed due to a lack of training and armament, while around 70,000 older reservists were available but never entered combat.
On the eve of the attack by the Italian 4th Army (General Guzzoni ), General Olry was able to provide the following formations to defend against the enemy:
14th Army Corps, General Etienne Beynet
- 66th and 64th Infantry Divisions, General Boucher and de Saint-Vincent
- Fortified Sector Savoy, Colonel de la Baume and General Cyvoct
- Fortified Sector Maritime Alps, General Magnien
15th Army Corps, General Alfred Montagne
- 65th Infantry Division Division, General de Saint-Julien
- 2nd Colonial Division, General Maignan
consequences
Only after the collapse of the French army in the face of the unstoppable advance of the German armed forces was the government of Philippe Pétain forced to enter into an armistice with Germany . As part of these negotiations, the defeated France was ordered to surrender to its Italian ally. After limited territorial gains and a significant strategic failure by the Italian army, a separate armistice between France and Italy was signed on June 24, 1940 at Villa Incisa near Rome , which came into effect the following day. Immediately afterwards the Italian occupation of south-east France began.
literature
- Eddy Bauer, Controstoria della seconda guerra mondiale. Vol. II, Milano, Res Gestae, 2015, ISBN 978-88-6697-110-8 .
- Giorgio Bocca, Storia d'Italia nella guerra fascista 1940-1943, Milano, Mondadori, 1996, ISBN 88-04-41214-3 .
- Emilio Faldella, L'Italia e la seconda guerra mondiale, Forlì, Cappelli Editore, 1960, ISBN non esistente.
- Renzo De Felice, Mussolini il duce. Vol. II - Lo stato totalitario (1936–1940), Milano, Einaudi, 2008, ISBN 978-88-06-19568-7 .
- Renzo De Felice, Mussolini l'alleato. Vol. I - L'Italia in guerra (1940-1943), Milano, Einaudi, 2008, ISBN 978-88-06-19570-0 .
- Alberto Fenoglio, Il Vallo Alpino, Torino, Susa Libri, Cod. 880015.
- Vincenzo Gallinari, Le operazioni del giugno 1940 sulle Alpi occidentali, Roma, USSME, 1981.
- Denis Mack Smith, Le guerre del Duce, Milano, Mondadori, 1992, ISBN 88-04-35836-X .
- Giorgio Rochat, Le guerre italiane 1935–1943, Milano, Einaudi, 2008, ISBN 978-88-06-19168-9 .