Delusional,<\/p>\n
stubborn,<\/p>\n
determined,<\/p>\n
dreaming only of seeing Fascist<\/p>\n
glory on the battlefield.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Outdated military,<\/p>\n
scant troops and supplies,<\/p>\n
accurate information withheld from<\/p>\n
Il Duce<\/em> out of fear of punishment-<\/p>\n Italy struggled at war\u2019s onset.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Intertwined and tangled<\/p>\n relations<\/p>\n with Germany,<\/p>\n the love affair with Hitler endured<\/p>\n despite Italy’s military defeats.<\/p>\n Positional survival<\/p>\n now dependent upon<\/p>\n the illusion of control.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Germany moved into Italy.<\/p>\n Desperately tired,<\/p>\n physically ill,<\/p>\n slowly deteriorating,<\/p>\n Mussolini becomes a<\/p>\n political puppet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two years into war<\/p>\n Mussolini was but walking dead:<\/p>\n eyes sunken, skin sagging,<\/p>\n movement laborious,<\/p>\n a zombie man.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Food supplies decreased,<\/p>\n stomachs rumbled,<\/p>\n hatred of Germans,<\/p>\n of Fascists,<\/p>\n of war<\/p>\n escalated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heels dug in,<\/p>\n Mussolini blamed<\/p>\n everyone and everything<\/p>\n for Italy\u2019s failures.<\/p>\n Pride trumps<\/p>\n asking for help.<\/p>\n Attempts at public<\/p>\n deception increased.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In time, smoke dissipated<\/p>\n and mirrors shattered<\/p>\n revealing<\/p>\n <\/p>\n incompetence of<\/p>\n the Fascist government,<\/p>\n the Italian military,<\/p>\n the once god-like<\/p>\n man Mussolini.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The war,<\/p>\n the pain,<\/p>\n the mounting defeats<\/p>\n pronounced and prolonged.<\/p>\n The fall of Il Duce<\/em><\/p>\n Imminent.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n