On this day in 1941, Adolf Hitler admonishes his Axis partner, Benito Mussolini, regarding the retreat of his troops in response to British gains in Libya, insisting that the Duce order his forces to resist.
Since 1912, Libya had been occupied by Italy, driven by purely economic aspirations for “expansion.”
In 1935, Mussolini began relocating tens of thousands of Italians to Libya, primarily farmers and rural laborers, partly to address concerns of overpopulation in Italy. By the time the Second World War erupted, Italy had established a sustained presence in North Africa, and Mussolini started envisioning the expansion of that presence, always keeping in mind the same areas that had formerly been part of the old “Roman Empire.”
Additionally, British troops were stationed in North Africa, as per a treaty from 1936, garrisoned in Egypt to safeguard the Suez Canal and the Royal Navy bases located at Alexandria and Port Said.
Early on in his North African ambitions, Hitler had offered support to Mussolini by sending German troops to help repel a British counteroffensive. However, when Mussolini had proposed Italian assistance during the Battle of Britain, he was met with rejection. He now maintained that, for the sake of national pride, Italy must forge a Mediterranean sphere of influence independently, lest it be relegated to a “junior” partner status under Germany.
Despite their expansion efforts into parts of East Africa and Egypt, Mussolini’s troops ultimately found themselves outmatched by the British forces in the long term. British troops advanced westward, inflicting substantial casualties on the Axis powers in an assault at Beda Fomm.
As the British threatened to wholly displace the Italians from Libya and penetrate into Tunisia, Mussolini set aside his pride and sought assistance from Hitler. Hitler, albeit reluctantly (since it would lead to the first direct German-British clash in the Mediterranean), agreed only if Mussolini halted the Italian retreat and maintained the British at bay from Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
However, the Italian forces continued to be overwhelmed. Within three months, 20,000 men were either wounded or killed, and 130,000 were captured. The arrival of German Gen. Erwin Rommel was the turning point, bolstering the Italian resistance against further British advances. Even with German support, Italy managed to hold onto its North African territories only until early 1943.