Italy, Invasion and Conquest of
Italy, Invasion and Conquest of (1943–45).After Italy surrendered to the Allies in July 1943 at the height of World War II, Josef Stalin continued to demand that the Allies open a second front in the west. The inability of the two Western Allies to mount a cross‐Channel invasion into Northwest France until the late spring of 1944 made the invasion of Italy an attractive alternative to the British, who insisted that military operations continue in the Mediterranean. Allied strategy was always vague but was generally to tie up large numbers of German troops in Italy who would otherwise be dispersed to France or the eastern front.
Opposing the Allies was a German army group commanded by Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, who persuaded Adolf Hitler to defend Italy south of Rome instead of in the Apennine Mountains of northern Italy.
The invasion of Salerno by elements of Lt....
[The entire page is 928 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
