Italian+Campaign

__//**Italian Campaign**//__

The United States was the country that planned to start the Italian Campaign. They planned to take control of Sicily and make the Italians surrender. Italy needed to defend Sicily. After the United States defeated the Italians in Sicily, they overthrew Mussolini and established a temporary government lead by Victor Emanuel III. They took themselves out of the war but the fighting continued in Northern Italy between Germany and the United States.
 * Who Was Involved?**

The Allies planned to invade Sicily, Italy from the Mediterranean Sea, attacking them from the south. The Russians were against the decision to attack Italy. Stalin wanted the allies to attack Germany from the west so Germany would be split up into 2 fronts. The allies ignored Stalin's wants and they attacked Italy from the south. The allies defeated the Italians in Sicily where the Italians decided to overthrow Mussolini. They executed him and then chose Victor Emanuel III to lead their country. This was the last battle the Italians fought before they were taken out of the war. After the Italians were defeated, the Allies continued to North Italy where they were met by Hitler's Nazis. They fought in North Italy until World War II ended. With the allies and Russia splitting up the German troops, the plan for D-Day was put into affect.
 * What Happened?**

The Italian Campaign was a major factor to the downfall of Germany in World War II(WWII). While Germany was attacking Russia, Stalin asked for backup from the Allied Powers. Stalin wanted the Allied Powers to attack Germany through France thinking that all of Hitler's troops would be fighting against Russia. Germany's forces were too strong in France so the Allied Powers decided to attack Italy. When the Allied Powers started taking over Italy, Germany sent troops from France to help Italy. With weakened forces in France, the Allied Powers were able to attack Germany from west to east. This is known as D-Day. The impact of the Italian Campaign led to the end of WWII. Without the Italian Campaign, D-Day would have never been a success and Germany could have won WWII. Germany could have taken over Europe and eventually the world. The world would be a lot different without the Italian Campaign.
 * Significance/Impact on WWII**

media type="youtube" key="0iRuxW5NOCc" height="349" width="425" Works Cited

"Italian Campaign." //United States History//. Web. 24 May 2011. .