Iron Arm: The Mechanization of Mussolini’s Army, 1920-1940

Though overshadowed by Germany’s more famous Afrika Korps, Italian tanks formed a large part of the Axis armoured force that the Allies confronted - and ultimately defeated - in North Africa in the early years of World War II. Those tanks were the product of two decades of debate and development as the Italian military struggled to produce a modern, mechanised army in the aftermath of World War I. For a time, Italy stood near the front of the world’s tank forces - second only to Germany in number of divisions, first to create an armoured corps - but once war came, Mussolini’s iron arm failed as an effective military force. This is the story of its rise and fall.