You might be interested in these previous threads: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/12qj9z/how_come_it_seems_like_italians_were_such_poor/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/12bd40/ok_so_how_incompetent_was_the_italian_military/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/119y2m/how_helpful_was_italy_to_germany_in_ww2/