Why exactly was the Italian war effort in WWII so spectacularly terrible? And did their incompetence significantly contribute to the Reich's fall?

This has been asked and answered many times, there's a whole FAQ-section dedicated to the preformance of the Italian Army in WW2 here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/faq/militaryhistory/wwii/minor#wiki_italian_military