An Invasion through Italy would have been much more cumbersome as German troops would have to go through Italy and attack southern France, leaving the German border open to attack. By moving through the “low countries”, or Benelux, Germany was able to partially protect itself from a French counterattack while also being able to remove several nations that it may have had to face later on. The armies of Belgium, Luxembourg & the Netherlands were all quite weak and the German army was able to defeat them rather quickly.

The invasion of the Benelux area(entitled Case Yellow or Fall Gleb in German) also allowed Germany to have air capabilities as well as naval capabilities much closer to Britain, allowing for Germany to attack and harass Britain much more than had Germany only conquered France. Germany invading the Benelux area allowed them to conquer several nations(quite easily in fact as the Netherlands fell in 4 days & Belgium fell in 18), outflank France, and prepare for a war against the United Kingdom in one fell swoop.

As I previously mentioned, Germany didn’t have a better option either, invading through either Italy or Switzerland would have been much more cumbersome and shown much less tactical acumen, while also not preparing for a war with Britain that was sure to come.