Hidden Treasure: The Italian war economy's contribution to the German war effort (1943-1945)

Timothy Saxon, Liberty University

Article comments

Book contribution to Acts-Acta XXXth International Congress of Military History: "The economic aspects of defence through world conflicts". Rabat, Morocco: Moroccan Commission of Military History, 2004. 541-554.

Abstract

Gerhard Schreiber has described the German conquest, occupation. and exploitation of Italy in 1943 as the Wehrmacht's "last victory" of the Second World War.' His description is correct in that the German seizure of Fascist Italy produced a substantial economic windfall that material ly assisted Germany in continu ing the Second World War until the economic collapse of Hitler's Reich. Italy, even after the bitter war years from 1940-1943, remained a prize 1V0rth winning. The German conquest and subsequent economic exploitation of Italy raise a variety of important questions, inspired in part by Peter Li eberman's book, Does Conquest Pay? Why did a society as nationalisti c and modern as Italy cooperate with the German occupation? What factors allowed the Germans to extract a signifi cant material advantage from their occupation? Did this exploitation of Italy inspire resistance or were other factors more important in the thinking of Italians who chose to fight the German occupation? Does the Italian experience during World War II have any current relevance to potential con flicts around the globe?