Copyright (c) 2010 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon Recent documents in Timothy D Saxon en-us Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:31:06 PST 3600 http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/6 http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/6 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:54:22 PST Focuses on the cooperation between British and Japanese naval forces in World War I (WWI) from 1914 to 1918. Historical account of Japanese involvement in WWI as a jackal state; Accounts on the Japanese naval assistance to allied operations in the Mediterranean Sea; Alliance of Japan with Great Britain to pursue an expansionist policy designed to increase territorial gains. Timothy D. Saxon http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/4 http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/4 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:45:33 PST 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? Timothy Saxon http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/5 http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/5 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:45:33 PST The view that German and Allied forces fought a senseless campaign for Italy during the Second World War prevails in many histories of that conflict. They present the battle for Italy as a bitterly-contested, prolonged fight up the peninsula, wasting Allied men and resources.Evidence contradicting this judgment shows that Italy's political, economic, geographic, and military assets between the years 1943 and 1945 made it a prize worth winning . Allied leaders never grasped this fact nor made an effective effort to deny Germany this valuable asset.The German defense of Italy secured the loyalty of Axis allies in Eastern Europe and permitted the establishment of a Fascist Italian puppet state under Benito Mussolini.Moreover, Germany reaped an enormous harvest of agricultural and economic products in Italy. German estimates that Italy contributed between fifteen and twenty-five percent of total output in late 1944 show that it was truly a prize worth winning . The Italian economy provided large quantities of consumer goods for Germany, freeing up industrial plants in the Reich for military production. In late 1944, Italian manufacturers shifted operations and directly supported German forces fighting in Italy. Italian skilled labor contributed substantially to the German 'economic miracle' of 1944.The battle for Italy further aided Germany in pressuring Switzerland to supply vital goods and keep open rail lines through the Swiss Alps without which German troops could not have survived in Italy. The Swiss, surrounded by German forces, used their isolation as a convenient reason to reject Allies entreaties that they reduce assistance to Hitler.Occupation of northern Italy also kept Allied air forces far from the Reich's southern boundaries and allowed the continued German exploitation of the natural resources in the Balkans, a key asset that fed the German war machine. Finally, Germany enlisted substantial numbers of Italian laborers and troops who supported its fighting forces and served in antipartisan units. Italian workers kept vital rail lines repaired while Fascist Italian divisions supplemented defenses in coastal and Alpine sectors. Moreover, Italian military equipment captured in 1943 assisted in rebuilding German units crippled in the summer campaign of 1944. Timothy D. Saxon http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/2 http://works.bepress.com/tim_saxon/2 Fri, 16 May 2008 12:04:45 PDT Timothy D. Saxon