I Will Stage A Coup D’état

The sunken gaze of Churchill, the man who was once the Prime Minister turned to his successor.

"Surely, you won't bring 'peace for our time'¹ and shake it in front of the people, will you?"

Viscount Edward Frederick Lindley Wood smiled bitterly.

"It's an unavoidable situation. Public opinion also wants nearly 300,000 expeditionary troops to return safely."

"Prime Minister. The Nazis are never the kind to keep their promises. The concession you've shown them now is nothing more than repeating the mistake Chamberlain² made."

"The cabinet's intention has already been decided."

Viscount Halifax informed that the peace negotiations were a foregone conclusion.

Churchill tried several times to change the Prime Minister's mind, but Edward Wood's will was strong.

"The future of this country looks bleak."

On July 4, 1940, the historic day when the United States gained independence, the British Empire, German Empire, Kingdom of Italy, and the Slovak Republic agreed to an 'armistice'.

Hitler recognized the territories and rights held by the British Empire on the condition that he regained the colonies of the 'former' German Empire and the territories Germany had secured in Europe.

Of course, Mussolini made a fuss in his own way to secure his share.

"At least Egypt must become Italy's share! Otherwise, we can never agree!"

However, Duce's³ negotiating power was desperately low.

"No, why are the Italians acting like that?"

"They think they'll get something if they just have a high number of casualties."

Despite joining the war late, Italy, which had fought poorly against France, was not treated as a proper victor by anyone.

Even their ally Germany thought of Italy like this,

"Just throw them some scraps and it should be fine."

When the armistice negotiations were concluded, Italy was engulfed in anger.

"Our Rome has been robbed of its rightful share. Once again, we have obtained a 'mutilated victory'!"⁴

The mutilated victory referred to how Italy, despite suffering 2 million casualties during World War I, did not receive its promised share in the Treaty of London.⁵

Originally, Mussolini had also come to power by gaining the support of the far-right by talking about this mutilated victory.

So the implications of this slogan could only be terrifying.

Let's bring down that idiot who only brings such crippled results.

Voices of criticism against Duce erupted within the Italian Fascist Party.

If they were going to be treated like cold rice⁶ like this, they shouldn't have joined the war at all.

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Or they should have joined early and secured a definite share.

Duce was being attacked by all sides.

In the original history, what Italy gained was similar, but the reason they were cursed this much was because even after negotiations with the last Allied power, Britain, ended, they didn't gain much from their enemies.

For Duce, it became urgent to carry out a project that could appease the people.

T-This is the fault of that damn one-balled bastard⁷ who made a fool of me. For now, let's swallow Yugoslavia whole to soothe the discontent.

Duce issued an order to prepare for the invasion of Yugoslavia without even consulting Hitler.

Carlo Favagrossa⁸, the Minister of Military Production, was bewildered by Mussolini's order.

"Duce, prepare for the invasion of Yugoslavia? Our military can't resume the war until after 1942."

In fact, there was no reason to strike Yugoslavia either.

The current ruler of Yugoslavia, Prince Paul⁹, was a pro-Axis figure.

In a broad sense, Paul was practically a potential ally of the Axis camp.

The idea of deliberately provoking such a party for political gain could only be described as that of a madman.

However, the minister's opposition was simply ignored.

"We won't need to spend much time invading the likes of Yugoslavia. I'll give you 15 days."

The Italian military came to this conclusion after much deliberation.

"There's no need to seriously prepare for dealing with the likes of Yugoslavia. The game will be over once we throw in the troops."

The Italian Army prepared for the invasion operation right away without refining any particular operational plans.

The units that had been deployed in the French campaign were mobilized as they were.

And they started making excuses out of the blue.

"Our Italy will reclaim the rightful territories promised in World War I. Yugoslavia must immediately return the illegally occupied territories!"

Duce's sudden outburst was enough to shake the entire Balkan Peninsula.¹⁰

"If we don't join the Axis, Italy will kill us, right?"

Romania, which was already feeling a security crisis after being beaten by the Soviet Union, moved, and Hungary and Bulgaria joined the Axis alliance one after another.

The Greek government led by the dictator General Ioannis Metaxas¹¹ was no exception.

In the first place, the Greek military regime had a pro-German tendency.

"We will also join the Axis!"

The more this happened, the more impatient Mussolini felt.

Worried that Yugoslavia might join the Axis at this rate, Mussolini abruptly declared war without even completing the already lacking preparations.

On July 15, 1940, the Yugoslav War broke out simultaneously with Italy's declaration of war.

Germany took a wait-and-see attitude toward this situation.

In fact, it was ambiguous which side to take.

Paul is on our side, and Duce is also on our side, so mediation is the right thing to do.

But if they mediated, it was obvious that Duce would be furious.

While Germany did neither this nor that, the Italian Army marched on victoriously.

Surprisingly, the Yugoslav Army was a pushover.

Although they had a million-strong army on paper, when attacked, they were easily pierced like tofu.

The Italian Army's proud tanks, aircraft, and modernized motorized units led the attack.

Of course, most of them were old and outdated antiques, but they looked plausible on the outside.

"Look at this. We are a nation that can do it if we try!"

Duce packaged the military achievements in Yugoslavia as his own political accomplishments.

That way, Duce's calculation was to ease the discontent.

"Duce. Congratulations. We have completed the occupation of Croatia."

"That's right."

However, Duce didn't enjoy it for long.

The Yugoslav Army, which had retreated deep into the interior, gradually began to show persistent resistance as it emerged from the shock of the initial battles.

If they had paralyzed the command center of the Yugoslav Army with a terrifying shock like the original German Army, this wouldn't have happened, but the Italian Army couldn't imitate the German Army.

As the battle prolonged, the chronic logistical problems that the Italian Army had been grappling with caught up with them.

There was another problem.

"There should have been an operational plan in the first place, to coordinate or revise, right? What can we do if there isn't one?"

There was no proper invasion operation plan in the Italian Army's cabinet.

No, there was one, but it was only 4 pages long.

Usually, when people think of military operations, they imagine a grandiose pile of documents consisting of hundreds of pages, but in Italy, such things only existed in theory.

The generals commanded with impromptu measures made up on the spot, rather than moving troops according to a unified operation.

As a result, the superiority of the initial battles gradually disappeared, and a tedious trench warfare similar to that of World War I began to emerge.

"This is a disgrace! What the hell is the Air Force doing!"

Of course, the Air Force was no different.

The Italian Air Force flew around the sky casually, and when they spotted where both sides were entangled in a fight, they dropped bombs roughly.

Aerial supply was the same.

As a result, friendly fire was frequent, and they even dropped supplies that should have been given to their own troops by the enemy.

The Italian Air Force was, in fact, not much different from not having one at all.

"You said it would take a week to reach Belgrade? It's been 2 weeks now."

The Italian Army's poor performance soon became a laughing stock around the world.

Mussolini was named Person of the Year as the second head of state to perform 'poorly' after Stalin.

Italy's poor performance also influenced the world that was watching the victory of the fascists.

"Let's go to Yugoslavia! We need to stop the fascist invaders' march here at least once, so they'll know that war is scary too."

The International Brigades¹², who had to leave for their homeland or a foreign country after being defeated in the Spanish Civil War,

"We may not know about Germany, but can't we teach those Italian pigs a lesson right away!"

Anti-fascist volunteers also arrived from Britain, the United States, and other countries.

Only the Soviet Union, which had a friendly relationship with Yugoslavia, remained silent.

"If we intervene in Yugoslavia now, we might provoke the Nazis. Refrain from all actions that could provoke them."

The Soviet Union did not send a single rifle or bullet in accordance with Stalin's non-intervention order.

In fact, the Soviet Union was in no position to help others.

Germany, which had built the United States of Europe, stood before them as their potential enemy.

Anyway, except for the Axis powers, everyone was watching Yugoslavia's good fight with a secretly happy heart.

For Italy, the decline in prestige could no longer be endured.

Duce made a decision.

"Release the gas."

In Africa, no one would say anything about using some gas against Ethiopian savages.

But this time, the place where the poison gas would be used was in the middle of Europe.

"Duce. That's..."

"It's an order."

Italy began to actively use poison gas to turn the tide of the war.

Even the Yugoslav Army, which had been holding up well so far, was helpless in the face of poison gas.

"It's a violation of international law!"

"So, where are the ones to enforce that international law?"

Italy gained the upper hand through dirty methods.

However, this did not mean the end of the war throughout Yugoslavia.

Originally, the real game began after the Yugoslav War was over.

The Italians were not yet aware of that fact.

1. "Peace for our time" was a declaration made by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration.2. As Prime Minister, Chamberlain is remembered for his support for the policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler over the annexation of Czechoslovakia and the signing Munich Agreement on 29 September 1938. Returning from Munich, Chamberlain delivered his "Peace with Honour - Peace for Our Time" speech.3. Italian title  derived from the Latin word dux 'leader', and a cognate of duke. In this setting it's used to refer to Mussolini4. Mutilated victory is a term coined by Gabriele D’Annunzio at the end of World War I, used by a part of Italian nationalists to denounce the partial infringement of the 1915 pact of London concerning territorial rewards in favour of the Kingdom of Italy.5. Treaty of London, (April 26, 1915) secret treaty between neutral Italy and the Allied forces of France, Britain, and Russia to bring Italy into World War I. The Allies wanted Italy's participation because of its border with Austria.6. Or...Like shite.7. The rumour may be an urban myth, possibly originating from the contemporary British military song "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball". Hitler's doctor Erwin Giesing and his personal physician Theodor Morell disregarded the idea of Hitler's monorchism and said there was nothing wrong with Hitler's testicles.8. Carlo Secillano Favagrossa (22 November 1888 – 22 March 1970), was an Italian general and politician. During the World War II era, he was the Italian Under-Secretary for War Production. He also participated in the Spanish Civil War on the side of Francisco Franco.9. Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, also known as Paul Karađorđević, was prince regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the minority of King Peter II. Paul was a first cousin of Peter's father, Alexander I.10. The Balkans, corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria.11. Ioannis Metaxas was a Greek military officer and politician who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, and thereafter as the strongman leader of the 4th of August Regime following his appointment by King George II.12. The International Brigades (Spanish: Brigadas Internacionales) were soldiers set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.