The Monarcho-Fascist regime ruined any possibility of disengaging from the alliance with National Socialism between February and March 1940, when Benito Mussolini refused the British offer to supply Italy with the coal necessary for its economy, as German coal could no longer travel by sea due to the naval blockade imposed by London itself. Mussolini instead accepted Hitler’s proposal to transport over one million tons of coal a month entirely by land. At that point, Italy’s entry into the war was only a matter of time. However, things would not come to a head until the long crisis of 1943.…
