Why the Italian army was weak...

[talkenia]

If anyone is intrested..
I found a question on a WW forum on why the Italian army was so weak..

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 5&t=180734

The best reason to be found is because of Italy's economy

also:

In fact, it was arduous to advance quickly in the African desert or in the Russian snow walking by foots without trucks, moreover when the enemy (and the ally) had more lorries and tanks...
It was arduous to fight with few and low "tankettes" against the better armoured enemy tanks...
It was arduous to win against the main industrial powers if Italy was an agricultural country...
It was arduous to win with a military leadership selected for the loyalty to Mussolini and not for the competence...
Anyway, with their poor equipment and with their bad leadership, the Italian soldiers made miracles during WWII and they fought with honour alongside an ally (the German) that they hated.

Tough.. this guy is completely right

The real answer to why the Italian military was considered weak is that they lost! If you read the contemporary reports, I do not think the British considered them weak when in combat in North Africa. And the RAF cerainly did not think that the Italian Airforce was easy to fight.

[Brushflare]

I don't really think they were weak.
I mostly think they were serverly unmotivated.

[Armadili]

Well, The Italian army was certainly not "weak" in a since that it was there...
But considering the Italian standard rifle in both world wars had a jamming rate of ~30% and that most of the Italians didn't really want to fight....
The reason why they're called weak is because they were politically different...All of them. You'll get things like officers being killed by subordinates because they were of a different sect, or like in WWI when they retreated as the Germans entered the war on that front, Officers were pulled out of line during the massive retreat and executed by pseudo council.

When it comes to things like Tank warfare, strategy, and general troop zeal... Italy was actually weak. Especially if you compare them to their fellow Axis. Germany was great at warfare at the time, They had learned from their defeat in WWI. They knew the key to defeating the enemy was to outmaneuver him and flank him at his weak points... This is why they were memorable. I've never heard of an Italian Tank ace. I don't recall them being very zealous anyway.

But then, there is one thing that Italians were good at. Their air force was as good, of not better, than Germany's. Italian Aces, that was very common. The reason why the Italian Army was called weak was because Italian ground forces (army) was lacking in almost every field. The Regia Aeronautica Italiana (Italian Royal Airforce) Was a force to be reckoned with.