Zacharias N. Ts Irpan Lis the Italian View of the 1940-41
ZACHARIAS N. TS IRPAN LIS THE ITALIAN VIEW OF THE 1940-41 WAR COMPARISONS AND PROBLEMS Quae sit Ubertas, quaeris? Nulli rei servire, nulli necessitati, nullis casibus, fortunam in aequum deducere. Sen. Ep. 51,9 The Argument The intention of this article is to examine the Italian historical sources, to compare them with the Greek viewpoints and thus arrive at an understanding of the truth. The period concerned, as far as I am aware, has yet to be properly researched1. Using scientific evidence as accurate as possible and by a comparative examination of the rel evant testimonies, it is, I think, a worthwhile exercise to assess the attitude of Fascist Italy’s political leaders towards Greece before and during the hostilities; how the Italian generals and soldiers viewed the Greek soldier; how Italian historians view these events today, to whom they attribute responsibility for the war, and how generally they justify Italy’s wrongful actions against Greece. Do they distort the truth, do they recognise it or simply adapt it to accommodate their shortcomings, thereby obscuring or belittling the Greek victory? It must first be said, however, that numerous Italian sources on the war against Greece have been published, and to study, classify and evaluate them all is a task which requires an enormous amount of time. Such sources include diplomatic documents published by the national printing-house of Italy, diaries of political and military leaders, memoirs of diplomatic officials, attempts at reconstructing events by chroniclers, journalists, and other people who took part in the war, letters from ordinary soldiers, dispatches from the various military units, operational plans and documents of the Italian General Army Staff, and even the songs sung by the soldiers (though not, of course, those imposed by the Fascist party).
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