- Germany has no need to invade the Balkans and Greece. Russian campaign begins two weeks earlier (probably with same result).
- Germany has no need to fight in North Africa. Saves them a quarter of a million men in 1943, just in time to replace the loss of Sixth Army.
- No one listens to Churchill's "soft underbelly" arguments. Cross-channel invasion occurs in 1943.
- Italians retain a surplus of poison gas, which is not needed to subdue the Ethiopians.
- oldman
I wonder, if the Itailans had possessed a much more competent fighting force, perhaps:
- Malta and Egypt would've fallen?
- The Royal Navy may have lost the Battle of Cape Matapan, securing Italian control of the eastern Med
- Italy, N Africa, and the Med would not have been viewed as the "soft underbelly" of the 3rd Reich
Maybe all this would've convinced the British and U.S. planners to forget about invading N. Africa in 1942, and instead use an invasion in the North (Norway?), as a practical tuneup for the inevitably massive cross-channel invasion of France?
The War would've taken an entirely different turn. Without much of its forces being diverted to the North African campaign, the U.S. 8th Air Force buildup would've progressed faster and the strategic bombing campaign over Germany would've gotten going earlier.
