My math teacher was Greek and told us of how his grandmother would have Italian occupying soldiers over for dinner regularly. Italians and Greeks considered each other related and so they got along together really well. Not so much with the German occupying forces though.
Thats bullshit. The greeks fought their brutal war against the italian invasion and won. The Germans only came to Greece because the greeks were so zealous and effective in pushing out the italian invaders
If that's true, then his grandmother was lucky. The Italians committed many atrocities against the Greek people, like the Domenikon massacre for example.
This massacre was an answer to the free death of 9 italians soldiers by greek resistance. So tell 100% truth or tell nothing jakass@@richardstephens5570
@@richardstephens5570 Not lucky... clever, feeding the soldiers who haven't had a proper meal in months some proper food and building up a relationship, even dogs don't bite the feeding hand, it was probably the best strategy for her to maximize her family's chances of survival in that situation.
yep, that's what he said on Twitter, saying Mussolini gets him demonetized, so he just uploaded a day late with the hilariously passive aggressive FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN
Another bug factor in my opinion is the Italian Civil War that lasted after the capitulation in 1943 all the way to 1945: many parts of the north were in open rebellion and there was fighting even between family members. This is to say that a big chunk of the (surviving) population was willing to give up Fez-wearing and maybe this eased up the peace process.
It can make sense but most of them were Communists …make more sense that the US was worried about them take over and so helped the not Communist part at least the one not compromised too much with Mussolini
@@diegograssi9269not most of them, just a portion. The members of the resistence belonged to all sorts of political beliefs: democratic-christians, social-democratics, socialists, liberals and yeah, some of them even communists
@@ultimatejager4058 Some of them even communists?They were by far the largest group , as you can see also in how was composed the CNL ( Comitato di liberazione nazionale) .
For anyone wondering what's going on with the "Fez-Wearing Italian Man" business, it's cos HM keeps getting demonetised by YT for daring to mention the name "Mussolini", which actually delayed the upload of this video for about a day or so. The fact that HM found a way around this, whilst simultaneously not-so-subtly roasting YT's algorithm with that zooming in shot, is the reason why he's legendary.
There's actually another very good fact and reason about this that hasn't been mention in the video. When the war was over, the prime minister of Italy, Alcide de Gasperi, heard the the french and the brits wanted to punish Italy hard, so he went to the americans and persuaded them to not go too harsh by promising them that,in exchange, he and the other right wing politicians would never let the communist party of Italy win an election at any cost, securing Italy's position as an enemy of the iron curtain and an ally of the US. De Gasperi's plan worked and the US made sure not to give in to the harsh punishments that France and the UK wanted to give.
"promising them that ... he and the other right wing politicians would never let the communist party of Italy win an election at any cost". With a little help from the CIA, of course.
But I would refer you to @1:25, where he does mention that the Italian government was attractively anti-Communist, and to @1:55, that the US stopped France and the UK from giving harsher punishments. He did not give the details or reasons that you have, but both points were mentioned. You're only going to get so much depth in a 2.5 min video. Atbs, thanks for the extra information, always nice to get to another layer of the onion! :)
Nice video! I'm Italian from Milan, both of my grandfathers were conscripted right before we turned sides, as soon as we did, both were sent to prisoner of war concentration caps. One was sent to Linz in Germany and one in Greece (not sure where). Both survived mal nutrition and decimations. I'm thankful that they somehow survived and I am living proof!
Good for you man, those were tough times. When grandpa was captured by the Americans the conditions of the prisoners were abysmal, he almost died of infection and was lucky compared to many later German prisoners in Allied hands. The dynamics were much more complex than what we're taught at school, it wasn't about the Good guys vs the Bad ones, only the ones that won and those that lost.
The fact that we are forced to treat historical figures as if they were Voldemort, because we can't name them even for educational purposes it's very distopian.
It's for monetization purposes. You can make a rap song with all their names and youtube won't do anything to your video. Advertisers, however, don't want to be associated with anything controversial. It's their money and they get to choose who to support. Nothing dystopian about it. TH-cam can't handle the millions of videos uploaded daily without using bots, although the bots can be heavy handed and too restrictive, which they are constantly tweaking.
@@aoikemono6414I mean, there were still advertisements on the History Channel when they did their WWII documentaries, or even just advertisements on cable news channels, so I don't think the "advertisers don't want to be associated with anything controversial" argument holds terribly much water.
It did lose territory, though, not just overseas colonies (though it didn't consider Libya a colony) - it lost the Dalmatian port city of Zara and the entirety of Istria with cities like Fiume and Pola to Yugoslavia. Trieste was also temporarily lost in 1947 and existed as a UN-ran free city until being returned to Italy in 1954, although a good chunk of its surrounding towns were also given to Yugoslavia. The island of Sazan was given to Albania. Two villages on the Alpine border with France were also lost to France, along with some other minor border revisions. The Italian islands of the Aegean, namely Rhodes and the Dodecanese, were ceded to Greece.
@@alanpennie8013hey lost a good part of land in that region to Italy when they joined the war. The two villages that weren’t part of France’s pre-war borders held a referendum in 1947 to leave Italy and join France.
The “Fez-wearing Italian man" makes this video very funny and also you finally making an video about why Italy wasn’t carved up after ww2 makes it even better
When demonetization is so bad on TH-cam that you have to just switch the regular word to just "the fez wearing italian man." I could tell that kind of pained him a bit. Thank you for your hard work and putting out content m8. You deserve the best.
1:21 it makes me really happy that you included Canada's flag when talking about the allies. I hate how often the UK gets the credit for countries like Canada and Australia's contributions to the war
Good video, but as an italian I would say it's not enough said: an other very important reason is that few days after the 8th September 1943, italian soldiers were ordered by the new government to join the allies and fight the germans. There were not many soldiers and civilians who decided to keep collaborating with the germans after that date. The resistance movement gained more and more success than the fascist counterpart. In Germany and Japan there was no armed resistance against their own dictatorships.
@@alanpennie8013 it was not a defection. We surrendered then fell to a civilwar ( caused by Germany) and the majority of the ppl remained with the king which was pro-allies even the majority of the fascists didn’t join Mussolini
@@BoretheoryNon è del tutto vero... ovviamente la guerra era persa ma nonostante questo i soldati della RSI erano comunque di più di quelli della resistenza. Pur sapendo di perdere hanno difeso fino alla fine i propri ideali.
well, must also add that actually Italy was occupied by american troops and military bases that are still there today also: freemasons, vatican and various mafia families with connections in the USA
It's ridiculous the things a purely historic and educative channel such as this one has to do to not get demonitized. I say no for the TH-cam thought police
What is the actual rule? You can’t say the actual name? but you can actually refer to the person pretty much exactly, without saying the name, and that’s allowed? Whenever I watch a history channel show, they always mention the names.
@@MikeCee7TH-cam generally doesn't disclose the actual contours of their rules, for the same reason dictators don't clearly define what will get you killed: they like to both instill fear (and the greater self-censorship it induces) and retain the ability to act arbitrarily with less risk of being exposed as doing so.
@@MikeCee7This is the first video on this channel where he avoided saying the name. The rule is to have content that Mcdonalds wants to associate itself with. Videos can be auto demonetized if the transcript contains too many keywords associated with manually demonetized videos. Some common stuff I'm aware of: - The Holocaust and other genocides or war crimes - Fascism, Communism, Nazism - Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Mussolini, other dictators - Descriptions of violence, which can include wars - Discussing racism or homophobia - Saying too many swear words
@@MikeCee7 Politics is a different scenario. If you discuss politics too much, your channel might get branded as "independent news". If this happens, then vastly fewer people will be recommended to watch your videos compared to a normal channel. I don't think "Trump" by itself will cause demonetization, though.
Always pausing for your priceless newspaper inserts and this one at 1:38 was as usual a little jewel. I particularly enjoyed the Man in The High Castle's allusion to the Neutral Zone and Rufus Sewell.🤗😂👍
There were American military camps on Italian soil, though, just to make sure Italians weren't gonna do anything stupid (again). One of them was close to the city I grew up in: Leghorn. I remember passing by several times on a road nearby, trying to take a peek, but obviously I wasn't allowed in. They had everything there, including their own food, their own vehicles, their own football pitch, basketball court and everything. It was really like a mini American city rather than a military camp. One of the things I remember dearly was the radio station: AFN The Eagle, which is the radio that each military camp has, broadcasting mostly music and news. They use to play some good bangers and I used to listen to it a lot. They also had their own TV, coming via satellite and re-broadcasted locally via analog. Of course, it was for the internal military staff, not for other people, but it was back in the analog days with no encryption, so waves just... spread. I was so fascinated by it, that I begged my parents to buy one of the very first dual standard TVs which supported both PAL and NTSC. When my father brought one home, I just tuned in and boom, I was able to watch US TV with their TV Series, baseball matches etc. I loved it and it was how I learned English. It was also the reason why in 2013 I moved to the US to work there (legally). Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to renew the visa and eventually I had to move to the UK where they welcomed me as they were still in the EU. Long story short, I'm a British Citizen living in the UK now, but still. As to what happened to those military camps, some of them are still there, but ever since they started the demilitarization, there are less and less people there and they closed the radio station. Eventually, no one will be left and there will just be empty camps around the world...
@@itadrummer1 Gli USA hanno commesso moltissimi crimini di guerra, solo che i propri non possono essere raccontati, perché sostanzialmente sono i nostri padroni, mentre quelli dei suoi nemici...
First, Italy was always a curious case. It usually a horrible military yet fighting in Italy was more difficult than France (despite it's a lot more mountainous). Another Irony is that they were one of the few countries to apologize to their former colonies (ahem Britain and France, we're waiting). Still hoped the German parts of South Tyrol were returned to Austria but again bad allied judgment for fear of communism.
I mean it was also occupied by the Nazis in 1943-1944, which was part of the reason it was so difficult. When Italy switched, Germany essentially took them over and kept fighting
The Italian people made it more straight forward for the post war settlement, by disposing of their former Axis leader, in a convenient petrol station I believe. They also had plenty of people fighting with the Allies in the last couple of years of the war, unlike Germany and Japan.
...only to pretend nothing really happened. The lack of an italian nuremberg is the reason there are politicians claiming italian colonialism in africa was so good (minus the pillaging, reprisal, apartheid, sexual slavery and gas attacks I guess)
He was disposed of in an alley then showed off in a petrol station, but still What happened to the body Is tipically Italian: It turned into a commedy were It was Stolen, recovered, hidden by the secret service, Stolen again, the brain removed for study, a mess. And nowdays you can visit his burial site, i've been there Is... Strange.
You are brainwashed by propaganda. Italy has been occupied since then by hundreds of US military bases and its intelligence and military respond to Washigton over Rome since 1945. What the fuck are you talking about!?
Fez Boy and his mistress were caught and "dealt with" by partisan forces at the gate of a villa in a village near Lake Como. The carcasses were then hauled to Milan to be "put on display", first by dumping them on the ground in a piazza (quite deliberately chosen as it was the site were 15 partisans were executed then their bodies put on display) near Stazione Centrale, then hung from the above mentioned petrol station's canopy. The local inhabitants were able to express their "condolences" to the recently deceased. They were generally quite enthusiastic in that expression.
Fun fact, when Italy was disarmed, some or their Air Force planes were given to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), a chivalric order from the Crusades that governed the islands of Malta, Camino and Gozo from the 1500s until the French kicked them out in the 1790s. After a while, the SMOM relocated to Rome in the 1800s and remained there. The SMOM still works closely with the Italian Armed Forces today.
Noticed the references in the newspaper to “Man in the High Castle” and California’s crazy housing prices. Also, $14 in 1942?! That’s like a months rent then!
Honestly I had to rewind more than once because I kept laughing so damned hard at the Fez wearing Italian man. Had me in stitches so it did ha ha!! Love your videos, always fascinating and informative, bringing up interesting questions that I’ve never thought to ask even as a history buff with the question-asking capacity of a very annoying small child myself. That and you’re damned good craic yourself! Fantastic video as always!
“Deprived of its colonial territories” -with the exception of the former Italian Somaliland, which from 1947 became a UN Trust Territory under Italian administration. The Italians actually did quite a good job as regards improving the infrastructure and general well-being of the territory after WW2.
I again enjoyed another one of your episodes. And every episode. You have a great voice and an excellent tone in your dry British humor. I would like to have a pint with you sometime
Loved the U.S. Soldier armed with a flamethrower at 3:02. The U.S.-Japan fighting in the Pacific was to the death, and flamethrowers were a valuable weapon in the hands of people like Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Hershel "Woody" Williams, who only recently passed away at age 98. It takes a special person to go into battle with a tank full of flammable liquids on your back.
The reason it was to the deáth was also because of the fłame thrøwer. Japanese would often fight to the death precisely because the US soldiers would kíll Japanese soldiers that were trying to surrender. So the Japanese learned to fight to the very end from that tactic of kílling men that were surrendering.
@@GhostSalWell the practice of U.S soldiers killing Japanese soldiers trying to surrender started because many Japanese soldiers would fake surrender. Both practices were bad regardless of who started it.
@@GhostSal "Killing Japanese that were trying to surrender" happened because the Japanese would often pretend to be surrendering, then pull out a grenade and try to kill themselves along with their captors. Japanese wounded would also attempt to kill American medics trying to help them. The Japanese would also booby trap their dead and wounded, don't try to portray the Japanese as victims.
@@richardstephens5570 I’m not saying atrocitíes didn’t happen on both sides, they absolutely did. However, consideríng the prøpaganda of the time depicting Japanese people as subhuman and the general feeling of wanting revenge for very real attack on Pearl Harbor… is it really that hard to believe?
A few ideas: Why did Ethiopia become Christian? How did the Netherlands become a global power? What was China’s roll in WW2? Why was Thailand not colonized? How did Liberia stay free? How did the Ottoman Empire treat its Christian population? Love the vids ❤
Liberia stayed free because America wanted a port there. Since that was and the congo was only thing they wanted and the fact the congo was handed over to a monarch during the American civil war, American politician were pissed. Given the fact America had some of the first ironclads the European colonial empires didn't want push their luck with a neutral trading partner.
The trick with Liberia is that it was actually an American colony that declared independence in 1847. The American government treated Liberia as a sort of informal protectorate after that and deterred European governments from going for it during the Scramble.
It did help that many Italians welcomed the Allies in Sicily and in Rome as liberators rather than enemies, and that *the fez-wearing Italian man* was ultimately captured and killed by Italians themselves. Thus giving the image of a population that was largely on the Allied side. Whether that image was fully honest, is a complicated matter.
The population was clearly divided, but you seem not to understand that twenty years of dictatorial propaganda, starting from the schools, bear fruit necessarely.
As an American of Italian descent, I found this video quite informative! Now, I know some of the reasons why Italy was not placed under an occupation administration: the Allies couldn't spare the resources, President Roosevelt needed the Italian-American vote, and in any case, Italy wasn't seen as a great threat to the major Allies. Thanks for the information! Also, that nickname ("the fez-wearing Italian man") is quite funny!
@@FlagAnthem He only paid Trieste for it and the loyalty of the only place somewhat close to Austrian rule, Slovenia. He wouldn't have liked it at all.
@@dontsearchdocumentingreali9621the contrary, dalmatian coast was well romanised when the slavs came in 600AD. Then it was a gradually process of assimiliation, look at Republic of Ragusa (Dubronovik today). Native romance language died while venetian colonisers became the majority of tomance speakers. Austria-Hungary had an anti italian policy and that was basically the end for italians in Dalmatia. Istria on the other hand remained 40-50% italian. After ww2 italians were expelled
Seeing this on a Sunday morning after spending way too much last night, was a delight. Love the quality of your videos. Keep it up, you brought me back from the dead this morning. And a burger. Love from Norway
he has a combination of eyebrows, glasses, nose, and mustache very similar to the classic disguise. in fact when I type disguise my phone recommends this face which looks exactly like him: 🥸
I suspect that too many descriptions of Tojo will also draw the baleful gaze of the Eye of SaurTube as any description of Tojo's features would be too close to the stereotypes of Japanese people, as can be seen in allied propaganda of the WWII period.
Another factor to be considered was the issue of Italy's sense of loyalty to the NATION rather than the individual. Unlike Germany's "oath of loyalty" to AH, and Japan's "divine Emperor", Italy's population was more focused upon the loyalty to the country as a primary factor. And with a "stable government" in power, there was far less chance of a "resistance" to the changes that took place after surrendering. With Germany, there was always the risk of an "attempt to reform" the former political system. In Japan, it was a matter of "who will step up to restore the Emperor" mentality to consider. As such, a strong "occupational presence" (display of force) was needed to discourage any "attempt to resurrect the old ways".
But was there ever really a “stable government” in Italy after World War II? As I recall, they were going through about a new Prime Minister per year. And (unfortunately) it took someone like Berlusconi to break that trend.
@@_blank-_they weren't antisemitic either. The biggest mistake the Italian fascists made was trying to conquer other countries and then siding with the Nazis.
@@_blank-_ nazism and whatever japan weren't so much offshoots as parrallel ideologies that borrowed a little from Fascismo and had a lot of their own. But yeah, whilst Italian fascism was extremely bad, I wouldn't say it worse than Stalinism or most communist movement more generally, and it's imperialism wasn't really worse than the British or French either.
Allies: You are going to militarily disarm. You cannot have anymore tanks. Italy: Pfew, oh thank god. We were worried you were going to go hard on us. Allies: You also cannot have an aviation industry. Italy: We thought you were going to punish us. Why are you rewarding us for defeat? Allies: And you must fire all your generals and put them on trial. Italy: Yes! Finally, someone is saying what we are all thinking. Criminally negligent, indeed! Allies: Also you will admit that New York style pizza is superior. Italy: *NEVER SURRENDER, NEVER RETREAT!*
@@British_studios566 After the encounter... Britain and France: YOU IDIOT! Why did you mention your stupid version of pizza!? United States: Uhhh... ummm... Oops, gotta beat Japan, guys! (runs)
Fun fact: once the "Fez wearing Italian man" was dismissed in July 43, the king appointed Marshall Pietro Badoglio as PM. Badoglio negotiated the armistice and stayed in office for 1 year roughly. Badoglio is a very controversial figure in Italian history for a variety of reasons, spanning his role in the tragic Caporetto defeat and retreat (1917), the war crimes committed in Ethiopia by the Italian army and then the support to the "Fez-wearing Italian man" 's regime until his downfall.
I appreciate the side-stepping of comedically saying "The fez-wearing Italian man," to avoid mentioning him by name, immensely. I had to stop the video to get all the giggles out before watching more, then you did it again! 🤣 I hate the fact that you will get demonetized for recapping actual history. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Can we not censor history?
It probably didn’t hurt that nobody really opposed Mussolini’s model before WWII and would’ve likely left him alone had he not joined the Axis (which he almost avoided).
yeah he was an opportunist at heart, he believed that hitler would carry the war (in a sense he did) and italy would get free territories without much of a fight. too bad that hitler wanted to use the italians as cannon fodder and they themselves were beaten up by their costly war in ethiopia just a year prior.
Yeah UK acted so though against Italy during the aftermath but we forget how Mussolini had a good reputation in Churchill's eye due to his ability to kill and imprison socialists during the 1920s We can praise all we want but the "free word" never had a problem with dictators that were useful tools against the insurgent movements from the red biennium
And because many of the FWIM’s friends were anti-communist, another thing they shared with the FWIM and his friend with a funny mustache up north who’s friends also ended up helping the Allies! But it’s fine, they’re the good guys now! UwU
Another thing to consider is that differently from Germany and Japan, Italy got rid of its dictator by itself in 1943, and from then on the kingdom cooperated with the Allies against the nazis and the Italian Social Republic up until the final defeat of Hitler and Mussolini in 1945.
If the new Italian government had provided soldiers to fight the Nazis in the d day invasion…. They would have very likely never been penalized territory wise as they were post war!!!!
Yep, the Italian government, military and people were no way anywhere near as insanely fanatical to fascism as Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. Wouldn't even want to imagine if Italy never surrendered like Germany and Japan, incredible historic cities like Rome, Milan and Naples could have been utterly destroyed like so many German and Japanese cities.
Nice that you depict every American GI here carrying an M1 Carbine, The weapon did actually first saw action in Sicily and the Italian campaign is often overlooked but still had important battles such as Monte Cassino and the push towards the Gothic line in the northern part of the country.
Me, an Italian, when foreigners who are not historians talk about my country in WW2: -Aaw shiet, here we go again Me when I saw this video: -Thank god a Briton said this. And thank you kindly sir for being so efficient, professional and dry on every video you make. It should be a standard attitude for historians. Sadly it’s not. Many “history enjoyers”, or straight up young historians, are often driven by politics… Like that bald guy with the fez who thought we should have taken Albania back to recreate the Roman Empire (when nobody was asking for it)
@tomg7877...taken Albania back it is not a correct historical phrase...(Albania has never been Italy) instead the Roman Empire was not composed only of the territory of present-day Albania and Italy....
@@giorgiodifrancesco4590 historical facts say the opposite of what you say...and you don't even need to go too far back in time because because In 1920 Italy and Albania went to war...(Vlora War )..where the Albanians were already fighting against the plans of France, Great Britain, and Russia to divide Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece.
@@lagjescuni5482 Friend, you're talking about 1920. Then, the Italian government wanted the Italian protectorate over Albania, but what they don't make you study (because you continue to be nationalists) is that the Italian people didn't want it at all (just as they don't want it today). While the Italian garrison of Valona was being attacked by your armed forces, the Italian Bersaglieri stationed in Ancona rebelled against our government and refused to go to Albania. I hope they also tell you that your army was so inconsistent that it could not even seriously attack an isolated garrison without reinforcements, which repulsed four of your assault attempts.
It's worth mentioning that the italian government was still disappointed that they had to pay reparation. the reason is that since they surrender so early (the switch side is just an historical meme, it was a surrender) and collaborated for almost 2 years they hoped that they could go from being responsible for the war to being seen as collaborator. That didn't happen but as mentioned few years later a bunch of sanctions were dropped anyway since the USSR was seen as more important.
It's not a meme. Mussolini came to power constitutionally, but it was not through a democratic election. Italians were largely opposed to fighting alongside the Germans, and to entering the war all together. To call Italy's fight against Germany a "meme" is greatly disrespectful to those who served to free their country.
@@mikesiciliano210I think by "meme" he was referring to the popular but grossly oversimplified/inaccurate idea that Italy switched sides during the war, not anything about the fight against Germany itself.
It's also because of political pressure from the UK. America also wanted to take away France's colonies in Indochina, and such, but the UK argued that a stronger France would be best for NATO.
@@_blank-_ Churchill didn't like De Gaulle, but he also supported him from the start when the USA recognised Vichy, because they understood he was better than a german fascist puppet, even if he was very annoying
0:29 Not sure if the person on the left is meant to represent a member of the King's African Rifles or the Ethiopian Arbegnoch, but either way I love the detail as Black and Brown contributions to victory in WWII can often be overlooked.
Greetings from Brazil. You speak very, very fast. It's so difficult to a person who doesn't have English as first language, to understand the entire video. Thanks for your job.
Italy wasn't occupied because there was already a government sympathetic to the Allies that was de facto ruling the country while the Fez wearing Italian man was up in the North defying the De Facto rule of the government of Victor Emmanuel
0:56 AH YES... welcome to HypocriteTube where you cant say the names of Monsters like "Failed Inbred Austrian Artist" and "Fez wearing italian Man" but you can say the names of other monsters like Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and others!!
The Allies: Do you have anything to say regarding your action during WWII? Italy: It's Pizza Time. The Allies: I guess that's good enough, you're forgiven.
@@joseluisblanco8074 FDR's regime was fascist and was modeled after the Fez wearing Italian man's policies. Fascism is just a slightly different flavor of socialism than communism that happen to hate each other. FDR also had many communists in his government and did a lot of nasty things that supported the commies in the USSR.
That was pretty much the entire reason for the rise of the Nazis and even the crazies that ran Japan - they were absolutely terrified of the Communists taking control of their nations and went overboard in trying to stem that from happening. Had the spread of Communism not been as swift across Russia and Eastern Europe, there is a good chance there would be no Fascism or Nazism, as these ideologies came about as a response to Soviet Communism and their fear of it
Funnily enough some politicians under Mussolini's Italian Social Republic began working under the 1946 Italian Republic as if they never did anything wrong, hell, Mussolini himself could've survived and put to work in the Republic as well if only it wasn't for a group of partisans executing him.
@@alanpennie8013 well, a proper defascistization process like the ones in Germany or Japan (not fascist but imperial ik but you still get what I mean) never really took place in Italy so sadly it's not that surprising that there are still people reminiscing those days and letting some things, such as the current president of the Senate proudly owning various figures and items of the late dictator, slide without any fines or anything like that.
Please tell us more about the Nazi occupation of northern Italy. My dad was a child at the time, and would almost get killed as a hostage twice (together with other children and their mothers), but for the partisans that surrendered and were executed instead. Yes, I grew up with plenty of anecdotes... and I'd like to understand more what was happening there. Thanks in advance!
0:16 the only reparations Italy gave to Greece was for the various damages and the economy they did to the Dodekanese islands.For the crimes they committed to the rest of Greece like the atrocities on Larisa(masacre of Domenikos )and the atrocities on northern Greece (they participated with the Germans on pillaging and destroying villages)they never gave any reparations.
I will add the fact that in italy, after the war, there was still a great number of well-armed resistance communist fighters, so an occupation or partition of italy could have led to another civil war.
Communism was never suppressed in Italy. Communists were able to take power (through peaceful elections) in many local governments. Not sure if they were ever part of any central government.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 They had large representation in the parliament throughout the first republic( 1946 -1991 circa), but they never ever obtained the majority of votes.
To be a bit more specific as regards Italy’s colonial possessions: On the armistice with the Allies in 1943, Albania (which was very *very* technically not an Italian possession at all, but in a personal Union, ie, the King of Italy was also King of Albania) was renounced, as was Ethiopia and Montenegro-which was under Italian occupation, as were parts of Greece-the Italian occupiers being replaced with German ones. The Salo Republic handed the Italian concession in China de facto back to China in 1944, but de facto and de jure retained authority over Rhodes and the Dodecanese. The Italian littoral, Libya, Eritrea, and Somaliland were de jure renounced with the Italian peace with the allies in 1947, although Somaliland was returned to Italy as a UN Trust Territory in 1949, which it remained until 1960.
I was stationed in Italy for 2 years in the 3/325 82nd Airborne Divison. Italy does have US Military Airfields in Aviano and a Airborne Battalion Combat team along with an Infantry Battalion with support Artillery and other support units attached. We wore the Winged Lion of St Marco patch. That Unit is still there in Vincenza Italy as part of the Southern European Task Force...
we cannot wait to see you going, no reason to have such a strong US military presence in a sovereign country, which is supposedly also an ally. Same is for Okinawa in Japan.
Every once in a while one of yours cause issues around Aviano and somehow never get properly punished. We indeed are currently under occupation and not a free country.
Knowing the problems this video had because of you mentioning Mussolini by name makes the "Fez-wearing Italian man" bit so much funnier
I did not hit her I did naaaht!
TH-cam: WHO SAID HITLER!?
if he made an original post detailing the issues, I wanna see it.
The weirdest thing is that he said "mussolinian" yet wasn't in trouble for that.
The thing is, he said Mosulini at 1:30
@@planescapedThe Room reference.
My math teacher was Greek and told us of how his grandmother would have Italian occupying soldiers over for dinner regularly. Italians and Greeks considered each other related and so they got along together really well. Not so much with the German occupying forces though.
Thats bullshit. The greeks fought their brutal war against the italian invasion and won. The Germans only came to Greece because the greeks were so zealous and effective in pushing out the italian invaders
Not with the Bulgarians either.
If that's true, then his grandmother was lucky. The Italians committed many atrocities against the Greek people, like the Domenikon massacre for example.
This massacre was an answer to the free death of 9 italians soldiers by greek resistance. So tell 100% truth or tell nothing jakass@@richardstephens5570
@@richardstephens5570 Not lucky... clever, feeding the soldiers who haven't had a proper meal in months some proper food and building up a relationship, even dogs don't bite the feeding hand, it was probably the best strategy for her to maximize her family's chances of survival in that situation.
I mean, when you’re proactive enough to take care of THE FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN you should get some sort of credit for doing so.
History matters talks like a professor and then pops out with that and it's just comedy gold
Mussolini is Mussolini
Flex wearing Italian man
1:27 and yet one mention slipped thru
'Yeah we supported him for twenty years but now we've lost we'll turn on him' WOWWW
“The fez wearing Italian man”
I have a feeling he isn’t allowed to say the fez wearing Italian Man’s name anymore without getting demonetized
Yet he says the name later in the video anyway.
He alredy said it
@@-Benedict
I think the rule is you can't say certain "offensive" things in the first minute of the video.
@@Teknanamyoure right
yep, that's what he said on Twitter, saying Mussolini gets him demonetized, so he just uploaded a day late with the hilariously passive aggressive FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN
Another bug factor in my opinion is the Italian Civil War that lasted after the capitulation in 1943 all the way to 1945: many parts of the north were in open rebellion and there was fighting even between family members. This is to say that a big chunk of the (surviving) population was willing to give up Fez-wearing and maybe this eased up the peace process.
It can make sense but most of them were Communists …make more sense that the US was worried about them take over and so helped the not Communist part at least the one not compromised too much with Mussolini
@@diegograssi9269not most of them, just a portion. The members of the resistence belonged to all sorts of political beliefs: democratic-christians, social-democratics, socialists, liberals and yeah, some of them even communists
This!
@@ultimatejager4058 Some of them even communists?They were by far the largest group , as you can see also in how was composed the CNL ( Comitato di liberazione nazionale) .
OMG YT is now altering history...
For anyone wondering what's going on with the "Fez-Wearing Italian Man" business, it's cos HM keeps getting demonetised by YT for daring to mention the name "Mussolini", which actually delayed the upload of this video for about a day or so.
The fact that HM found a way around this, whilst simultaneously not-so-subtly roasting YT's algorithm with that zooming in shot, is the reason why he's legendary.
The name Mussolini came up once in this video. I hope he's not going to have trouble because of that.
And Fez-Wearing Italian man and Mr Moustache is absolutely hilarious
@@GaryWagersusually you won’t get demonetized if you don’t say anything offensive in the first minute of the video. After that it’s usually ok
Why would the name get him demonitized, I don´t understand?
@@willevensen7130 Gotcha, thanks.
There's actually another very good fact and reason about this that hasn't been mention in the video. When the war was over, the prime minister of Italy, Alcide de Gasperi, heard the the french and the brits wanted to punish Italy hard, so he went to the americans and persuaded them to not go too harsh by promising them that,in exchange, he and the other right wing politicians would never let the communist party of Italy win an election at any cost, securing Italy's position as an enemy of the iron curtain and an ally of the US. De Gasperi's plan worked and the US made sure not to give in to the harsh punishments that France and the UK wanted to give.
calling DC politician "right wing" it's a bit of a strecht... they were at best centre-right for european standards
@@Tonyx.yt.and the fact that the DC also had a left wing faction that facilitated an organic centre left government.
"promising them that ... he and the other right wing politicians would never let the communist party of Italy win an election at any cost".
With a little help from the CIA, of course.
Good for him I guess.
Though bad for The Communists.
But I would refer you to @1:25, where he does mention that the Italian government was attractively anti-Communist, and to @1:55, that the US stopped France and the UK from giving harsher punishments. He did not give the details or reasons that you have, but both points were mentioned. You're only going to get so much depth in a 2.5 min video. Atbs, thanks for the extra information, always nice to get to another layer of the onion! :)
Nice video! I'm Italian from Milan, both of my grandfathers were conscripted right before we turned sides, as soon as we did, both were sent to prisoner of war concentration caps. One was sent to Linz in Germany and one in Greece (not sure where). Both survived mal nutrition and decimations. I'm thankful that they somehow survived and I am living proof!
My grandfather was also Italian and joined the RSI army after the armistice. He had enough to eat :-)
@@tancreddehauteville764 You must be so proud 😉
Good for you man, those were tough times.
When grandpa was captured by the Americans the conditions of the prisoners were abysmal, he almost died of infection and was lucky compared to many later German prisoners in Allied hands.
The dynamics were much more complex than what we're taught at school, it wasn't about the Good guys vs the Bad ones, only the ones that won and those that lost.
@@lambdacode1503 I totally agree
@@sergioparentini6743 I am - very proud.
A part of the history which is always forgotten is the Italian civil war. Love your videos, keep going
Unless you are a HOI4 player. Then you would just say "Italy is doing its thing"
Italy's helping overthrow the communist government in San Marino afterwards is usually glossed over, too... : )
@@dw620YEEES FINALLY SOMEONE THAT KNOWS IT
@@dw620 well they shouldn’t have been commies
USA to Japan: AHHHHHHHHH-
to Germany: OH NO!
to Italy: lol- pizza eaters
Hearing History Matters refer to Mussolini as THE FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN is something I didn’t know I needed in my life.
if you say his name you get demonetized
I was impressed that your battleship animation was an accurate image of the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto! Good job!
The fact that we are forced to treat historical figures as if they were Voldemort, because we can't name them even for educational purposes it's very distopian.
It's for monetization purposes. You can make a rap song with all their names and youtube won't do anything to your video. Advertisers, however, don't want to be associated with anything controversial. It's their money and they get to choose who to support. Nothing dystopian about it. TH-cam can't handle the millions of videos uploaded daily without using bots, although the bots can be heavy handed and too restrictive, which they are constantly tweaking.
Do you live in Russia?
No?
Then STFU
@@aoikemono6414I mean, there were still advertisements on the History Channel when they did their WWII documentaries, or even just advertisements on cable news channels, so I don't think the "advertisers don't want to be associated with anything controversial" argument holds terribly much water.
seriously?
@@lioraselby5328 because the History Chanel didn't have a bunch of shows saying "fascism is good" like TH-cam does
before everyone else comments, thank you for your hard work and research! I hope you see this comment and know that we appreciate your work!
Who me?
Due to my adhd i accidentally read "everyone except communists". Epic
0:56 THE FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN!! 😂
It did lose territory, though, not just overseas colonies (though it didn't consider Libya a colony) - it lost the Dalmatian port city of Zara and the entirety of Istria with cities like Fiume and Pola to Yugoslavia. Trieste was also temporarily lost in 1947 and existed as a UN-ran free city until being returned to Italy in 1954, although a good chunk of its surrounding towns were also given to Yugoslavia. The island of Sazan was given to Albania.
Two villages on the Alpine border with France were also lost to France, along with some other minor border revisions.
The Italian islands of the Aegean, namely Rhodes and the Dodecanese, were ceded to Greece.
Those annexations on the French border were very odd.
Why would France want such an insignificant alteration?
@@alanpennie8013hey lost a good part of land in that region to Italy when they joined the war. The two villages that weren’t part of France’s pre-war borders held a referendum in 1947 to leave Italy and join France.
De Gaulle wanted the dams built by Italy on the Alps and the chaberton mountain to have a better military position that’s why
@@giarabub87
Makes sense I guess.
Can someone give the names of those two Alpine villages?
I can not express how entertaining I find your little segments of a political figure bounding through a field of flowers
The “Fez-wearing Italian man" makes this video very funny and also you finally making an video about why Italy wasn’t carved up after ww2 makes it even better
When demonetization is so bad on TH-cam that you have to just switch the regular word to just "the fez wearing italian man."
I could tell that kind of pained him a bit. Thank you for your hard work and putting out content m8. You deserve the best.
Why you asume is not for comic porpose and you blame demonatization ?
@@alexandruchira184 Because he only does it in the first minute of the video and then says Mussolini at 1:26. Also he said so on twitter apparently.
@@alexandruchira184 why not both?
@@alexandruchira184Because we have more than two brain cells?
@@alexandruchira184 You should really practice your spelling, matey. Also your critical thinking.
1:21 it makes me really happy that you included Canada's flag when talking about the allies. I hate how often the UK gets the credit for countries like Canada and Australia's contributions to the war
And India. why forget India😭
@@noistivmuestiliv3300 yes India too. I just didn't want to try to list every single country
That's how imperialism works though, you're just colonies. Or should we throw in Puerto Ricos flag every time the us is mentioned?
@@cpob2013 if significant puerto rican people/armies/forces etc are involved in the subject, absolutely.
Should put in the South Afrian and Rhodesian flag to be 'fair'. The British flag kinda covers all, as yer know, Empire!
Your attention to detail in your character's uniforms and, especially, weapons it quite impressive. Thank you.
Even though it sucks that you can’t mention his name without getting demonized, “The Fez Wearing Italian Man” is amazing.
I didn't realize that was why. But in a way it makes the substitution even funnier.
Snuck it in at 1:25
Yet there is the possibility of him being confused with Garibaldi.
Good video, but as an italian I would say it's not enough said: an other very important reason is that few days after the 8th September 1943, italian soldiers were ordered by the new government to join the allies and fight the germans. There were not many soldiers and civilians who decided to keep collaborating with the germans after that date. The resistance movement gained more and more success than the fascist counterpart. In Germany and Japan there was no armed resistance against their own dictatorships.
Yep.
The Italian defection to The Allies was a big difference.
@@alanpennie8013 it was not a defection. We surrendered then fell to a civilwar ( caused by Germany) and the majority of the ppl remained with the king which was pro-allies even the majority of the fascists didn’t join Mussolini
@@BoretheoryNon è del tutto vero... ovviamente la guerra era persa ma nonostante questo i soldati della RSI erano comunque di più di quelli della resistenza. Pur sapendo di perdere hanno difeso fino alla fine i propri ideali.
As an Italian what's your opinion on THE FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN
well, must also add that actually Italy was occupied by american troops and military bases that are still there today
also: freemasons, vatican and various mafia families with connections in the USA
Fascinating! I've studied WWII for 50 years, and this is something I never really considered. Thank you for teaching me something today.
It's ridiculous the things a purely historic and educative channel such as this one has to do to not get demonitized. I say no for the TH-cam thought police
What is the actual rule? You can’t say the actual name? but you can actually refer to the person pretty much exactly, without saying the name, and that’s allowed?
Whenever I watch a history channel show, they always mention the names.
@@MikeCee7TH-cam generally doesn't disclose the actual contours of their rules, for the same reason dictators don't clearly define what will get you killed: they like to both instill fear (and the greater self-censorship it induces) and retain the ability to act arbitrarily with less risk of being exposed as doing so.
@@MikeCee7This is the first video on this channel where he avoided saying the name.
The rule is to have content that Mcdonalds wants to associate itself with. Videos can be auto demonetized if the transcript contains too many keywords associated with manually demonetized videos.
Some common stuff I'm aware of:
- The Holocaust and other genocides or war crimes
- Fascism, Communism, Nazism
- Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Mussolini, other dictators
- Descriptions of violence, which can include wars
- Discussing racism or homophobia
- Saying too many swear words
@@Nn-3 Thanks for the information.
Do they have any rules like that, with the word “Trump”?
Isn’t that quite a divisive word?
@@MikeCee7 Politics is a different scenario. If you discuss politics too much, your channel might get branded as "independent news". If this happens, then vastly fewer people will be recommended to watch your videos compared to a normal channel. I don't think "Trump" by itself will cause demonetization, though.
Always pausing for your priceless newspaper inserts and this one at 1:38 was as usual a little jewel. I particularly enjoyed the Man in The High Castle's allusion to the Neutral Zone and Rufus Sewell.🤗😂👍
Was looking for this comment.
Caught the reference as well
I love how japan and italys flags were shown but not the german flag at 0:01
There were American military camps on Italian soil, though, just to make sure Italians weren't gonna do anything stupid (again). One of them was close to the city I grew up in: Leghorn. I remember passing by several times on a road nearby, trying to take a peek, but obviously I wasn't allowed in. They had everything there, including their own food, their own vehicles, their own football pitch, basketball court and everything. It was really like a mini American city rather than a military camp. One of the things I remember dearly was the radio station: AFN The Eagle, which is the radio that each military camp has, broadcasting mostly music and news. They use to play some good bangers and I used to listen to it a lot. They also had their own TV, coming via satellite and re-broadcasted locally via analog. Of course, it was for the internal military staff, not for other people, but it was back in the analog days with no encryption, so waves just... spread. I was so fascinated by it, that I begged my parents to buy one of the very first dual standard TVs which supported both PAL and NTSC. When my father brought one home, I just tuned in and boom, I was able to watch US TV with their TV Series, baseball matches etc. I loved it and it was how I learned English. It was also the reason why in 2013 I moved to the US to work there (legally). Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to renew the visa and eventually I had to move to the UK where they welcomed me as they were still in the EU. Long story short, I'm a British Citizen living in the UK now, but still. As to what happened to those military camps, some of them are still there, but ever since they started the demilitarization, there are less and less people there and they closed the radio station. Eventually, no one will be left and there will just be empty camps around the world...
In fact, a sane and truthful comment, only one!!! In a sea of lies and propaganda such as this video is.
Interesting story, and hopefully you are correct in your prediction.
Americans don't do stupid things, so it has sense.
@@luigipetrosino7831bella battuta , mi piace il tuo sarcasmo 😂😂😂😂😂
@@itadrummer1 Gli USA hanno commesso moltissimi crimini di guerra, solo che i propri non possono essere raccontati, perché sostanzialmente sono i nostri padroni, mentre quelli dei suoi nemici...
"The fez-wearing italian man" almost choked
Same. 😂
just like The fez-wearing italian man
I appreciate you including the old canadian flag usually when most channels talk about ww2 we get left out... thank you
Please God make THE FEZ WEARING ITALIAN MAN a meme for the channel where appropriate, that was bloody iconic 😂😂😂😂
The FWIM!
First, Italy was always a curious case. It usually a horrible military yet fighting in Italy was more difficult than France (despite it's a lot more mountainous). Another Irony is that they were one of the few countries to apologize to their former colonies (ahem Britain and France, we're waiting). Still hoped the German parts of South Tyrol were returned to Austria but again bad allied judgment for fear of communism.
No you weren’t.
@@dedrinzypool1209 what?
I mean it was also occupied by the Nazis in 1943-1944, which was part of the reason it was so difficult.
When Italy switched, Germany essentially took them over and kept fighting
?
@@vincedibona4687 Jessie what the fuck are you talking about?
Roosevelts sits "because he wants to"
I dont see it commented on much, but these newspaper gags are always hilarious and deserve more recognition.
The Italian people made it more straight forward for the post war settlement, by disposing of their former Axis leader, in a convenient petrol station I believe. They also had plenty of people fighting with the Allies in the last couple of years of the war, unlike Germany and Japan.
...only to pretend nothing really happened.
The lack of an italian nuremberg is the reason there are politicians claiming italian colonialism in africa was so good (minus the pillaging, reprisal, apartheid, sexual slavery and gas attacks I guess)
He was disposed of in an alley then showed off in a petrol station, but still
What happened to the body Is tipically Italian: It turned into a commedy were It was Stolen, recovered, hidden by the secret service, Stolen again, the brain removed for study, a mess.
And nowdays you can visit his burial site, i've been there Is... Strange.
You are brainwashed by propaganda. Italy has been occupied since then by hundreds of US military bases and its intelligence and military respond to Washigton over Rome since 1945. What the fuck are you talking about!?
The main Northern cities were already freed by partisans when the Allies came from the South
Fez Boy and his mistress were caught and "dealt with" by partisan forces at the gate of a villa in a village near Lake Como. The carcasses were then hauled to Milan to be "put on display", first by dumping them on the ground in a piazza (quite deliberately chosen as it was the site were 15 partisans were executed then their bodies put on display) near Stazione Centrale, then hung from the above mentioned petrol station's canopy. The local inhabitants were able to express their "condolences" to the recently deceased. They were generally quite enthusiastic in that expression.
0:46 "The fez-wearing Italian man" - Dumbledore said calmly
Your videos are amazing man, you teach me more in 3 minutes that my school teachers managed in hour long history lessons!
0:46 The man, is absolutely terrifying
Fun fact, when Italy was disarmed, some or their Air Force planes were given to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), a chivalric order from the Crusades that governed the islands of Malta, Camino and Gozo from the 1500s until the French kicked them out in the 1790s. After a while, the SMOM relocated to Rome in the 1800s and remained there. The SMOM still works closely with the Italian Armed Forces today.
"Italy was just... well... Italy" that's the most accurate way you describe my country XD
I can never get over how accurate a video made out of squares is. All the items of the era are always perfectly accurate.
why cant everything in life be like your videos, short, simple, straightforward and animated.
Thank you for another good one. It's a question I simply never heard asked before.
Noticed the references in the newspaper to “Man in the High Castle” and California’s crazy housing prices.
Also, $14 in 1942?! That’s like a months rent then!
It’s because James Bisonette would occupy it himself
I'm pretty sure he did
"nah" incoming
Nah
I only come to the comments of HM vids to find the James Bisonette joke tbh
Don't forget about Kelly Money-maker
Honestly I had to rewind more than once because I kept laughing so damned hard at the Fez wearing Italian man. Had me in stitches so it did ha ha!! Love your videos, always fascinating and informative, bringing up interesting questions that I’ve never thought to ask even as a history buff with the question-asking capacity of a very annoying small child myself. That and you’re damned good craic yourself! Fantastic video as always!
You should do a video on what happens to embassy personnel when their countries go to war.
“Deprived of its colonial territories”
-with the exception of the former Italian Somaliland, which from 1947 became a UN Trust Territory under Italian administration.
The Italians actually did quite a good job as regards improving the infrastructure and general well-being of the territory after WW2.
Good to know.
I saw another comment that said that somalia and eritrea wanted to be ruled by italy again
@@Dourkanthey were the only two colonies in history to ask for its coloniser back
@@Boretheory imagine hating the Ethiopians that much that you want your colonial overlords back
@@BoretheoryWhat about Hong Kong? They also want the British back.
I again enjoyed another one of your episodes. And every episode. You have a great voice and an excellent tone in your dry British humor. I would like to have a pint with you sometime
It'd be great to see a video on Italy's role in the cold war and OP Gladio
Loved the U.S. Soldier armed with a flamethrower at 3:02. The U.S.-Japan fighting in the Pacific was to the death, and flamethrowers were a valuable weapon in the hands of people like Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Hershel "Woody" Williams, who only recently passed away at age 98. It takes a special person to go into battle with a tank full of flammable liquids on your back.
The reason it was to the deáth was also because of the fłame thrøwer. Japanese would often fight to the death precisely because the US soldiers would kíll Japanese soldiers that were trying to surrender. So the Japanese learned to fight to the very end from that tactic of kílling men that were surrendering.
@@GhostSalWell the practice of U.S soldiers killing Japanese soldiers trying to surrender started because many Japanese soldiers would fake surrender.
Both practices were bad regardless of who started it.
@@GhostSal Why isn't this hard to believe at all? Lol
That's exaclty how I picture US soldiers in the pacific after Pearl Harbor
@@GhostSal "Killing Japanese that were trying to surrender" happened because the Japanese would often pretend to be surrendering, then pull out a grenade and try to kill themselves along with their captors. Japanese wounded would also attempt to kill American medics trying to help them. The Japanese would also booby trap their dead and wounded, don't try to portray the Japanese as victims.
@@richardstephens5570 I’m not saying atrocitíes didn’t happen on both sides, they absolutely did. However, consideríng the prøpaganda of the time depicting Japanese people as subhuman and the general feeling of wanting revenge for very real attack on Pearl Harbor… is it really that hard to believe?
1:38 "with some weird neutral zone"
Didnt expect anyone else to know about The Man in the High Castle.
A few ideas:
Why did Ethiopia become Christian?
How did the Netherlands become a global power?
What was China’s roll in WW2?
Why was Thailand not colonized?
How did Liberia stay free?
How did the Ottoman Empire treat its Christian population?
Love the vids ❤
Liberia stayed free because America wanted a port there. Since that was and the congo was only thing they wanted and the fact the congo was handed over to a monarch during the American civil war, American politician were pissed. Given the fact America had some of the first ironclads the European colonial empires didn't want push their luck with a neutral trading partner.
The trick with Liberia is that it was actually an American colony that declared independence in 1847. The American government treated Liberia as a sort of informal protectorate after that and deterred European governments from going for it during the Scramble.
Ethiopia was also Jewish, not just Christian.
A lot of Ethiopian Jews emigrated to 🇮🇱, where unfortunately they get treated as second-class citizens.
Ottoman Empire massacred and genocided the Christians, and also forced them to pay blood tax or devshirme.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104that's in beta isreal which is in amhara
It did help that many Italians welcomed the Allies in Sicily and in Rome as liberators rather than enemies, and that *the fez-wearing Italian man* was ultimately captured and killed by Italians themselves.
Thus giving the image of a population that was largely on the Allied side. Whether that image was fully honest, is a complicated matter.
The population was clearly divided, but you seem not to understand that twenty years of dictatorial propaganda, starting from the schools, bear fruit necessarely.
@@giorgiodifrancesco4590 yeah, I agree with that.
As an American of Italian descent, I found this video quite informative! Now, I know some of the reasons why Italy was not placed under an occupation administration: the Allies couldn't spare the resources, President Roosevelt needed the Italian-American vote, and in any case, Italy wasn't seen as a great threat to the major Allies. Thanks for the information!
Also, that nickname ("the fez-wearing Italian man") is quite funny!
Besides loosing its colonies, Italy also lost the Istrian peninsula with important cities like Pola and Fiume.
@@FlagAnthemZadar was always Croatian, but Italians tried to Italianize the dalmatian coast and failed. Take this L bozo 😂
Istra is majority Croatian 🇭🇷 now, keep crying 😂😂😂
@@FlagAnthem He only paid Trieste for it and the loyalty of the only place somewhat close to Austrian rule, Slovenia. He wouldn't have liked it at all.
Italy also lost piran and copper to slovenia
@@dontsearchdocumentingreali9621the contrary, dalmatian coast was well romanised when the slavs came in 600AD. Then it was a gradually process of assimiliation, look at Republic of Ragusa (Dubronovik today). Native romance language died while venetian colonisers became the majority of tomance speakers. Austria-Hungary had an anti italian policy and that was basically the end for italians in Dalmatia. Istria on the other hand remained 40-50% italian. After ww2 italians were expelled
I love the delivery of “the Fez wearing Italian man”
Seeing this on a Sunday morning after spending way too much last night, was a delight. Love the quality of your videos. Keep it up, you brought me back from the dead this morning. And a burger. Love from Norway
The "Fez-wearing Italian man" is the new *"The Austrian Painter"*
And What about Hideko Tojo?
The Original Victim of The Bald Head Slap.
Seriously. While Tojo was in court, someone sitting behind him "slapped" the back of his head.
he has a combination of eyebrows, glasses, nose, and mustache very similar to the classic disguise. in fact when I type disguise my phone recommends this face which looks exactly like him: 🥸
“THE BALD-HEADED MUSTACHIOED MAN.”
I suspect that too many descriptions of Tojo will also draw the baleful gaze of the Eye of SaurTube as any description of Tojo's features would be too close to the stereotypes of Japanese people, as can be seen in allied propaganda of the WWII period.
Another factor to be considered was the issue of Italy's sense of loyalty to the NATION rather than the individual. Unlike Germany's "oath of loyalty" to AH, and Japan's "divine Emperor", Italy's population was more focused upon the loyalty to the country as a primary factor. And with a "stable government" in power, there was far less chance of a "resistance" to the changes that took place after surrendering.
With Germany, there was always the risk of an "attempt to reform" the former political system. In Japan, it was a matter of "who will step up to restore the Emperor" mentality to consider. As such, a strong "occupational presence" (display of force) was needed to discourage any "attempt to resurrect the old ways".
Mr Fez man actually encouraged having the oath to the nation thing seeing himself as expendable to the greater cause of fascism.
@@emberfist8347 I feel like Italian fascism wasn't as crazy as its offshoots.
But was there ever really a “stable government” in Italy after World War II? As I recall, they were going through about a new Prime Minister per year. And (unfortunately) it took someone like Berlusconi to break that trend.
@@_blank-_they weren't antisemitic either. The biggest mistake the Italian fascists made was trying to conquer other countries and then siding with the Nazis.
@@_blank-_ nazism and whatever japan weren't so much offshoots as parrallel ideologies that borrowed a little from Fascismo and had a lot of their own. But yeah, whilst Italian fascism was extremely bad, I wouldn't say it worse than Stalinism or most communist movement more generally, and it's imperialism wasn't really worse than the British or French either.
@2:00 by then, Rooselevelt didn't want much because of a mild case of the dead.
you must have meant Truman
Guys, after watching a few of these videos, I'm starting to suspect Britain after WWII was a tad broke
Britain got very little out of winning World War ll except more problems than Germany had losing World War ll.
You just found that out just now?, Sadly Britain's time as top was over at the end of the second world war.
@@ChrisCrossClashsadly? Thank frigging god it was
Just a wee bit, yes
James Bissonette took a little break after all the lend-lease.
Allies: You are going to militarily disarm. You cannot have anymore tanks.
Italy: Pfew, oh thank god. We were worried you were going to go hard on us.
Allies: You also cannot have an aviation industry.
Italy: We thought you were going to punish us. Why are you rewarding us for defeat?
Allies: And you must fire all your generals and put them on trial.
Italy: Yes! Finally, someone is saying what we are all thinking. Criminally negligent, indeed!
Allies: Also you will admit that New York style pizza is superior.
Italy: *NEVER SURRENDER, NEVER RETREAT!*
Allies:i mean neopolitan! We totally not say the new york style is great
Italy:oh okay
@@British_studios566
After the encounter...
Britain and France: YOU IDIOT! Why did you mention your stupid version of pizza!?
United States: Uhhh... ummm... Oops, gotta beat Japan, guys! (runs)
Great video! I enjoy the scholarship that goes into them, and the tone and running gags make it even more enjoyable!
Fun fact: once the "Fez wearing Italian man" was dismissed in July 43, the king appointed Marshall Pietro Badoglio as PM. Badoglio negotiated the armistice and stayed in office for 1 year roughly. Badoglio is a very controversial figure in Italian history for a variety of reasons, spanning his role in the tragic Caporetto defeat and retreat (1917), the war crimes committed in Ethiopia by the Italian army and then the support to the "Fez-wearing Italian man" 's regime until his downfall.
Lmao I saw your tweet about how just saying "Mussolini" gets you in trouble
There's a twitter page?
@itsmeblank4028 yes, it's how I knew the video was being delayed so he could replace Mussolini with Fez man
This channel is fantastic at patching up my historical blind spots. It’s basically duct tape for my brain.
I appreciate the side-stepping of comedically saying "The fez-wearing Italian man," to avoid mentioning him by name, immensely. I had to stop the video to get all the giggles out before watching more, then you did it again! 🤣
I hate the fact that you will get demonetized for recapping actual history.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Can we not censor history?
Weird hearing "fez wearing Italian man" several times then changing back to "Mussolini" at 1:24
I will never not enjoy this channel. Keep doing what you do man, it is working great!
It probably didn’t hurt that nobody really opposed Mussolini’s model before WWII and would’ve likely left him alone had he not joined the Axis (which he almost avoided).
yeah he was an opportunist at heart, he believed that hitler would carry the war (in a sense he did) and italy would get free territories without much of a fight. too bad that hitler wanted to use the italians as cannon fodder and they themselves were beaten up by their costly war in ethiopia just a year prior.
Yeah UK acted so though against Italy during the aftermath but we forget how Mussolini had a good reputation in Churchill's eye due to his ability to kill and imprison socialists during the 1920s
We can praise all we want but the "free word" never had a problem with dictators that were useful tools against the insurgent movements from the red biennium
Eexcept for the people his regime oppressed.
@@valentintapata2268 Like the Mafia?
@@carlbates9110 No like the Slovenes, Croats, Albanians, Greeks, Montenegrians, Libyans, Ethiopians, Eritreans, communists, democrats,...
"So, in summation, the European Allies didn't occupy Italy after it capitulated in WWII for one very simply reason: they couldn't."
And because many of the FWIM’s friends were anti-communist, another thing they shared with the FWIM and his friend with a funny mustache up north who’s friends also ended up helping the Allies! But it’s fine, they’re the good guys now! UwU
I like your sprint docs to refresh my memory. I need that at my age.
2:18 This character himself looks kind of like Harry Potter
Another thing to consider is that differently from Germany and Japan, Italy got rid of its dictator by itself in 1943, and from then on the kingdom cooperated with the Allies against the nazis and the Italian Social Republic up until the final defeat of Hitler and Mussolini in 1945.
If the new Italian government had provided soldiers to fight the Nazis in the d day invasion…. They would have very likely never been penalized territory wise as they were post war!!!!
Yep, the Italian government, military and people were no way anywhere near as insanely fanatical to fascism as Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. Wouldn't even want to imagine if Italy never surrendered like Germany and Japan, incredible historic cities like Rome, Milan and Naples could have been utterly destroyed like so many German and Japanese cities.
Nice that you depict every American GI here carrying an M1 Carbine, The weapon did actually first saw action in Sicily and the Italian campaign is often overlooked but still had important battles such as Monte Cassino and the push towards the Gothic line in the northern part of the country.
Me, an Italian, when foreigners who are not historians talk about my country in WW2:
-Aaw shiet, here we go again
Me when I saw this video:
-Thank god a Briton said this.
And thank you kindly sir for being so efficient, professional and dry on every video you make.
It should be a standard attitude for historians.
Sadly it’s not. Many “history enjoyers”, or straight up young historians, are often driven by politics…
Like that bald guy with the fez who thought we should have taken Albania back to recreate the Roman Empire (when nobody was asking for it)
Albania is kinda nice, but it doesn't need to be Italian.
@@normanclatcher We have sufficient sea and mountains in Italy. We do not need more stony ground (moreover, to be infrastructured).
@tomg7877...taken Albania back it is not a correct historical phrase...(Albania has never been Italy) instead the Roman Empire was not composed only of the territory of present-day Albania and Italy....
@@giorgiodifrancesco4590 historical facts say the opposite of what you say...and you don't even need to go too far back in time because because In 1920 Italy and Albania went to war...(Vlora War )..where the Albanians were already fighting against the plans of France, Great Britain, and Russia to divide Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece.
@@lagjescuni5482 Friend, you're talking about 1920. Then, the Italian government wanted the Italian protectorate over Albania, but what they don't make you study (because you continue to be nationalists) is that the Italian people didn't want it at all (just as they don't want it today). While the Italian garrison of Valona was being attacked by your armed forces, the Italian Bersaglieri stationed in Ancona rebelled against our government and refused to go to Albania. I hope they also tell you that your army was so inconsistent that it could not even seriously attack an isolated garrison without reinforcements, which repulsed four of your assault attempts.
It's worth mentioning that the italian government was still disappointed that they had to pay reparation.
the reason is that since they surrender so early (the switch side is just an historical meme, it was a surrender) and collaborated for almost 2 years they hoped that they could go from being responsible for the war to being seen as collaborator.
That didn't happen but as mentioned few years later a bunch of sanctions were dropped anyway since the USSR was seen as more important.
It's not a meme. Mussolini came to power constitutionally, but it was not through a democratic election. Italians were largely opposed to fighting alongside the Germans, and to entering the war all together. To call Italy's fight against Germany a "meme" is greatly disrespectful to those who served to free their country.
@@mikesiciliano210I think by "meme" he was referring to the popular but grossly oversimplified/inaccurate idea that Italy switched sides during the war, not anything about the fight against Germany itself.
@@mikesiciliano210 I'm sorry who? I think you mean FEZ-WEARING ITALIAN MAN
I think the meme is because the Italy position on First World War
@@jephesoj31 Yeah that's what i meant.
The "Italy switched side in both WW" is a historical meme that is fun but is also 100% wrong.
1:38 I just noticed the reference to The Man in the High Castle in that newspaper. Love it.
1:26 you said it now prepare to die.
He didn’t say a *fez wearing Italian man*
1:52 is a hoi4 reference for sure.
How?
Short video but supppperr informational and straight to the point. Great job.
Fun fact- the US initially wanted to occupy France as a belligerent but De Gaul said 'Non' and they decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
It's also because of political pressure from the UK. America also wanted to take away France's colonies in Indochina, and such, but the UK argued that a stronger France would be best for NATO.
The Americans wanted an election in France and not for De Gaulle to walz in like he owned the place and take over in 44
@@cynicat74 I thought both FDR and Churchill hated Charles de Gaulle, that's surprisingly supportive from the British
@@_blank-_ FDR hated the European empires in general.
@@_blank-_ Churchill didn't like De Gaulle, but he also supported him from the start when the USA recognised Vichy, because they understood he was better than a german fascist puppet, even if he was very annoying
0:29 Not sure if the person on the left is meant to represent a member of the King's African Rifles or the Ethiopian Arbegnoch, but either way I love the detail as Black and Brown contributions to victory in WWII can often be overlooked.
Think he’s meant to represent Brazil, who helped the Allies push into Italy.
Greetings from Brazil. You speak very, very fast. It's so difficult to a person who doesn't have English as first language, to understand the entire video. Thanks for your job.
Italy wasn't occupied because there was already a government sympathetic to the Allies that was de facto ruling the country while the Fez wearing Italian man was up in the North defying the De Facto rule of the government of Victor Emmanuel
0:56 AH YES... welcome to HypocriteTube where you cant say the names of Monsters like "Failed Inbred Austrian Artist" and "Fez wearing italian Man" but you can say the names of other monsters like Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and others!!
Let’s now call Stalin “That Russian dude with a strange mustache”
He was Georgian@@luisshorts.
I never even considered this. thanks for the info!
“The fez wearing Italian man” a bit aggressive
The Allies: Do you have anything to say regarding your action during WWII?
Italy: It's Pizza Time.
The Allies: I guess that's good enough, you're forgiven.
I love the blatant frustration in *"The Fez wearing Italian man"*.
Allies: Why did you did all those things?
Italy: To be honest, we just hate commies.
Allies:
Allies: Understandable.
The allies forgave a quasi fascist regime as Franco's (ups, I'll get demonetised) for the same very reason
@@joseluisblanco8074 Yeah the US supported so many f**ked up dictatorships/terrorist groups because commies bad.
Setting a pattern which was to continue through the entire Cold War.
@@joseluisblanco8074 FDR's regime was fascist and was modeled after the Fez wearing Italian man's policies. Fascism is just a slightly different flavor of socialism than communism that happen to hate each other. FDR also had many communists in his government and did a lot of nasty things that supported the commies in the USSR.
That was pretty much the entire reason for the rise of the Nazis and even the crazies that ran Japan - they were absolutely terrified of the Communists taking control of their nations and went overboard in trying to stem that from happening.
Had the spread of Communism not been as swift across Russia and Eastern Europe, there is a good chance there would be no Fascism or Nazism, as these ideologies came about as a response to Soviet Communism and their fear of it
1:46 so true 😂
Great video. Straight to the point.
Funnily enough some politicians under Mussolini's Italian Social Republic began working under the 1946 Italian Republic as if they never did anything wrong, hell, Mussolini himself could've survived and put to work in the Republic as well if only it wasn't for a group of partisans executing him.
Yup, western powers worked really hard to rehabilitate fascists as long as they agreed to fight communism.
It's interesting that his family are still (minor) players in Italian politics.
@@alanpennie8013 well, a proper defascistization process like the ones in Germany or Japan (not fascist but imperial ik but you still get what I mean) never really took place in Italy so sadly it's not that surprising that there are still people reminiscing those days and letting some things, such as the current president of the Senate proudly owning various figures and items of the late dictator, slide without any fines or anything like that.
Social, not Socialist
@@coh2conscript851 my bad
Please tell us more about the Nazi occupation of northern Italy. My dad was a child at the time, and would almost get killed as a hostage twice (together with other children and their mothers), but for the partisans that surrendered and were executed instead. Yes, I grew up with plenty of anecdotes... and I'd like to understand more what was happening there. Thanks in advance!
I love how he had to censor Mussolini’s name by saying “The Fez Wearing Italian Man” and less than a minute later he just name drops Mussolini.
0:16 the only reparations Italy gave to Greece was for the various damages and the economy they did to the Dodekanese islands.For the crimes they committed to the rest of Greece like the atrocities on Larisa(masacre of Domenikos )and the atrocities on northern Greece (they participated with the Germans on pillaging and destroying villages)they never gave any reparations.
I will add the fact that in italy, after the war, there was still a great number of well-armed resistance communist fighters, so an occupation or partition of italy could have led to another civil war.
It was better to tread lightly.
Most of the partisans were happy to lay down their arms.
But there was always a chance they would take them up again.
Communism was never suppressed in Italy. Communists were able to take power (through peaceful elections) in many local governments. Not sure if they were ever part of any central government.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 yes they were, even for a fairly long time however now the comunist party isn't strong
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104Operation Gladio and CIA intervention in Italy blocked any possibility of a communist election win
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 They had large representation in the parliament throughout the first republic( 1946 -1991 circa), but they never ever obtained the majority of votes.
To be a bit more specific as regards Italy’s colonial possessions:
On the armistice with the Allies in 1943, Albania (which was very *very* technically not an Italian possession at all, but in a personal Union, ie, the King of Italy was also King of Albania) was renounced, as was Ethiopia and Montenegro-which was under Italian occupation, as were parts of Greece-the Italian occupiers being replaced with German ones.
The Salo Republic handed the Italian concession in China de facto back to China in 1944, but de facto and de jure retained authority over Rhodes and the Dodecanese.
The Italian littoral, Libya, Eritrea, and Somaliland were de jure renounced with the Italian peace with the allies in 1947, although Somaliland was returned to Italy as a UN Trust Territory in 1949, which it remained until 1960.
The fez wearing Italian man
love your videos man
Il Ducebag. 🤣
what’s up checkmark
is this joke still funny
@@wildfire9280 *The fez wearing Italian man*
@@krisstarringHAHAHA
I was stationed in Italy for 2 years in the 3/325 82nd Airborne Divison. Italy does have US Military Airfields in Aviano and a Airborne Battalion Combat team along with an Infantry Battalion with support Artillery and other support units attached. We wore the Winged Lion of St Marco patch. That Unit is still there in Vincenza Italy as part of the Southern European Task Force...
we cannot wait to see you going, no reason to have such a strong US military presence in a sovereign country, which is supposedly also an ally. Same is for Okinawa in Japan.
@@marilson84 Italy is not a true sovereign country. it's all a fiction.
Salute to your service dude
Every once in a while one of yours cause issues around Aviano and somehow never get properly punished. We indeed are currently under occupation and not a free country.
@@marilson84 You are welcome to make us, if you think you are capable of doing so.