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Mussolini learnt about the German intentions first as did most other countries, by diplomatic reports from his ambassador in Berlin and similar sources; alarmed, in early August 1939, Mussolini sent Galeazzo Ciano for a meeting with Ribbentrop, who told him Germany intended to invade the whole of Poland, not just Danzig. Mussolini was clearly against it, ...
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SHORT ANSWER
The story isn't true. It most likely stems from an inaccurate account by the English writer A. N. Wilson. It is also possible that Wilson's version has been 'blended' with a piece of fiction by a Dutch writer, Dick Raaymakers.
There is also at least one other false 'version' of the 'Mussolini, Laurel & Hardy & bowler hat' story.
...
9
It is disputed whether Mussolini met Lenin during his time in Switzerland.
According to Joshua Muravchik in Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism, Mussolini
left Italy for Switzerland, home to many expatriates, where he lived
off friends and odd jobs, and, like so many other revolutionaries,
received the occasional subvention from his ...
4
At a very high level economic systems can be classified into 4 groups by two criteria: public or private ownership, and central or decentralized control.
Capitalism as commonly practiced in English-speaking democracies is typically private ownership with decentralized control.
Capitalism as typically practiced in European democracies has private ownership ...
3
The two planned to meet at Villa Gaggia for a few reasons:
Villia Gaggia was or had a bunker, protecting both figures from
attack
Villia Gaggia was in Belluno, far away from the front lines
Mussolini had already knew about the house and probably liked it.
The Reich had direct control over the location
"Unpublished documents confirm the hypothesis. ...
3
Mussolini's view
Mussolini had a false belief that demography had something to do with nation's powers. Seeing declining birth rates in France and Britain having one quarter of his population above 50, Mussolini believed that these empires were doomed to fall. Mussolini saw international relations as a struggle between "virile" nations with high birth ...
2
He was basically an expansionist dictator wishing to create his own independent empire around the Mediterranean (a supposed re-edition of the Roman Empire); when France and the UK protested his invasion of Ethiopia he switched sides and entered the Pact of Steel with Hitler.
Once WWII began and it became evident that France was doomed, Italy profited from ...
1
Answering the second part of your question, it is quite probable that Mussolini was against war with Poland, although I don't know what his opinion about German-Polish war was.
During the war (until 1942, IIRC) Poland and Italy were not in a state of war. This is of course officially, as Polish soldiers fought against Italians eg. in Africa (but as a part ...
1
Following the "Pact of Steel" concluded in May 1939, Germany and Italy consulted on all major European matters, so Mussolini knew about Germany's plans to invade Poland no later than August, 1939.
Italy's response was the so-called "Molybdenum List," a long list of war materials, headed by molybdenum, that Italy would require before joining Germany in a war....
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