Fallen Eagles

<p>The Italian Army developed a sound and unique combined arms doctrine for mechanized warfare in 1938. This new doctrine was called the War of Rapid Decision. It involved the use of mechanized warfare in the Italian version of the blitzkrieg. This doctrine evolved from the lessons learned in the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935 to 1936 and the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. With Italy's entry into World War II military operations ensued along the Libyan-Egyptian border between the Italian 10th Army and a much smaller British 7th Army. The Italian Army in Libya outnumbered the British Army in Egypt by a ratio of four to one. The setting seemed to be ideal for the employment of the War of Rapid Decisions. Moreover Marshal Rodolfo Graziani who was the commander of the Italian 10th Army in North Africa during its first campaign in the western desert had pioneered this new form of mechanized warfare during the Ethiopian War. Surprisingly the Italian forces in Libya did not employ their new doctrine reverting instead to more conventional techniques of mass. It was Graziani's failure to utilize the doctrine which he had helped to develop that led to Italy's embarrassing defeat in 1941.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>