WI: Hoare-Laval Pact goes through

It would appease Mussolini for a year or two, but eventually, he had much to gain siding with Hitler and it was much more natural. It might slow German ambitions for a couple of months, bu nothing more. Hitler could always offer him more than Western Allies could.
 
It would appease Mussolini for a year or two, but eventually, he had much to gain siding with Hitler and it was much more natural. It might slow German ambitions for a couple of months, bu nothing more. Hitler could always offer him more than Western Allies could.

But Mussolini HATED Hitler for being too right wing (Mussolini saw Fascism as a Third Way between traditional left and right politics) and to antisemitic (he had Jewish friends and saw everyone who was loyal to the state/Fascist cause as a valuable citizen, regardless of ethnicity/faith) and it was the isolation after the leaking of Hoare-Laval that he had to turn to Hitler since there was no-one else to turn to when it came to future expansion.

If Hoare-Laval went through Mussolini maybe would try to gain more at the Horn of Africa, as well as Albania (just like OTL) and influence in Greece and Yugoslavia (maybe with some border adjustments in Italy's favour and a partition of Yugoslavia if the conditions are right). Also making Austria a direct Italian satellite might happen (either before the Anschluss OR after a Nazi defeat since WW2 won't be butterflied away).
 
H-L Pact mean no sanctions and a short war, good for italian economy in general and the political reapprochment with Germany started by the increasing of economic tie due to the LoN sanction will be gone, sure still can happen but it will be more difficult and the Anshluss will be more difficult.
Internally Benny will get less prestige for the Ethiopian war as is not a total victory so at the moment of decide to enter the war he can't dismiss all the people who tell him how bad this idea is, at least this can delay any decision enough that Mussolini understand that the UK will not surrender.
 
So, if Italy ends up in the Allies come *WWII, provided it still breaks out between 1939-1940 (handwavium if necessary) would there be a 'Battle of Italy' after the Battle of France? Would the Germans steamroll the Italians as easily as the French and British? One suspects mountains would wreak havoc with Blitzkrieg, but there are mountains in France, too.
 
So, if Italy ends up in the Allies come *WWII, provided it still breaks out between 1939-1940 (handwavium if necessary) would there be a 'Battle of Italy' after the Battle of France? Would the Germans steamroll the Italians as easily as the French and British? One suspects mountains would wreak havoc with Blitzkrieg, but there are mountains in France, too.

Better question: Would the Italians just sit on their asses doing nothing, or would Benito send his forces into Austria?

Even more important, WW2 might break out over the Anschluss or the Sudetenland crisis. And even if it gets as far as Poland...will that front work the same, with now having too guard two flanks instead of one?
 
Better question: Would the Italians just sit on their asses doing nothing, or would Benito send his forces into Austria?

Even more important, WW2 might break out over the Anschluss or the Sudetenland crisis. And even if it gets as far as Poland...will that front work the same, with now having too guard two flanks instead of one?

Well, with Austria they might be noisy, but certainly not send troops there in case the (rigged) plebiscite still leads to the Anschluss. Once the Sudetenland-Crisis comes around Italy can together with France block German ambitions despite appeasement politics coming from Chamberlain.

What happens then is the big question: Hitler might try to gain the Sudetenland and the remainder of Czechia by force, especially considering that he NEEDS Czech industry in order to steamroll France and Poland later on. However that might trigger a reaction from the Small Entente and France, as well as potentially Italy. And that war wouldn't be pretty, though not as much of an ass-whooping as OTL's WW2 since Germany lacks part of its military buildup as well as necessary ressources. An alternative would be a pact with the devil for Hitler, namely a real alliance with the Soviets...
 
That is a very disturbing thought...but what does Stalin stand to gain from it?

Restoration of pre-WW1 Russian borders, free hand in Turkey, stuff like that, maybe even northern Sweden. In the end it wouldn't be that much since the Nazis lack the ability (but not the ambition) to divide the world between them and their Soviet allies only to backstab them later once "the West" has been defeated (the Nazis had a similiar in OTL in regards to Japan, with whom the Nazi elite allied only reluctantly with Japan whom they considering untrustworthy and once the US had been defeated eventually they would have turned on Japan as well). So yeah, Stalin might even backstab Germany before Germany has the chance to backstab them themselves. It certainly wouldn't be a "Das Dritte Reich - Deutschland's Letzte Gelegenheit" (which has a German-Soviet alliance conquering the world, but Germany is Weimar on crack) where they will peacefully coexist once the war ends.
 
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