Franco-Italian Agreement signed today, 7th Jan 1935.

I had never heard of this.
Seems that 4 years before war broke out, France’s Foreign Minister, Pierre Laval, thought he could contain  Germany by building a number of alliances against it.
Italy signed this one, because France allowed them concessions, all in  Africa. They said they would not bother them over the war in Abyssinia and adjusted French Somaliland’s border so enlarging Italian Eritrea. They also changed the status of Italians living in Tunisia.
All was for nought, as Fascist Italy joined Nazi Germany 31 days after the successful beginnings to Germany’s Plan Gelb, the invasion of France and the Low Countries, on 10th May 1940.
Wiki says the border changes caused problems during and after the war.

Hi Garg. I think it shows the lengths France would go to go avoid another war.
Did Laval really think that Mussolini would not side with Hitler?
Seems very naive.
I wonder how differently things would have gone if France had seriously prepared for war and not tried to avert it, or hide behind fortifications that only covered part of the front Line.
Their tanks were superior to German ones and if those 4 Armoured Divisions had been 8 instead and their commanders made of sterner stuff what sort of counterattack could the Germans have expected?
Something like the Italians ran into when they crossed the border maybe!

Funny you mention that.
I was going to post about another Finnish victory today in 39.
They make good reading.
Thought I had overdone the Russo-Finnish war of late, so went with Italy instead.
Can you make good use of them in the 39 game? I do want to buy it, but never get to play the regular games, so seems a waste to buy it.

I have a hex based Corps level  board game called Barbarossa,  which I bought in 90 and I love it, but do not play now. It has all Germany’s allies in it and Finland are the best units. They cannot go further than 4 hexes from their border, as that was the historical situation, so they are not much use except in capturing Leningrad.
The other Satellite nations are a joke and best left in Urban areas or in the marsh for defence.
Historically, things would have been so different if the UK and France had supported Finland in 39/40. Stalin was allowed a free hand.

Hi Worsham. I am not sure how prepared the UK were, but the French should have attacked, even in a limited manner. Hitler feared they would.
Politically, he would have been in a mess if Germany had been entered.
Would have been the first time since 35 that he had been challenged. I am not saying his Generals would have revolted, but it would have shaken the myth of his invincibility and solid political decision making.

Thanks Empireman. That is excellent!
Is Google run by an A&A enthusiast?
Seems we are not the only ones to think  badly of France’s military prowess.