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Italy enters World War II....
Italy enters World War II....
Item # 582998
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June 10, 1940
FITCHBURG SENTINEL, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, June 10, 1940
* Italy enters World War II - WWII (1st report)
* Benito Mussolini joins Adolph Hitler
This 12 page newspaper has a fantastic banner headline on the front page proclaiming: "MUSSOLINI DECLARES WAR" with banner subheads, smaller subheads and a great photo of Mussolini with a angry look (see photos). A absolutely great issue for display here.
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. A few small binding holes along the spine, otherwise in nice condition.
wikipedia notes: On 10 June 1940, as the French government fled to Bordeaux before the German invasion, declaring Paris an open city, Mussolini felt the conflict would soon end and declared war on Britain and France. As he said to the Army's Chief-of-Staff, Marshal Badoglio:
I only need a few thousand dead so that I can sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought.
Mussolini had the immediate war aim of expanding the Italian colonies in North Africa by taking land from the British and French colonies.
Of Italy's declaration of war, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, said:
On this tenth day of June 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
