And I ended up being forced to admit that the Italians played a rather more important role than I had thought at first. People think of them as an unreliable partner switching sides at the last minute and all that, but they don't think of the horribly bloody battles Italy fought against the Austro-Hungarians. The Italian army may have done little else than dying en masse, but that goes for just about every army in that war except the Americans who had the timing on their side and better tanks. And considering how long the outcome of that war was in doubt, Austria-Hungary being able to use its Italian army on either the Western or Eastern front might have had some serious consequences on the outcome of the war, who knows.

And the British may have looked down on the Italians, but that didn't stop them from trying to get Italy on their side prior to both wars.