In 1939, Hitler launched a war of aggression against Poland, and World War II broke out. The Germans quickly swept through Europe with a lightning offensive, and almost all of Europe fell into German hands. The World War reconstructed the structure of power in the bloodiest way, and at the same time almost changed the fate of most people, the Italian general Pietro Lopez, who had fought in the First World War. Badolio also experienced the ups and downs of his life during this great war. From disobedient loyalty to Mussolini to working with the Allies, he performed a tragicomedy of fate.
The Germans marched straight into Western Europe, the French army was defeated, the defeat was decided, And Mussolini took advantage of the fire and robbery to declare war on France. On the one hand, Badolio sympathized with the French, and on the other hand, he believed that Italy was not strong enough and opposed entering the war. However, due to Mussolini's monopoly of power and his insistence on starting a war, Bardolio chose to obey and personally drew up an Italian battle plan. On the issue of invading Greece, Gbadolio and Mussolini were again at odds with each other, and he knew the readiness of The Italian military and believed that Italy was far from being prepared for war. He repeatedly told Mussolini's son-in-law, Ciano, to persuade Mussolini to refrain from invading Greece.
Mussolini was furious after hearing this, claiming that if Badolio resigned, he immediately accepted it, and the person who would be willing to be the chief of the general staff was there. Badolio did not really want to give up this powerful position, so he softened and asked Mussolini to give him four months to prepare for the invasion of Greece.
But Mussolini did not agree, and Badolio demanded only a limited air raid on Greece, Mussolini also refused, insisting on launching a full-scale attack on Greece, and Bardolio once again chose to obey. But in this controversy, a rift arose between Bardolio and Mussolini.
On October 28, 1940, Mussolini concentrated 87,000 troops, 686 cannons, 163 tanks and 380 aircraft on the pretext that Greece had undermined neutrality and helped Britain. The Italians began to quickly break through the Greek border line, forcing the Greek army to retreat more than 50 kilometers.
However, the Greeks, with the help of the British, soon launched a counterattack, and the Italian army was completely defeated. The failure to invade Greece made Mussolini both humiliated and angry, and made Badolio a scapegoat. Mussolini dismissed Bardolio from his post as Chief of the General Staff of the Italian Army on the grounds that "Bardolio resigned due to health and age".
After Badolio was dismissed, he was not willing to withdraw from the political arena, and still closely watched the development of the situation and waited for an opportunity to make a comeback. On July 14, 1943, the United States and Britain launched an attack on Sicily, annihilating 160,000 German and Italian troops, sounding the death knell of the demise of the fascist alliance. The Italian king, the royal family and generals, and the fascist leaders who opposed Mussolini decided to stage a coup d'état that ousted Mussolini from power and defected to the American and British camps. This situation created favorable conditions for Badolio's comeback.
Badolio was ordered to form a military government. He believed that the government's immediate priority was to withdraw Italy from the war as soon as possible, especially from the Axis camp. On the one hand, he claimed to continue the war and that foreign policy would remain unchanged in order to avoid German retaliation against Italy. He assured Hitler: "We will continue this war in a spirit of unity!" On the other hand, he made secret contacts with the British and American sides, sought a way out of the war, and surrendered to the Allies on the condition of joining the Allies. On 3 September, Italy accepted the allied offers and joined the Allies.
Badolio declared an armistice with the Allies, but Hitler was aware of it, and the Germans immediately carried out the "Axis Plan", besieging Rome, occupying central and northern Italy, and freeing the trapped Mussolini. Bardolio and members of the cabinet and royal family fled hastily by submarine to the western Port of Bollinger in southern Italy under Allied occupation, formed an anti-fascist government and declared war on Germany, and Italy became a participant in the anti-fascist alliance.