Romania was a more helpful ally to Nazi Germany than Italy during WWII.

I strongly disagree with some of his claims, but I will leave rebuttals for the next round. I. Comparison of Italian and Romanian military assets I.1 Naval Warfare Italy's key geographical situation was essential in order to control the Mediterranean. In 1940 Italy had the fourth largest navy in the world. Six capital ships,19 cruisers, 59 destroyers, 67 torpedo boats, and 116 submarines [1]. Italian Navy role was crucial for both the Balkans and North African campaigns. In fact Germany could not contest British control of the Mediterranean without Italian assets (Navy and bases). Italian submarines were operative in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Red, and Black seas, and even the Indian Ocean. Their success rate was similar to its German U-Boats counterpart. "Out of 173 documented attacks, Italian submarines sank 129 merchant ships totaling 668,311 tons. They also sank 13 warships totaling 24,554 tons. " [1] Italy had also one of the first elite naval assault units, the "Decima Flottiglia Mas" credited with sinking or damaging 28 ships in World War Two, including the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant and cruiser HMS York [1] On the other hand in 1941, The Royal Romanian Navy had 4 destroyers, 3 gunboats, 1 submarine and about two dozen minor vessels [12]. Notice that the destroyers were Italian warship from WWI. Romanian Navy was obsolete and completely useless for other purposes than transport. The largest Romanian warship loss of the entire war was the accidental sinking of the gunboat Lepri. The gunboat ran into a Romanian mine laid by the auxiliary mine layer Aurora near Sulina in January 1941, when hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Axis had not begun. [12] In addition by 1944 Romanian merchant navy had been completely sunk. [12] I.2 Aerial Warfare While it is true that at the beginning of the War 60% of Italian aircraft were obsolete [1], Italy produced 11508 between 1940 and 1943, among them The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero which was considered one of the best torpedo bombers manufactured during the war. Italy was also the second country to test a jet-powered aircraft, the Campini Caproni CC2 [1]. During that time frame, the RA was able to shoot down 2,522 aircraft and destroy another 398 aircraft on the ground. In the war at sea, the RA was noted for sinking 196 merchant ships and, in cooperation with the Luftwaffe, the RA was credited for sinking 100 enemy warships. [1] What about Romania ? Romania produced approx 1000 aircraft between 1939 and 1944. On June 1941 it's total force was of about 621 airplanes. Now, Romanian Airforce is credited with about 2000 air victories (most of them on the ground) during the 1941-1944 period. HOWEVER let pus this into context. Soviet airplanes were dropping like flies due to Soviet failures in the early stages of the war. In fact the USSR lost a total of 146,400 including 88,300 combat types aircrafts during the war (About 3.5 times of what the British lost) [10]. Romanian did well compared to what they had but in absolute terms 2000 soviet aircraft over 146000 is a contribution of only 1,3% Keep in mind that the Italians were fighting the British, probably one of the most advanced nation in the world in Aerial warfare (Strategically and Technologically). II. Operations II.1 Eastern Front The 8th Italian army (about 230.000 men) participated in Operation Barbarossa. Italians participated in the conquest of Eastern Ukraine and the defense of the Don. After Operation Saturn resulted in German defeat in Stalingrad, the Soviets planned to eliminate the 8th Army in Operation Little Saturn. "On December 11, 1942 the Soviet 63rd Army, backed by T-34 tanks and fighter-bombers, first attacked the weakest Italian sector. This sector was held on the right by the Ravenna and Cosseria infantry divisions. Indeed from the Soviet bridgehead at Mamon, 15 divisions—supported by at least 100 tanks—attacked the Italian Cosseria and Ravenna Divisions, and although outnumbered 9 to 1, the Italians resisted until 19 December, when ARMIR headquarters finally ordered the battered divisions to withdraw. " [8] This is an outstanding example of how Italians fought with bravery holding the line for 8 days although heavily outnumbered. III.2 North Africa Marshall Graziani should have been able to take Egypt easily and instead he lost precious time allowing the British to reorganize and strike back, I partly agree with this. However, we must consider two important things: first of all the Italians were waiting for the German to launch Operation Sealion (invasion of Britain) before engaging the British in Egypt. When Mussolini eventually understood that Germans had no intention to attack Britain, it was too late, The British (who also figured out) were already beginning to reinforce their position in North Africa. So while I agree with your numbers, initial British Forces in Egypt were about 50.000 thousands, one must realize that this was the figure for the first day of the Italian Invasion. This figure increased week after week reaching over 300.000 by 1942. When the DAK arrived and Rommel took command of the Axis forces, the Italian also sent to North Africa more modern tanks and artillery compared to what Marshall Graziani had. Furthermore average Axis forces ratio in battle Rommel won was 2 Italian divisions for every German division. Under Rommel command Italian troops did well! [1] II.3 The Balkans 680,000 565,000 850,000 430,000 62,612 We can see that German intervention in order to take over the Balkans was not superfluous at all. In fact Italy alone could not have secured the Balkans for the Axis. When the Germans took command of the operations, Italy managed to advance into Greece and Yugoslavia. Notice that after Axis victory, Italian forces occupied most of Greece until the armistice in 1943. This allowed the Germans to focus on operation Barbarossa without the risk of any further British intervention in the Balkans. [2] III. Raw Materials and Industry During the Second World War Italy was one of the world leading producers ofbauxite [4]. Bauxite is the mineral precursor of Aluminium essential in Aircraft industry. (Fig. 1937 Italy produced 9,6% of the world's bauxite, Germany only 2,3%, Romania 0,3%). Italy was also a major producer ofPyrites. A source of Sulfur for producing sulfuric acid used in many industrial processes during WWII. (Fig. 1937 Italy produced 8,6% of the world's pyrites, Germany 4,2%, Romania 0,1%) [3] On average Italy raw material production (Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Coal, Iron Ore, Bauxite etc… but excluding oil) was about 1,43% of world production (1937 figures) This figure is weak compared to Britisth Empire and US over 20%, Germany 7,7% or USSR 9,1% So If you tell me that Italy does not deserve to be considered a major power I couldn’t agree more with you! But we are not comparing Italy to major powers, we are comparing Italy and Romania. Romanian share of raw materials (oil excluded) world production was about 0,01%. [3] I already showed Italy’s superiority to Romania in both Air and Sea in part I and II. Let’s look at some numbers for some land equipment Italy produced 3368 tanks, 83000 military vehicles, 7200 pieces of artillery and 22000 mortars during the war. [5] This is not much compared to Germany, however it looks quite similar to Japanese figures and I would like you to give figures for Romania to show how exactly Romanian infantry was backed. IV. Romanian direct actions against Germany Romania declared war to Germany on August 1944, officially switching side in the conflict. 538.000 Romanian soldiers fought against the Axis. Immediate consequence is that Germany was left without the Oil from the Ploiesti oil Fields in a critical moment and that 50.000 Germans stationed in Romania were taken prisoners and surrendered to the Soviets). Romanian inflicted great losses to the German and their Hungarian allies in the Battles of Turda and Paulis And heavily supported the Red Army in their final struggle against the Wehrmacht. [6] When Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, Italian army was disbanded and did not fought on either side. German were able to organize a new fascist Italian army in Northern Italy of about 200.000 men which fought with the Nazi. Germans also seized most of Italian military equipment without any resistance. [11] V. Conclusion On absolute terms Italian contribution to the total Axis war effort was superior than Romanian. The fact that Italy underperformed when compared to its full potential is irrelevant. Romania may have been more efficient compared to its size. However if the German had to choose between Italy and Romania absolute data and results still show that Italy was worth much more ! In addition Romanian army had not enough Aircrafts or vehicles to fight on its own, they mainly served as cannon fodder and used in a similar way troops were used in WW1. SOURCES: [1] . http://www.historynet.com... [2] . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] . http://ww2-weapons.com... [4] . http://www.agienergia.it... IN ITALIAN [5] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [6] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [7] . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://fr.wikipedia.org... [8] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [9]. http://ww2-weapons.com... [10] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [11]. http://en.wikipedia.org... [12] . http://en.wikipedia.org...