Italy's recent history is one strung with an impressive sequence of victories and defeats. The minor partner in the European Axis, Italy entered the war playing second fiddle to Germany and performing disastrously in the Balkans - only to win an incredible victory in Egypt. Italy soon found itself ruling over an overstretched empire and a divided nation, the country only managing to counterbalance those strains with its newly acquired oil reserves. Under the guidance of Ciano, fascism seems to be fading away, but even that could be an illusion. Furthermore, many in the country fear that Italy may fall from the ranks of the world powers just as quickly as it rose