Although Ciano was also corrupt, for Italy, he was considered the best official among his colleagues.
In fact, from the moment Germany annexed Austria, Ciano realized the danger that Reinhardt's war intentions brought to Italy and the possibility of another world war.
Therefore, Ciano also negotiated with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop many times on the issue of avoiding war.
However, since Reinhard had already made a decision and determined that neither Britain, France nor the Soviet Union would live in peace with Germany, Ciano's attempts to avoid war with Ribbentrop were of no avail.
From that time on, Ciano became convinced that Reinhard "wanted to drag Mussolini to bear the risks of war with him."
At that time, Ciano proposed the famous "hegemony plan" for Mussolini, and even during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang proposed the "Longzhong Pair" feeling.
While he was trying to dissuade Mussolini from prematurely participating in wars proposed by the Germans, such as the Battle of Poland and the beginning of the French Campaign, it was actually Ciano who was trying to get Mussolini to join the war.
On the other hand, Ciano actively cooperated with Mussolini to occupy and annex weak neighboring countries to strengthen Italy's military power.
In fact, Ciano has secretly sent a large number of spies to countries such as Greece, and has been secretly bribing some government officials of these small countries. He is ready to annex them at any time.
Ciano saw it more clearly than Mussolini. He knew that if Italy wanted to dominate, it must not take the route of competing for the center of the European continent. On the contrary, to restore the glory of the Roman Empire, it could also be achieved by packing up some simple small countries.
As long as Italy takes over the European and African lands along the Mediterranean Sea and turns the Mediterranean Sea into Italy's inner lake and becomes the hegemon of the Mediterranean Sea, it will only achieve hegemony.
To this end, Ciano cooperated with Mussolini in arranging the armed occupation of Albania. Then he wisely used a combination of favor and power to consolidate Italian rule in Albania, and cleverly used Albanian elections to award the Albanian crown to Albania.
King Vittorio Emmanuel III of Italy, thus essentially completing Italy's annexation of Albania.
Of course, this was also a back-up move by Ciano.
Perhaps, it was not clear at the time, but now, the effect of this move is particularly obvious!
On the surface, Ciano's move was to use the call of the king's name to consolidate Italy's annexation of Albania. But in fact, it also invisibly consolidated the status of King Vittorio Emmanuel III of Italy.
Because the current King of Italy is not only the King of Italy, but also serves as the new King of Albania.
Therefore, even if Mussolini wanted to abolish the king, he would have to weigh the consequences of doing so. With Mussolini's strong conquest of territory**, he would never allow Albania to lose its king again.
And fell into chaos and even broke away from Italy to a certain extent.
Therefore, Vittorio Emmanuel III also understood that Ciano was actually his benefactor.
Now that Ciano met the king, he was sure that the king would not embarrass his great benefactor, and would at least give him a favor. What's more, replacing the increasingly domineering Mussolini would also be a good thing for the king.
, in line with his interests.
Of course, Ciano's methods and territory don't stop there.
During the period when he and Mussolini were of the same mind, Ciano made positive suggestions for Mussolini in a planned way, causing Mussolini to accept his suggestions, make personnel adjustments in various government departments, and replace a large number of party and government officials.
VIPs.
Doing so undoubtedly consolidated Mussolini's dictatorship and strengthened his rule.
But on the other hand, it was not easy for the bureaucrats who were striving for success to meet Mussolini directly. During those days, they mostly flocked to Ciano and used various channels to contact the third person beside Mussolini.
A counselor seeks the high position he longs for.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to consolidate Mussolini's rule, Ciano also directly bought a large number of people's hearts and minds, and for a time he became powerful and reached the pinnacle of his political career.
Even the mixed cabinet that Mussolini was most proud of was secretly called the "Ciano Cabinet" by many Italian officials.
These preparations cannot be accomplished overnight. In other words, as early as the beginning, Ciano has been leaving himself with backup options and paving the way.
In a sense, he was a better planner than Mussolini.
Naturally, Mussolini was Italy's apparent leader, but Ciano was more like a shepherd.
He was in a secondary position and regarded himself as Mussolini's subordinate and son-in-law, but in fact, he influenced most of Italy's political decisions and was a key figure hiding in the shadows.
Because what Ciano did was fundamentally in line with Mussolini's interests, Ciano and Mussolini often represented the same kind of thinking at the top level in Italy, and ordinary officials would not understand it at all.
Make detailed distinctions.
"What Ciano said is what Mussolini meant." This is the inertial thinking of most Italian politicians.
But thinking about it on the other hand, Ciano was just using Mussolini's name to do what he wanted to do.
Yes, he consolidated and expanded the power of Italian fascism for Mussolini. But he was not all for Mussolini. To a certain extent, he was also for the country of Italy.
Nowadays, Ciano has increasingly felt that his differences with Mussolini are widening. And as foreign minister, he feels the treachery of Reinhardt in Germany's fate more than anyone else in Italy!
On the surface, Reinhard "sincerely" complimented the Italian leader's new Roman Empire plan, and encouraged Italy and the British to fight to contain the British Mediterranean fleet for Germany, thus reducing the pressure on the German navy when landing on the British mainland.
When Italy lost in Africa, the German army sent reinforcements from just two divisions in batches, and it also came with the condition of requisitioning 2 Italian infantry divisions and 1 armored division!
This abacus is better than a thief!
How could Ciano, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, fail to see the deception and tactics of the Germans in every German-Italian transaction?
Sadly, Italian Prime Minister Mussolini was a self-righteous fool who even thought he could take advantage of the Germans.
Italy's number two figure, Deputy Prime Minister Rossi, was an out-and-out pro-German faction. During Mussolini's hospitalization, he frequently deepened his cooperation with the Germans.
As a result, Ciano felt more and more that in Italy, the only one who really had the ability to influence the situation and change the status quo was him, the shadow "shepherd".
