Corpo Truppe Volontarie - Aftermath

Aftermath

On 1 April 1939, the success of the Nationalists meant that the Italians now had a friendly regime in the western Mediterranean. But they acquired this friend at a high cost in both men and materials. Of the approximate 78,500 men sent to Spain, 3,819 were killed and about 12,000 were wounded. The Italian military left behind roughly 3,400 machine guns, 1,400 mortars, 1,800 artillery pieces, 6,800 vehicles, 160 tanks, and 760 aircraft. But, while the military equipment represented a loss to Italy's war inventory, most of the equipment was obsolete. The financial cost of the war was more debilitating. The cost of the CTV to Italy amounted to between 6 and 8.5 billion lire. At 14 to 20 percent of annual expenditure, this represented an immense drain on the Italian economy. The high cost of Mussolini's Spanish adventure severely handicapped Italy in the period leading up to World War II.