World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAn Italo-German naval conference had originally been planned for Dec 1940, but but British successes against the Italian Navy necessitated postponements. The Merano Conference finally took place at Merano in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of far northern Italy, close to the border of German-occupied Austria, between 13 and 14 Feb 1941. The German delegation was led by Grand Admiral Erich Reader; Counter Admrial Kurt Frike and Captain Kurt Aschmann were its other members; the Italian delegation was led by Admiral Arturo Riccardi; Counter Admiral Raffaele de Courten, Counter Admiral Emilio Brenta, and Counter Admiral Carlo Giartosio were its other members. In this meeting, the participants discussed the interception of Allied shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, the elimination of the British fleet based in Gibraltar and Egypt, the conquest of Malta, the supply route between Italy and Libya, operations in the Aegean Sea, the potential usefulness of using Greek islands as forward naval and air bases, and the poor Italian fuel situation. As the list of topics would suggest, although not immediately perceived as so at the start, the Merano Conference marked the beginning of Italy losing her ability to make her own strategic decisions, allowing Germany to eventually dictate Italian policy.

Merano Conference Timeline

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