These two scenarios were clearly difficult to bring about in Italy. The Italian people obviously did not want their standard of living to decline, and Benito was no traditional politician either. Even if Benito wanted to force Italy into a "sweatshop" model, it would mean the Italian Labor Party might rise again and overthrow Benito's regime.
The Soviet Union was still exporting its revolution abroad, so if Germany and Italy made such a mistake, the Soviets would probably laugh themselves awake in their dreams.
It could be said that the existence of the Soviet Union had put all the capitalist nations of this era over a fire. They had to be cautious in how they treated the lower classes of their own countries, especially the workers.
This, in turn, forced capitalist countries to "evolve" toward the welfare-state model of the future. Yet from what Ernst knew from his previous life, that model clearly would not work either—or rather, it could only be effective for a short time.
Of course, society had always developed through twists and turns, spiraling upward. That was the great tide of history.
In short, Italy had far fewer development options than the other great powers. If it wanted to take a shortcut, war was instead the only path the Italian government could see with the lowest risk at present.
And if Italy wanted to expand abroad, the Mediterranean Sea was the only direction with any real feasibility.
At this moment, the interests in the Mediterranean Sea and along the Mediterranean coast happened to be mainly held by Britain and France, so Benito naturally hoped that the Axis powers would come into conflict with Britain and France.
Germany was the core of the Axis powers. If Germany attacked the Soviet Union first, what benefits could Italy possibly