ABSTRACT
The improvements in inter-Allied relations were occurring at the same time that those between the Axis states were significantly deteriorating. The defeat at Stalingrad had set the Axis dogs fighting amongst each another. Hitler blamed the Romanians, whose flanks Zhukov had so savagely attacked, for the disaster. Later, in a fit of repentance, he issued an order for his troops to avoid criticizing their Romanian allies, but the damage had already been done. The Italians, facing an imminent Anglo-American invasion of Sicily and the mainland, also turned on the Germans. Even the Austrians, warm enthusiasts of Anschluß in 1938, began to blame the excesses of the “Prussians” for the setbacks in Russia. The Axis was starting to unravel.
