How Britain Foiled Mussolini's Grand Naval Plans in World War II The humiliating defeat of Mussolini’s navy at the Battle of Cape Matapan was a serious blow to Axis plans in the Mediterranean. Here's What You Need to Know: The Battle of Cape Matapan was the last offensive operation of the Italian Navy in World War II. In June 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini wrestled with a dilemma. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler was the very essence of a victorious warlord. Nazi forces were sweeping through northern France, having already overrun Norway, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. These rapid conquests, added to the Germans’ previous victories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and