Mussolini announces that Italy is at war from the small balcony of the Palazzo Venezia on 10 June 1940. Mussolini appears in public at 18:00 on 10 June 1940 and declares war on Great Britain and France. Hostilities begin at midnight.

ROMA, ITALY - JUNE 10, 1940: Mussolini announces that Italy is at war from the small balcony of the Palazzo Venezia on 10 June 1940. Mussolini appears in public at 18:00 on 10 June 1940 and declares war on Great Britain and France. Hostilities begin at midnight.