I thought that on today’s date, when informed of Mussolini’s declaration, Churchill commented something to the effect of “It’s only fair the Nazis have to fight with Italy in this war; we had them in the last one.” However, I can’t seem to locate the quote. Perhaps apocryphal.
It seems all of Germany’s allies were “5th wheels” with the possible exception of the Finns. The Germans were notoriously poor at drafting teammates.
I can easily see Churchill making that statement, though the only sites I can find that have that quote are not necessarily reliable sources (ie. theneweditor.com archive). I did find one of my favorite quotes from him while I was looking.
Lady Astor: Sir, if I was married to you, I would serve you poison in your wine.
Winston Churchill: Madam if I was married to you, I would drink it.
I think you are right in that all of Germany’s allies were not reliable. Honestly, I would have to throw Finland in that lot too. Not because they were not effective fighters. They have more than shown their metal earlier this year. But they lacked the commitment to go beyond the areas they had lost to Russia in the Winter War. They never made a concentrated stab at taking Leningrad for example, which they could easily have done and likely with success. They were uneasy allies to the Germans, really just throwing in with the “superpower” in their region that appeared to be getting the upper hand.
They would continue this type of political attitude after the war is over. Finland will align itself with the Soviets not out of ideology, but to prevent raising the ire of the bear next door. They even coined a term for countries that shifted political spectrum like this, it’s called Finlandization.