Military history of Italy during World War II

Imperial ambitions

In 1922, Italy's liberal democracy gave way to the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. Although Italy was one of the victor nations in World War I, Mussolini's National Fascist Party felt a sense of grievance towards Britain and France on the issue of territorial gains from the conflict.^[1] The Fascists, whose paramilitary arm was known as the Blackshirts, also laid claim to parts of France, such as Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica and Savoie, as well as Malta in the British Commonwealth.^[2]

Mussolini had ambitions to build "a new Roman Empire", according to Gooch, that spanned the Mediterranean, Africa and the Balkans. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, whose army was mostly irregular troops with obsolete weapons. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, Mussolini gave considerable aid, including air and ground forces, to Francisco Franco's Nationalists, seizing on an opportunity to install a right-wing dictatorship and potential ally.^[3]

However, the expense of those conflicts eroded the finances of Mussolini's state, leaving it in a weak position to face another world war.^[4]

Drawing closer to Germany

The Italo-German protocol of 23 October 1936 saw Germany recognise Italy's conquest of Ethiopia and Mussolini accept Hitler's designs on Austria. The treaty opened a path to closer co-operation.^[5]

During the negotiation of the Munich Agreement in September 1938, Mussolini backed Hitler, showing Fascist Italy was siding with the Third Reich. On 7 April 1939, weeks after Hitler broke the Munich Agreement and occupied Bohemia and Moravia, Italian forces invaded Albania.^[6]

On 22 May 1939, Italy and Germany signed the Pact of Steel in Berlin, joining both countries in a military alliance designed for a "joint war against France and Britain".^[7][8]

Military and Industrial Strength

In 1940, Mussolini's military was understrength and of mixed quality compared to other great powers. The Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) at the outbreak of the war had 3,269 aircraft, but 55% were considered to be combat ineffective. Of the 542 fully operational fighters in June 1940, 70% were obsolescent biplanes, such as the Fiat CR.42 Falco.^[9] The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) had several modern battleships and heavy cruisers, but no aircraft carriers.^[10]

The Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) suffered shortages of much of the equipment that had become commonplace in other armies. Some infantry divisions were unmotorised, others were classed as 'auto transportable' but in reality were only partly motorised.^[11] Because it had been assumed the army would often fight in mountainous regions, many tanks were small in order to traverse narrow bridges.^[12] The bulk of the army's equipment was obsolescent and a re-organisation in 1938 had cut the number of regiments in an infantry division leaving them weakened.^[13] Across the services, training was neglected and many personnel had to learn their skills while in the frontline.^[14]

Compared to the other great powers, Italy had a less industrialised and more agrarian economy.^[15] Italy and Great Britain had similar sized populations in 1940 – 43.8 million for Italy, 47.5 million for Britain. However, in that year British industry manufactured 15,000 aircraft, 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) and 13 million tonnes of steel; compared to 2,100 aircraft, 250 AFVs and 2.1 million tonnes of steel for Italy. Many essential commodities had to be imported, and Italy relied heavily on Germany for coal and Romania for oil. Around 27% of the country's merchant ships were in Allied ports when Mussolini declared war in June 1940, and were immediately impounded.^[16]

Non-belligerent status

Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the beginning of World War II. However, Italy initially declared itself a non-belligerent, as it was not ready for war and needed time for further re-arming. In December 1939, the Under-Secretary for War Production, Carlo Favagrossa, submitted estimates to Mussolini that suggested the armed forces might not be fully equipped and ready for a major war until 1945.^[17]

Mussolini, while accepting Italy needed more time to re-arm, was dissatisfied with the country's non-belligerent status and wanted a way into the war – on 2 September 1939, Count Ciano, the Italian foreign minister and Mussolini's son-in-law, wrote in his diary: "The Duce is convinced of the need to remain neutral, but he is not at all happy. Whenever he can he reverts to the possibility of our action."^[18]

Italy enters the war

The exact timing of Italy's entry into the war was greatly influenced by political opportunism, coming at a time when Britain and France were in full retreat during the Battle of France. Mussolini wanted a seat at the peace conference table to make territorial gains, and told the heads of the armed forces on 29 May 1940, he feared if Italy entered the war after Anglo-French resistance had collapsed, the Germans would take the view that Italy had only joined in "when the job was done", and thus would be reluctant to share the spoils with the Italians. The deteriorating situation for the Allies in late May and early June persuaded Mussolini to join the conflict, even though the military were not ready.^[19]

On 10 June 1940, as the French government fled Paris for Bordeaux, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. The Duce famously told the Chief of the Military General Staff, Marshal Badoglio, "I only need a few thousand dead so that I can sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought".^[20]

Invasion of France and the occupation

Despite the 10 June 1940 declaration of war, the Italian offensive into southern France only began on 21 June, and quickly stalled, having encountered stronger-than-expected resistance. Italian casualties totalled just over 6,000 (a third of whom were troops hospitalised with frostbite), compared to less than 500 casualties for the French. Italy gained just a small occupation zone. According to historian John Keegan, "Italy played an ignominious and Johnny-come-lately part" in the Battle of France.^[21]

The Italian Navy established an Atlantic submarine base, BETASOM, at Bordeaux in the German occupation zone, and a total of 32 submarines operated from there between October 1940 and September 1943 – compared to the 863 German U-boats that fought in the Battle of the Atlantic. Initially, BETASOM got off to a disappointing start, but their combat record steadily improved, and the fleet went on to sink an estimated 571,815 Gross Register Tonnage of Allied shipping.^[22]

In November 1942, the Italian army occupied south-eastern Vichy France and Corsica as part of Case Anton.^[23]

Invasion of Egypt and Operation Compass

Within a week of Italy's declaration of war on 10 June 1940, the British 11th Hussars had seized Fort Capuzzo in Libya. On 28 June, Marshal Italo Balbo, the Governor-General of Libya, was killed by friendly fire. Mussolini ordered Balbo's replacement, General Rodolfo Graziani, to launch an attack into Egypt. Graziani reported that his forces were not properly equipped, but Mussolini still ordered him to proceed. On 13 September, elements of the 10th Army retook Fort Capuzzo and crossed the border into Egypt. Lightly opposed, they advanced 80 km (50 miles) to Sidi Barrani, then halted and built a series of fortified camps.^[24]

The Italians had 200,000 soldiers in Libya, while the British had 63,000 in Egypt.^[25] However, neither side could commit their full strength to the front at Sidi Barrani. Libya had only been pacified in 1932, so garrisons were needed around the country to prevent uprisings, plus guard the border with Vichy French Tunisia. The British had to consider the other Italian threat in East Africa, plus internal security in Egypt and Palestine. Graziani committed four infantry divisions (two Italian, two Libyan) and a mobile group (which included tanks) to the Egyptian invasion. Two more Italian infantry divisions followed later. They were opposed by Western Desert Force, commanded by General Richard O'Connor, consisting of two British Commonwealth divisions – one armoured and one infantry – totalling 36,000 men. This force was fully mechanised and contained heavily armoured Matilda II tanks.^[26]

With the invasion at a halt, the Commander-in-Chief of British Middle East Command, General Wavell, ordered O'Connor to plan an attack that took "every advantage of the element of surprise".^[27] On 8 December 1940, Operation Compass began, which saw Western Desert Force overrun the forts at Sidi Barrani, sending the Italians into a full retreat. The Italian anti-tank guns were ineffective against the Matilda II tanks, which inflicted heavy losses. The British reached Beda Fomm on 6 February 1941, enveloping 10th Army, which surrendered the following day. The British took 130,000 prisoners, including 22 generals and an admiral.^[28]

Western Desert Force pushed on to El Agheila. O'Connor wanted to take the rest of Libya, but with his troops exhausted, supply lines stretched and British attention now shifting towards Greece, Wavell ordered a halt.^[29]

Operation Sonnenblume, Tobruk and Operation Crusader

The very day that Wavell ordered British Commonwealth forces in Libya switch to the defensive at El Agheila, the German General Erwin Rommel arrived in Tripoli.^[29] The Axis had begun rebuilding its forces in North Africa by sending the German Afrika Korps or DAK, plus six Italian divisions. The new arrivals included the motorised Trieste and armoured Ariete divisions, which improved the mobility and offensive power of the Italians. While in theory Rommel, as commander of the DAK divisions, reported to the Italian Governor of Libya, in practice he would steadily dominate field command and strategy for both German and Italian forces.^[30][31]

Most of the troops in the Axis army in Libya were Italian, although the DAK panzer divisions were a potent addition to this force, thanks to their modern tanks, well-developed tactics and powerful 88mm anti-tank/anti-aircraft guns. On 24 March, Rommel launched a counter-offensive, Operation Sonnenblume, with German and Italian forces (including the Ariete division) fighting in mixed formations. The bulk of the British Commonwealth army was quickly pushed back into Egypt, with 3,000 troops taken prisoner. The British garrison at the key port of Tobruk was cut off and besieged.^[32]

The failure to take the Allied enclave at Tobruk left the Axis army's supply lines over-extended and vulnerable, forcing a halt to the advance. Italian and German forces then repelled two British Commonwealth offensives to break through to Tobruk – Operation Brevity and Operation Battleaxe.^[33]

British Eighth Army launched Operation Crusader in November 1941 to relieve Tobruk. It was a close-run battle, in part because the Italian divisions performed better than they had the previous year.^[34] The Ariete armoured division fought well, notably with its defeat of an attack by the British 22nd Armoured Brigade on Bir el Gubi on 19 November 1941; which was one of a number of setbacks for the British during the opening phase of the battle.^[35]

Despite heavy losses and several reverses, the British stayed resolute and continued to press home their attack, wearing down the Axis forces. The Battalion Group Giovani Fascisti, reinforced by German tanks, repelled another British attack on Bir el Gubi on 4 to 6 December, but this spirited defence made no difference to the outcome of the wider battle, with Rommel ordering a general retreat on 6 December.^[36] Operation Crusader ended with a major Allied victory, with Tobruk relieved and the Axis frontline pushed back once more to El Agheila by the end of the year – reversing all Rommel's gains in 1941.^[37]

Gazala, El Alamein and Tunisia

In the aftermath of Operation Crusader, the Italians reinforced their army in Libya, with the arrival of the Littorio armoured division. Based on lessons learnt in 1941, the armoured divisions were re-organised and re-equipped, adding more artillery and anti-tank guns. They also received two weapons, albeit in small numbers, that would increase their effectiveness against Allied armour. These were the Cannone da 90/53, a powerful anti-tank/anti-aircraft gun, and the Semovente da 75/18 assault gun with its 75mm gun.^[38]

In January 1942, Axis forces advanced to Gazala where the front line stabilised. The British established a number of fortified positions, known as 'boxes', but some were placed too far apart to support each other. On 26 May 1942, the Battle of Gazala began with Italian infantry divisions assaulting the British boxes to the north as a diversion, while the DAK divisions and the armoured Ariete and motorised Trieste divisions performed a wide flanking movement to the south; during which Ariete destroyed the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. Having flanked the British boxes, DAK plus Ariete established a defensive position deep behind the Allied lines, known as 'The Cauldron', where Ariete helped repel British attacks, until a link up with the Italian infantry occurred. Rommel then launched an attack from the Cauldron towards the coast, which forced the British to evacuate their boxes to avoid encirclement. Tobruk fell to the Axis on 21 June.^[39]

However, at the First Battle of El Alamein, in Egypt, the Allies halted the Axis advance towards Alexandria. During the battle the Italians suffered heavy losses, and some units were demonstrating signs of fatigue. Also, extended supply lines caused the army to suffer shortages of food, ammunition and fuel.^[40]

The Axis forces made a final attempt to break through during the Battle of Alam el Halfa, but the Eighth Army held firm. The battle saw the Axis field 447 medium tanks (244 were Italian) against 700 British tanks – Axis intelligence had wrongly estimated the two sides were at parity in tank numbers. Also, the British had seen a change of command, with Sir Harold Alexander now C-in-C Middle East and Bernard Montgomery as Eighth Army commander. Most of the losses in the battle for the Italians were taken by XX Corps, which was the most mechanized Italian Corps in Egypt.^[41]

Lacking the fuel, troops and equipment to launch another attack, Rommel began fortifying his line ready for the expected Allied offensive. Meanwhile, Montgomery built up overwhelming superiority in numbers, with Eighth Army troops receiving training and new weapons, including over 250 M4 Sherman tanks. The Second Battle of El Alamein began on 23 October 1942 with a heavy Allied bombardment, initiating a battle of attrition which would see Axis forces gradually eroded.^[42]

On 4 November, with his frontline collapsing, Rommel ordered a retreat, just as most of the Ariete and Littorio armoured divisions, and the Trieste Motorised infantry division, after heavy fighting, were encircled and destroyed. The Bologna and Trento infantry divisions were overrun on 4 November as they tried to disengage from the attackers – with Trento fighting until it ran out of ammunition. On 6 November, the Folgore division of Italian paratroopers, having fought with tenacity at El Alamein, was destroyed during the retreat. The remnants of Rommel's forces conducted a fighting retreat to Tunisia.^[43]

After the Operation Torch landings in the Vichy French territories of Morocco and Algeria in November 1942, the German-Italian forces in Tunisia faced Allied troops to the west, raising the prospect of being pincered when Montgomery’s army arrived at the Mareth Line. By February 1943, the Axis army in Tunisia were joined by Rommel's forces, which were re-designated the Italian First Army (under Giovanni Messe) when Rommel left to command the Axis forces to the north at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. During that battle, the Centauro armoured division, according to Walker, “was instrumental in breaking through the US positions and in opening up the road to Thala and Tebessa”. ^[44]

In late March 1943, Messe’s army, at the end of the Battle of the Mareth Line, had to retreat having been flanked. In Rome, doubt grew on the wisdom of committing further resources to Tunisia which soon would be needed to confront an Allied invasion of Italy itself.^[45] Messe and First Army surrendered on Mussolini’s orders on 13 May bringing to an end the North African campaign.^[46]

Invasion of Greece

Mussolini was eager to follow up the conquest of Albania with further territorial expansion in the Balkans, so plans were drafted to invade Greece and Yugoslavia.^[55] The decision to attack Greece was driven by opportunism, as Rome viewed it as a soft target, being a smaller country.^[56] Also, Mussolini was spurred into action after learning in September 1940 that Hitler planned to send troops to Romania, which occurred on 8 October, expanding the Reich's sphere of influence in the Balkans. Consequently, Mussolini concluded he needed to act before the Fuhrer turned Greece and Yugoslavia into German vassals. Rome also wanted a show of Italian strength, as Hitler was working to draw Vichy France into the Axis; something the Duce feared would prevent him seizing French territories.^[57]

The Greco-Italian War began on 28 October 1940, with the Italian army in Albania advancing at a sluggish pace into the mountainous countryside of Epirus, hampered by the destruction of bridges, flooding and determined resistance from the Greek army. The offensive was halted on 7 November, the Italians having achieved limited gains.^[58]

Taking advantage of Bulgaria's decision to remain neutral to redeploy troops to the Epirus front, the Greek Commander-in-Chief, Lt Gen Alexandros Papagos, was able to establish numerical superiority. On 14 November, Papagos launched a counter-offensive that drove the Italians back over the border and turned into a Greek invasion of Albania.^[59] By late November, the weather was getting colder but winter uniforms had not been issued to Italian troops; while the army was hampered by poor communications.^[60] Mussolini’s forces were in full retreat and reinforcements had to be rushed to Albania.^[61]

A new offensive in March 1941 made little progress, in part because the Greeks knew it was coming, having found a set of orders on a captured Italian officer. Greek artillery inflicted heavy losses on the attackers.^[62]

From November 1940, British bombers (and some fighters) commenced operations from Greek bases, which raised the possibility of future air raids against Romanian oil fields (which were critical to the Nazi war effort). In March 1941, a force of British Commonwealth ground troops – consisting of two infantry divisions and an armoured brigade – began arriving on the Greek mainland, with the first elements reaching Greece on 7 March 1941, six days after Bulgaria joined the Axis. This prompted Hitler to order a German offensive against Greece and Yugoslavia (where a coup had deposed the German-friendly government).^[63]

The Germans attacked Greece on 6 April 1941, smashing through the depleted garrisons opposing them, with the Greek mainland falling to the Axis by the end of the month. The Germans completed the conquest of Greece by capturing the last bastion of resistance, the island of Crete, in May 1941.^[64]

The Greco-Italian War damaged the reputations of Mussolini and his generals. Attacking Greece had been intended to raise the prestige of Italy within the Axis, but it had the opposite effect and, along with the defeat in North Africa in winter 1940/41, had left Italy the subordinate in its alliance with Germany.^[65]

Invasion of Yugoslavia

On 6 April 1941, Germany began its simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece. Although Mussolini had contemplated invading Yugoslavia in 1940, in the 1941 invasion Germany did most of the work of breaking the Yugoslav military, with Italy and Hungary in secondary roles.^[66]

The Yugoslavs launched small incursions into Albania on 7–8 April 1941, but on 11 April, Italian forces counter-attacked and crossed into Yugoslavia. Further north, the Italian Second Army in northern Italy crossed the border on 11 April and captured Ljubljana in Slovenia. On 3 May, it was renamed 'Lubiana' and annexed, becoming an Italian province, a move which was followed by mass deportations of many ethnic Slovenes to concentration camps. Dubrovnik was captured on 17 April, where the Italian forces invading from the north linked up with those advancing from Albania.^[67]

Yugoslavia's armed forces formally surrendered on 18 April 1941 – although in reality, this marked a shift from a conventional war to a complicated, multi-factional guerrilla war that was costly for the Axis. Italy annexed Dalmatia, occupied Montenegro and added Yugoslav territory to Albania. Other regions were occupied by Bulgaria, Germany and Hungary. An Axis puppet state was created, the Independent State of Croatia, under the nominal sovereignty of Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, but actually governed by the Croatian leader Ante Pavelić, who presided over a "regime of terror".^[68]

Occupation and Anti-Partisan Operations

During the Axis occupation of Greece, Italy was given the most territory to garrison. However, occupying Greece turned into a drain on its overstretched military resources, as a major resistance uprising soon began. The comprehensive looting of Greece by the Axis occupiers caused widespread famine, which fuelled public support for the resistance. Reprisals by Italian troops for partisan attacks included burning down villages and the execution of civilians. In many rural districts Italian garrisons were eventually driven out by the resistance. Athanassiou described Italy’s army in Greece as, “unspectacular, both as an occupation and as an anti-partisan force”.^[69]

By the summer of 1941, across the former-Yugoslavia, nationalist, ideological and religious tensions were turning violent, and according to Gooch, "in every one of Italy's new Balkan fiefdoms the Italian army found itself standing on highly unstable ground".^[70] The Italian occupation forces soon found themselves facing a major uprising in Montenegro in July 1941, which was defeated, but more revolts then followed elsewhere.^[71]

The Italian military pursued a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, including summary executions, burning down villages and deportations to concentration camps. The two main guerrilla forces were the communist Yugoslav Partisans and the royalist / Serbian nationalist Chetniks. Demonstrating the extent of the bitter factionalism, at times the Chetniks collaborated with the Italians and other Axis forces and fought against the communist partisans. Several major anti-partisan offensives were launched by the Italians, sometimes working with the Germans and Croatians. These operations tended to displace the partisans from one region to another, rather than truly defeating them. The war against the partisans was also hampered by poor co-operation between the Axis armies.^[72]

Allied invasion of Sicily and fall of Mussolini

On 10 July 1943, the Allies invaded Sicily. The Axis lost the island after weeks of bitter fighting, but succeeded in ferrying large numbers of troops to the Italian mainland. On 19 July, an Allied air raid on Rome hit railways yards, a steel works and an airport, and damaged homes near the targets. Subsequently, popular support in Italy for the war collapsed.^[93]

On 25 July, the Grand Council of Fascism voted to limit Mussolini's power and handed control of the armed forces to King Victor Emmanuel III. The next day, the King dismissed Mussolini as prime minister and replaced him with Marshal Badoglio. The Duce was arrested and imprisoned.^[94]

While publicly declaring continued loyalty the Axis, the Badoglio government began secret negotiations with the Allies on an armistice.^[95]

Armistice with the Allies and German invasion

Throughout August 1943, fearful the Germans may try to rescue Mussolini, Badoglio had the deposed dictator transferred from one secret location to the next. On 3 September, an armistice was signed with the Allies in Sicily, but not made public straight away. That very day, British troops crossed the short distance from Sicily to the 'toe' of Italy in Operation Baytown, but the Badoglio government wanted an Allied landing near Rome before openly defecting, as the news would certainly spark war with Germany. Indeed, according to Goeschel, Hitler had for weeks been infiltrating German soldiers into Italy and preparing a coup to reinstall Mussolini. A landing close to Rome was considered high risk by the Allies, but further invasions at Salerno (South of Naples) and Taranto (on Italy's 'heel') were scheduled for 9 September. On 8 September, the Allies, having become tired of Rome delaying a public announcement, broadcast the news of the armistice on the radio, forcing Badoglio's hand.^[96][97][98]

The German military responded immediately by invading. Italian forces were disarmed, by force when met with resistance, and northern and central Italy was occupied, along with Italian-controlled zones in France and the Balkans.^[99]

Skirmishing on the outskirts of Rome between German Parachute and Panzer Grenadier divisions and the Italian army began on 8 September 1943. King Victor Emmanuel III and his family, with Marshal Badoglio, General Roatta (the Army Chief of Staff), and others, fled Rome on 9 September, and headed to Allied-controlled Brindisi. The sudden departure of the senior figures in the government and high command led to confusion across the armed forces, a situation worsened by vaguely worded orders. Thus any hope of a concerted and nationwide response by Italy’s military to the German invasion was effectively undermined. Italian troops in Rome made a last stand at Porta San Paolo on 10 September, then the city was surrendered.^{[100][101][102]}

As part of the terms of the armistice, the Italian fleet was to sail to Malta for internment, in some cases via Sardinia. En route, German bombers sank the Italian battleship Roma.^[103]

On Cephalonia, the 12,000-strong Acqui Division resisted German disarmament in a nine day battle ending on 22 September. Over 5,000 Italian soldiers were massacred after they had surrendered. Another 3,000 were lost when ships transporting them from the island struck mines and sank.^[104]

The armistice was followed by a British campaign to seize the Italian Islands of the Aegean. German soldiers on Rhodes on news of Italy's defection quickly secured the island. Italian forces on Kos and Leros (and other islands) declared for the Allies on the arrival of British troops. The Germans gained air superiority, then invaded Kos and Leros, defeating the British and Italians. After surrendering, 103 Italian officers on Kos were executed.^[105]

Italian troops who did not resist disarmament were given a choice to keep fighting with the Germans, and the 615,000 who refused were designated Italian military internees and were transported as forced labour to Germany, of whom 30,000 died in captivity.^[106] Some Italian troops who evaded German capture in the Balkans joined the partisans – approximately 40,000 in Yugoslavia and 20,000 in Greece.^[107]

The RSI, co-belligerence and resistance

On 12 September 1943, Mussolini was rescued from imprisonment at Gran Sasso by the Germans in Operation Eiche. Once in northern Italy, he was installed as the head of a German puppet state, the Italian Social Republic or RSI, and leader of the new Republican Fascist Party.^[102]

The Allies soon controlled most of southern Italy, assisted by a major uprising against the Germans by the people of Naples. From an Italian perspective, the conflict now resembled a civil war between Fascists who collaborated with the Germans versus pro-Allied Italian forces.^[108]

On 13 October 1943, the Kingdom of Italy formally became a co-belligerent of the Allies by declaring war on Nazi Germany. Some Italian troops in the south were re-organized into what were known as Co-belligerent or Royalist forces, although at first some among the Allies were reluctant to trust and re-arm former-enemies.^[109]

In Autumn 1943, the Co-belligerent Army raised its first combat unit, I Motorized Grouping, which in December 1943 fought at the Battle of San Pietro Infine alongside US troops, where it suffered heavy casualties but persuaded the Allies that more Italian combat units should be raised. The Co-belligerent force was expanded, becoming Corpo Italiano di Liberazione (CIL), which grew to a strength of 22,000. It served in the frontline in central Italy, "acquitting itself well" in combat according to Jowett. Further growth saw the CIL replaced by six 'Combat Groups', each consisting of two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment. They were re-equipped with British uniforms, helmets and weapons.^[110] During the Italian Campaign, 90,000 Co-belligerent soldiers fought in the frontline, while another 500,000 provided logistical and other support to Allied forces in Italy. The commander of the US Fifth Army, General Clark said of the Co-belligerent Army, “The Italian regular units took some heavy losses and fought well in the last year of the war”. Around 250,000 Italian POWs taken before the Armistice volunteered for Service Units who provided non-combatant support to Allied units in the United States, Europe, India and even as far afield as Australia.^[111]

The army of the RSI was the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano or ENR, which mostly saw action against Italian partisans, although it did at times fight the Allies. Established with those troops who had agreed to continue fighting for the Axis, it was then expanded by recruiting in the camps holding Italian military internees in Germany. Some internees joined the ENR simply to escape the poor conditions in the camps. Also deployed against the resistance was the organisation that replaced the pre-Armistice Blackshirts militia, the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana or GNR, which operated as a gendarmerie. However, as the resistance threat grew additional local militias were raised, known as the Black Brigades, to reinforce the GNR. In late 1943, a regiment of Italian Waffen-SS volunteers was formed, which by 1945 had expanded into a division, the 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian). There were also several different paratrooper units scattered across the armed services, reflecting the improvised nature of the RSI military that contained many autonomous outfits.^[112]

After the September 1943 armistice, Regia Aeronautica forces in northern and central Italy were disarmed by the Germans, and later became the pro-Axis Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. It suffered heavy losses in the face of Allied air superiority, while attempts to absorb it into the Luftwaffe hampered operations. The pro-Allied Aeronautica Co-Belligerante was cut off from the bulk of the Italian aircraft industry in northern Italy, so faced shortages of parts until eventually re-equipped with Allied aeroplanes. It was largely used in missions over the Balkans to supply and support Yugoslav and Albanian partisans.^[113]

The majority of the Regia Marina's fleet was initially interned in Malta. The two modern battleships, Italia (previously Littorio) and Vittorio Veneto, were moved to Egyptian waters and played no further part in the war. The rest of the fleet formed the Italian Co-belligerent Navy, and was employed mostly on convoy duty or transporting troops and supplies, with the older battleships used for training.^[114] The RSI's navy, the Marina Nazionale Repubblicana was comparatively small, consisting mostly of torpedo boats, MAS motorboats and midget submarines. The Commander of Decima Flottiglia MAS, Junio Valerio Borghese, rebuilt the naval special forces unit post-Armistice to fight for the Axis, operating initially under Kriegsmarine command, and often referred to as Xª MAS. It was nominally part of the RSI navy, but in practice an independent force controlled by Borghese that largely fought on land as naval infantry. Some Xª MAS infantry saw action against the Allies, from whom it earned what Jowett called a "grudging admiration", but the force was mostly deployed against partisans.^[115][116]

The other major combat force in the civil war was the large Italian resistance movement located in central and northern Italy, which fought against the German and RSI forces. The first Partisans were mostly Italian military personnel who avoided capture in the September 1943 German invasion, and began fighting a guerrilla war. They were joined by civilians, escaped Allied POWs and agents from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Special Operations Executive (SOE). While the resistance spanned anti-fascists from a wide political spectrum, as well as the apolitical, there was a preponderance of communists and socialists. In May 1944, General Alexander, commander of Allied 15th Army Group, estimated six Axis divisions in northern Italy were tied up fighting partisan groups.^[117]

The summer and autumn of 1944 saw a number of partisan republics established, which briefly operated free of Axis control, but all were over-run within weeks or months of establishment. It has been estimated that by spring 1945, around 300,000 people were fighting with the partisan forces.^[118]

Allied advance and liberation of Italy

Allied progress on the Italian mainland was slow and difficult, with the mountainous terrain, fast-flowing rivers and the narrow peninsula all favouring the defender. Axis forces were able to retreat from one fortified line to the next, the strongest south of Rome being the Winter Line, where heavy fighting took place.^[119]

As the Allied advance drew nearer to Rome, resistance activity in the city intensified. One of the biggest partisan attacks in the capital happened on Via Rasella on 23 March 1944. A company of SS Police Regiment Bozen, around 156 fully-armed military policemen, were marching down Via Rasella (at the same time they did every day) when ten kilos of dynamite hidden in a street cleaner's cart exploded. Then a dozen partisans of the Gruppo d'Azione Patriottica (Patriotic Action Group) attacked with small arms and hand grenades, leaving 33 of the SS gendarmes dead and 100 wounded. The Germans responded with the Ardeatine massacre, where 335 Italian prisoners (75 of whom were Jewish) were murdered.^[120]

Following protracted fighting at the Battle of Monte Cassino and the Battle of Anzio (where Italian Waffen-SS and some RSI troops saw action), the Allies broke through and took Rome on 4 June 1944, two days before the Normandy landings in France. At the Battle of Ancona (16 June–18 July 1944), the Co-belligerent IX Assault Unit achieved an important breakthrough at Osimo, although Ancona was for the most part a Polish victory. The Axis forces then retreated to the heavily fortified Gothic Line, where the Allied advance was again reduced to a crawl.^[121][122]

The final and total Allied victory over the Axis in Italy was secured by the spring offensive of 1945. Between 9 April and 21 April, the Co-belligerent army’s Combat Group Friuli and the partisans were part of a multinational Allied force that fought the Battle of Bologna, liberating the city alongside British, Gurkha, Polish and South African troops – with the Polish first into the city, greeted by partisans.^[123] On 25 April, the umbrella organisation for the partisan groups in the north, the National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy, declared a general insurrection, and as a result several important cities were liberated by resistance fighters before Allied troops arrived, including Genoa, Milan and Turin.^[124] Consequently, 25 April is now a national holiday in Italy. Mussolini was captured and killed on 28 April 1945 by partisans while attempting to flee. The surrender of Axis forces in Italy occurred on 2 May, shortly before Germany finally surrendered ending World War II in Europe on 8 May.^[125]

Casualties and Aftermath

Estimates^[126] based on government data suggest the following military losses (killed and missing) for Italy in World War II (1940–1945):

• Total military dead and missing from 1940 to 1945: 291,376.^[127]
  • Losses prior to the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943: 204,074.^[128]
  • The worst year for killed and missing was 1943: 106,994.^[129]

The 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy spelled the end of the Italian colonial empire, saw the Dodecanese Islands handed over to Greece and border territories ceded to France and Yugoslavia. Italy also paid war reparations to Albania, Ethiopia, Greece, the USSR and Yugoslavia. The National Fascist Party and the Republican Fascist Party are banned in Italy. In the 1946 Italian constitutional referendum, the monarchy was abolished, in part due to public anger at the King and establishment figures for fleeing Rome in September 1943 as German troops converged on the city.^[130]

The Kingdom of Italy's Co-belligerent status meant that senior Fascists and military leaders did not face an Allied war crimes tribunal (where the judges came from Allied nations), as occurred in Germany and Japan, and instead were tried before Italian courts. In June 1946, the Italian government announced the Togliatti amnesty, which pardoned or reduced sentences for many war criminals below senior level.^[131]

The Myth of Italiani brava gente

In the post-war decades, a popular narrative emerged in Italy known as Italiani brava gente (Italians, the good people), which presented Italy's soldiers as having acted with humanity during World War II, in contrast to the brutality of many other Axis servicemen. The narrative distanced Italy from Axis war crimes, and drew attention to incidents of some Jews being protected from the Holocaust. However, historians now view Italiani brava gente as a myth based on selective use of evidence and distortions of the truth.^[132]

Prior to the September 1943 German invasion, the Italian Jewish community had faced legalised discrimination, but Italy refused to deport Jews to the Third Reich.^[133] There were also examples of the Italian army opposing deportations of Jews from their occupied zones in France and the Balkans. However, it has been suggested the army officers involved were chiefly acting to defend Italian prestige by thwarting German attempts to interfere in their occupation areas. Goeschel wrote, "These [Italian] officials also believed their refusal to hand over the Jews to the Nazis would stand them in good stead with the Allies, who, they thought, were going to win the war". The Italian 8th Army in the Soviet Union did handover Jews to the SS. Moreover, Italy carried out many war crimes in the Balkans. ^{[134][132][135]}

In the aftermath of the German invasion in 1943, the SS, aided by RSI officials and local informants, rounded up and deported Italian Jews to extermination camps in eastern Europe. In November 1943, the Republican Fascists at a congress in Verona declared Italian Jews were foreign enemies.^[136]

Historiographical legacy and perceptions

The destruction of the Italian 10th Army by a significantly smaller British force during Operation Compass left a lasting impression that shaped public attitudes in Britain and its Commonwealth long after the war ended, promoting a popular culture stereotype of an Italian soldier who quickly surrendered.^[137] Many histories of the North African campaign written in the immediate decades after the Second World War over-emphasised the role of Erwin Rommel, and downplayed the Italian contribution.^[138]

While there is no disputing Italy suffered several heavy defeats in World War II, in recent decades it has become more common for historians to present the Italian soldier as someone who was plunged into bad situations, with obsolescent equipment and inadequate logistics; and certainly not as lacking personal courage.^[139] Ian Walker has drawn attention to the important role played by Italian armoured divisions during the North African campaign. The majority of the troops in Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika were Italians.^[140] The Alpini and Bersaglieri fought with distinction throughout the war, drawing respect from enemies and allies.^[141][142] Gerhard Weinberg said in a lecture on myths of World War II that "there is far too much denigration of the performance of Italy's forces during the conflict".^[85]