Italy

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Surrender and Armistice

The fall of Mussolini precipitated clamorous peace demonstrations throughout Italy. Meanwhile, the Allies continued their advance in Sicily. Churchill offered Italy the choice of breaking off its alliance with Germany or suffering destruction; General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied commander in chief, promised the Italian people an honorable peace and a benevolent occupation if they ended their aid to the German war effort. In mid-August, a representative of Prime Minister Badoglio arrived in Lisbon with an offer to join the Allies against Germany when the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland began. American and British staff officers were dispatched to negotiate with the Italian emissary on the basis of Italy’s unconditional surrender. The armistice was signed on September 8, the day the invasion of southern Italy began.

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The Battle for Italy

The announcement of the armistice set off a furious race between the Allies and the Germans for possession of the territories, bases, arms and supplies, communications, and other war facilities formerly under Italian control. A large Anglo-American amphibious force landed on the beaches of Salerno just south of Naples, hoping to drive inland and trap the German units. The Germans, however, held off the invasion force long enough to enable German units in southern Italy to withdraw. In the meantime the Germans also seized the cities and strategic centers of northern and central Italy. On September 10 they occupied Rome, from which King Victor Emmanuel III and Badoglio had fled two days earlier.

The Germans retained the support of pro-Fascist Italians by announcing in September that a Fascist National Government had been established in opposition to the Badoglio government and was functioning in the name of Mussolini. The former dictator had been rescued from prison by German parachute troops, thus foiling Badoglio’s promise to deliver him to the Allies. The Germans installed Mussolini as the leader of a new fascist state in northern Italy.

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War Declared on Germany

Prime Minister Badoglio declared war on Germany on October 13. He and the king had escaped to Bari in the south, where they established a new government. But the leaders of six political parties disbanded by Mussolini formed a National Liberation Front and demanded that Victor Emmanuel abdicate.

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In April 1944 the king withdrew from public affairs and appointed his son Humbert, later King Humbert II, as lieutenant general of Italy. When the Allied armies liberated Rome on June 4, Victor Emmanuel transferred all royal authority to Humbert. The leaders of the Committee of National Liberation refused to serve in the Badoglio government, and the position of prime minister was given to Ivanoe Bonomi, who formed a coalition government. The new government’s actions were closely controlled by American and British officials, who were opposed to anything that might impede the Allied war effort. They vetoed all proposals for social and economic change. Allied authorities were suspicious of Italian anti-Fascist volunteers and resistance fighters, most of whom were radicals, and they believed that the communists were planning a revolution. For that reason the Allies preferred to rely on the monarchy and Badoglio, despite the fact that both had been ardent supporters of Mussolini’s dictatorship.

In September and October 1943 the Germans rushed troops and equipment into Italy to secure the so-called Gustav Line south of Rome, where the Allied advance was held at Monte Cassino through the winter. Italy north of the Gustav Line became a Nazi-occupied territory, and on October 16 thousands of Jews were rounded up in the Rome ghetto and deported to Nazi death camps. Mussolini’s puppet regime was under German control. Italy by late 1943 was the scene of civil war as well as military occupation. Many Italians rallied to Mussolini in the belief that they were defending their country.

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The Liberation

The Allied troops liberated Florence in August 1944, but they were unable to pursue the retreating German armies over the Apennine mountains until the spring of 1945. The winter of 1944 to 1945 was a period of intense suffering, particularly in the ravaged areas left by the retreating Germans. Throughout the central provinces were burned villages, idle or flooded fields, and ruined factories, railroads, power plants, and bridges. Some 800,000 hectares (some 2 million acres) of arable land were uncultivated, and prices of necessities rose prohibitively. As a result of the widespread misery, Bonomi’s government was the target of political protests. Industrial stagnation, mass unemployment, and skyrocketing inflation continued to frustrate the government in its efforts to rehabilitate the national economy.

The final Allied offensive in Italy began in April 1945. After extremely heavy fighting, the collapse of Hitler’s regime forced the German armies to abandon northern Italy. While trying to escape, Mussolini, his mistress, and several of his high-ranking colleagues were captured by Italian partisans at a small town near Lake Como. They were summarily tried and, on April 28, executed. In reprisal for earlier murders carried out by the Fascists and their Nazi allies, brutal vengeance was inflicted on Mussolini’s followers after the German surrender on May 2. More than 1,000 Fascists were shot in Milan alone.

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Rise of De Gasperi

Bonomi resigned after the liberation of northern Italy. A coalition government, representing the entire Committee of National Liberation, was then formed. The new government, headed by Ferruccio Parri, leader of the Action Party, proved unable to grapple effectively with the problems confronting Italy. In October, monarchists and leaders of the Liberal Party resigned. Serious rioting took place in southern Italy against the high cost of living. The Committee of National Liberation finally offered the premiership to Alcide De Gasperi, a Christian Democrat. He took office on December 9.

The year 1946 was one of unparalleled hardship for most of the Italian people. Although the privations provoked occasional civil unrest, the general mood of the populace was apathetic during the campaign preceding the national referendum and elections for a constituent assembly in June. But in April the convention of the Christian Democratic Party voted by a ratio of 3 to 1 in favor of a republic. King Victor Emmanuel III abdicated on May 9, and his son ascended the throne as Humbert II.

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