Italian-occupied France (; ) was an area of south-eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
occupied by the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
between 1940 and 1943 in parallel to the
German occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
. The occupation had two phases, divided by
Case Anton
Case Anton (german: link=no, Fall Anton) was the military occupation of France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942. It marked the end of the Vichy regime as a nominally-independent state and the disbanding of its army (the severel ...
in November 1942 in which the Italian zone expanded significantly. Italian forces retreated from France in September 1943 in the aftermath of the
fall of the Fascist regime in Italy
The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as 25 Luglio ( it, Venticinque Luglio, ; "25 July"), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and sum ...
, and German
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
forces occupied the abandoned areas until the
Liberation
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
(
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...
, 1944).
Italian occupation
The initial Italian occupation of France territory occurred in June 1940; it was then expanded in November 1942.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-6268-06A, Frankreich, Italienische Offiziere und Soldaten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101II-MW-6268-06A%2C_Frankreich%2C_Italienische_Offiziere_und_Soldaten.jpg)
The German offensive against the Low Countries and France began on 10 May and by the middle of May German forces were on French soil. By the start of June,
British forces were evacuating from the pocket in Northern France. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war against the French and British. Ten days later,
the Italian army invaded France. On 24 June 1940, after the
Fall of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
, Italy and France signed the
Franco-Italian Armistice
The Franco-Italian Armistice, or Armistice of Villa Incisa, signed on 24 June 1940, in effect from 25 June, ended the brief Italian invasion of France during the Second World War.
On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France while the latter wa ...
, two days after the
cessation of hostilities between France and Germany, agreeing upon an Italian zone of occupation.
This initial zone of occupation annexed officially to the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
was and contained 28,500 inhabitants.
[Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt. ''Germany and the Second World War – Volume 2: Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe'', pg. 311] The largest town contained within the initial Italian zone of occupation was
Menton
Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border.
Me ...
. The main city inside the "demilitarized zone" of from the former border with the Italian
Alpine Wall
The Alpine Wall (''Vallo Alpino'') was an Italian system of fortifications along the of Italy's northern frontier. Built in the years leading up to World War II at the direction of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the defensive line faced Franc ...
was
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
.
In November 1942, in conjunction with ''
Case Anton
Case Anton (german: link=no, Fall Anton) was the military occupation of France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942. It marked the end of the Vichy regime as a nominally-independent state and the disbanding of its army (the severel ...
'', the German occupation of most of
Vichy France
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
, the
Royal Italian Army
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
(''Regio Esercito'') expanded its occupation zone. Italian forces took control of
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
and all of
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
up to the river
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
, with the island of
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
(claimed by the
Italian irredentists). Nice and Corsica were to be annexed to Italy (as had happened in 1940 with Menton), in order to fulfil the aspirations of Italian irredentists (including local groups such as the
Nizzardo Italians and the
Corsican Italians
Italian irredentism in Corsica was a cultural and historical movement promoted by Italians and by Corsican people, people from Corsica who identified themselves as part of Italy rather than France, and promoted the Italy, Italian annexation of th ...
). But this was not completed because of the
Italian armistice
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...
in September 1943 when the Germans took over the Italian occupation zones.
The area of southeast France actually occupied by the Italians has been disputed. A study of the postal history of the region has cast new light on the part of France controlled by the Italians and the Germans (Trapnell, 2014). By studying mail that had been censored by the occupying power, this study showed that the Italians occupied the eastern part up to a "line" joining Toulon - Gap - Grenoble - Chambéry - Annecy - Geneva. Places occupied by the Italians west of this were few or transitory.
Characteristics
The Italian Army of occupation in southern France in November 1942 was made up of four infantry divisions with 136,000 soldiers and 6,000 officers, while in Corsica there were 66,000 soldiers with 3,000 officers. There was virtually no
guerrilla war against the Italians in France until summer 1943. The Vichy regime that controlled southern France was friendly toward Italy, seeking concessions of the sort Germany would never make in its occupation zone.
Refuge
Many thousands of Jews moved to the Italian zone of occupation to escape
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
in
Vichy France
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
. Nearly 80% of the remaining 300,000 French Jews took refuge there after November 1942. The book
Robert O. Paxton's ''Vichy France, Old Guard, New Order'' describes how the Italian zone acted as a refuge for Jews fleeing persecution in Vichy France during the occupation.
The Italian Jewish banker
Angelo Donati
Cavalier Angelo Donati (3 February 1885 – 30 December 1960) was a Jewish Italian banker and philanthropist, and a diplomat of the San Marino Republic in Paris.
Biography
Donati was born in Modena. Himself a Jew he was famous for saving Je ...
had an important role in convincing the Italian civil and military authorities to protect the Jews from French persecution.
In January 1943 the Italians refused to cooperate with the Nazis in rounding up the Jews living in the occupied zone of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
under their control and in March prevented the Nazis from deporting Jews in their zone. German foreign minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945.
Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...
complained to Mussolini that "Italian military circles... lack a proper understanding of the Jewish question."
[Italy and the Jews – Timeline by Elizabeth D. Malissa](_blank)
/ref>
However, when the Italians signed the armistice with the Allies, German troops invaded the former Italian zone on 8 September 1943 and initiated brutal raids. Alois Brunner
Alois Brunner (8 April 1912 – December 2001) was an Austrian (SS) SS-Hauptsturmführer who played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust through rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, Macedonia, France, ...
, the SS official for Jewish affairs, was placed at the head of units formed to search out Jews. Within five months, 5,000 Jews were caught and deported.
Bordeaux
In August 1940, the Italian Royal Navy
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...
(''Regia Marina'') established a submarine base at Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, outside Italian-occupied France.
Operating from ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' ("BETASOM") as it was known, thirty-two Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...
. These submarines sank 109 Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
merchant ships (593,864 tons) and 18 warships (20,000 tons) up to September 1943. Eleven of these submarines were lost.
Italian territorial claims
In addition to Nice/Nizza and Corsica, the Italians projected further territorial claims for the defeated France. In 1940, the Italian Armistice Commission During World War II, the Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia ("Italian Armistice Commission with France") or CIAF was a temporary civil and military body charged with implementing the Franco-Italian armistice of 24 June 1940 and harmon ...
(''Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia'', CIAF) produced two detailed plans concerning the future of the occupied French territories. Plan 'A' presented an Italian military occupation all the way to the river Rhone, in which France would maintain its territorial integrity except for Corsica and Nizza. Plan 'B', proposed by senator Francesco Salata
Francesco Salata (17 September 1876 – 10 March 1944) was an Italian senator, politician, journalist, historian and writer. Salata was an irredentist, although he had a more legalistic approach than other contemporaries, as well as being more l ...
, the director of a section of the ISPI
The Institute for International Political Studies – ISPI (full official name in Italian language, Italian Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale), founded in 1934, is the oldest Italian think tank specialised in international affair ...
dedicated to Italian territorial claims, encompassed the Italian annexation of the Alpes Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...
(including the Principality of Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria ...
) and parts of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...
, Hautes Alpes
Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...
and Savoie
Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...
. The territory would be administered as the new Italian region
The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...
of ''Alpi Occidentali'' with the town of Briançon
Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...
(Italian: ''Brianzone'') acting as the provincial capital.
In popular fiction
* The 1961 French film ''Léon Morin, Priest
''Léon Morin, Priest'' (french: Léon Morin, prêtre) is a 1961 French drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. It was adapted by Melville from Béatrix Beck's novel '' The Passionate Heart'' (French: ''Léon Morin, prêtre''), which won the ...
'' includes scenes of Alpini and Bersaglieri occupying a French alpine town. There is also a reference to the Italians fighting the Germans in the town after the Italian armistice with the Allies. Director Jean-Pierre Melville, who belonged to the Resistance, called Beatrix Beck’s autobiographical novel “the most accurate picture I have read of life under the Occupation.”
* The 1973 autobiographical novel '' A Bag of Marbles'' and subsequent film adaptations feature scenes of Jewish life under Italian occupation.
* 1994 novel '' Wandering Star'' (''Etoile errante'') by French-language author J. M. G. Le Clézio
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (; 13 April 1940), usually identified as J. M. G. Le Clézio, of French and Mauritian nationality, is a writer and professor. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot for his novel '' Le ...
revolves around a Jewish girl named Esther in Italian-occupied South-East France during WWII.
* The BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', set in WW2 occupied France, portrays a fictitious Italian army officer Captain Bertorelli, in addition to German
officers.
* Ghetti, Walter. ''Storia della Marina Italiana nella seconda guerra mondiale''. (Volume secondo). De Vecchi editore. Roma, 2001
* Rainero, R. ''Mussolini e Petain. Storia dei rapporti tra l'Italia e la Francia di Vichy. (10 giugno 1940-8 settembre 1943)'', Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito-Ufficio Storico, Roma, 1990
* Rochat, Giorgio. ''Le guerre italiane 1935–1943. Dall'impero d'Etiopia alla disfatta'' Einaudi editore. Torino, 2002
* Schipsi, Domenico. ''L'occupazione Italiana dei territori metropolitani francesi (1940–1943)'', Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito-Ufficio Storico, Roma, 2007
* Sica, Emanuele ''Mussolini's Army In the French Riviera, the Italian occupation of France'', University of Illinois Press, 2016
* Varley, Karine. "Between Vichy France and Fascist Italy: Redefining Identity and the Enemy in Corsica during the Second World War", ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 47:3 (2012), 505–27.
* Varley, Karine. "Vichy and the Complexities of Collaborating with Fascist Italy: French Policy and Perceptions between June 1940 and March 1942." ''Modern & Contemporary France'' 21.3 (2013): 317–333.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Occupation Of France During World War Ii