Italian Resistance
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the fascist collaborationists of the
Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
from 1943 to 1945. As an
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
movement and organisation, ''La Resistenza'' opposed Nazi Germany, as well as Nazi Germany's Italian
puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its o ...
regime, the Italian Social Republic, which was created by the Germans following the Nazi German invasion and
military occupation Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
of Italy by the ''
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 ...
'' and the ''
Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
'' from September 1943 until April 1945 (though general underground Italian resistance and resistance groups to the Fascist Italian government began even prior to World War II). In Nazi-occupied Italy, the Italian anti-fascist resistance fighters, known as the ''partigiani'' ( partisans), fought a ''guerra di liberazione nazionale'', or a war for national liberation, against invading Nazi German forces. The anti-fascist ''partigiani'' of the Italian resistance also simultaneously participated in the Italian Civil War (8 September 1943 – 2 May 1945), in which the Resistance, a loose coalition of Italian anti-fascist parties, independent resistance fighters, and partisan brigades and militias, fought against the Italian Fascists. The modern
Italian Republic Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
was declared to be founded on the struggle of the Resistance: the
Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
was mostly composed of representatives of the parties that had given life to the Italian resistance's
National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against Nazi Germany’s forces during the German occup ...
. These former Italian resistance fighters wrote the
Constitution of Italy The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...
at the end of the war based on a compromissory synthesis of their Resistance parties' respective principles of
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
and
anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
.


Resistance by Italian armed forces


In Italy


Rome

Armed resistance to the German occupation following the
armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces 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 ...
of 3 September 1943 began with Italian regular forces: the
Italian Armed Forces The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...
and the
Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...
military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
. The period's best-known battle broke out in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
the day the armistice was announced.
Regio Esercito 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 Manfr ...
units such as the Sassari Division, the Granatieri di Sardegna, the Piave Division, the Ariete II Division, the Centauro Division, the Piacenza Division and the "Lupi di Toscana" Division (in addition to Carabinieri, infantry and coastal artillery regiments) were deployed around the city and along surrounding roads. Outnumbered German
Fallschirmjäger The ''Fallschirmjäger'' () were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander ...
and
Panzergrenadier ''Panzergrenadier'' (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning '' "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is a German term for mechanized infantry units of armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunc ...
e were initially repelled and endured losses, but slowly gained the upper hand, aided by their experience and superior
Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...
component. The defenders were hampered by the escape of
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Victor Emmanuel III The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, Marshal
Pietro Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
and their staff to
Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...
, which left the generals in charge of the city without a coordinated defence plan. This caused Allied support to be cancelled at the last minute since the Fallschirmjäger took the U.S.
82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
drop zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes. In ...
s;
Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Maxwell D. Taylor had crossed enemy lines and gone to Rome to personally supervise the operation. The absence of the Italian Centauro II Division, with its German-made tanks, contributed to the defeat of the Italian forces by the Germans. The division was composed primarily of ex-
Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Natio ...
and was not trusted. By 10 September, the Germans had penetrated downtown Rome and the Granatieri (aided by civilians) made their last stand at
Porta San Paolo The Porta San Paolo (English: Saint Paul Gate) is one of the southern gates in the 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. The Via Ostiense Museum (') is housed within the gatehouse. It is in the Ostiense quarter; just to the west is the Roma ...
. At 4 pm, General
Giorgio Calvi di Bergolo Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count of Bergolo (Athens, 15 March 1887 – Rome, 25 February 1977) was an Italian general during World War II and the husband of Princess Yolanda of Savoy, the eldest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III. Biography Bo ...
signed the order of surrender; the Italian divisions were disbanded and their troops taken prisoner. Although some officers participating in the battle later joined the resistance, the clash in Rome was not motivated by anti-German sentiment so much as the desire to control the Italian capital and resist the disarmament of Italian soldiers. Generals
Raffaele Cadorna Jr. Raffaele Cadorna Jr. (12 September 1889 – 20 December 1973) was an Italian general who fought during World War I and World War II. He is famous as one of the commanders of the Italian Resistance against German occupying forces in north Ital ...
(commander of Ariete II) and Giuseppe Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (later executed by the Germans) joined the underground; General Gioacchino Solinas (commander of the Granatieri) instead opted for the pro-German
Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
.


Piombino

One of the most important episodes of resistance by Italian armed forces after the armistice was the Battle of Piombino in
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
. On 10 September 1943, during
Operation Achse Operation Achse (german: Fall Achse, lit=Case Axis), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. ...
, a small German flotilla, commanded by
Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...
Karl-Wolf Albrand, tried to enter the harbour of Piombino but was denied access by the port authorities. General and Fascist official
Cesare Maria De Vecchi Cesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon (14 November 1884 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician. Biography De Vecchi was born in Casale Monferrato on 14 November 1884. After graduating ...
in command of the Italian 215th Coastal Division ordered the port authorities to allow the German flotilla to enter, against the advice of
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...
Amedeo Capuano, the Naval commander of the harbour. Once they entered and landed, the German forces showed a hostile behaviour, and it became clear that their intent was to occupy the town; the local population asked for a resolved reaction by the Italian forces, threatening an insurrection, but the senior Italian commander, general Fortunato Perni, instead ordered his tanks to open fire on the civilians - an order the tankers refused. Meanwhile De Vecchi forbade any action against the Germans. This however did not stop the protests; some junior officers, acting on their own initiative and against the orders (Perni and De Vecchi even tried to dismiss them for this), assumed command and started distributing weapons to the population, and civilian volunteers joined the Italian sailors and soldiers in the defense. A battle broke out at 21:15 on 10 September, between the German landing forces (who aimed to occupy the town centre) and the Italian coastal batteries, tanks of the XIX Tank Battalion "M", and civilian population. Italian tanks sank the German torpedo boat ''TA11''; Italian artillery also sank seven
Marinefährprahm The ''Marinefährprahm'' (MFP, naval ferry barge) was the largest landing craft operated by the German during World War II. The MFP was use for transport, minelaying, as an escort and a gunboat in the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas as wel ...
e, the péniches ''Mainz'' and ''Meise'' (another péniche, ''Karin'', was scuttled at the harbour entrance as a
blockship A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914; ...
) and six
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
service boats (''Fl.B.429'', ''Fl.B.538'', ''Fl.C.3046'', ''Fl.C.3099'', ''Fl.C.504'' e ''Fl.C.528''), and heavily damaged the torpedo boat ''TA9'' and the steamers ''Carbet'' and ''Capitano Sauro'' (former Italian ships). ''Sauro'' and ''Carbet'' were scuttled because of the damage they had suffered. The German attack was repelled; by the dawn of 11 September, 120 Germans had been killed and about 200-300 captured, 120 of them wounded. Italian casualties had been 4 killed (two sailors, one
Guardia di Finanza The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...
brigadier, and one civilian) and a dozen wounded; four Italian
submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...
s (''VAS 208'', ''214'', ''219'' and ''220'') were also sunk during the fighting. Later in the morning, however, De Vecchi ordered the prisoners to be released, and had their weapons returned to them. New popular protests broke out, as the Italian units were disbanded and the senior commanders fled from the city; the divisional command surrendered Piombino to the Germans on 12 September, and the city was occupied. Many of the sailors, soldiers and citizens who had fought in the battle of Piombino retreated to the surrounding woods and formed the first partisan formations in the area.


Outside Italy

In the days following 8 September 1943 most servicemen, left without orders from higher echelons (due to Wehrmacht units ceasing Italian radio communications), were disarmed and shipped to POW camps in the
Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
(often by smaller German outfits). However, some garrisons stationed in occupied Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and Italy fought the Germans. Admirals Inigo Campioni and Luigi Mascherpa led an attempt to defend
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
,
Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...
,
Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight fr ...
and other
Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...
islands from their former allies. With reinforcements from SAS, SBS and
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
troops under the command of Generals Francis Gerrard, Russell Brittorous and
Robert Tilney Brigadier Robert Adolphus George Tilney, (2 November 1903 – May 1981) was a British Army officer who served during the Second World War. Military career Robert Tilney was a Territorial Army officer, formerly of the Leicestershire Yeomanry. He ...
, the defenders held on for a month. However, the
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 ...
took the islands through air and sea landings by infantry and Fallschirmjäger supported by the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
. Both Campioni and Mascherpa were captured and executed at
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
for high treason. On 13 September 1943, the Acqui Division stationed in Cefalonia chose to defend themselves from a German invasion during ongoing negotiations. After a ten-day battle, the Germans executed 5,115 officers and enlisted men in retaliation. Those killed in the
massacre of the Acqui Division The massacre of the Acqui Division, also known as the Cephalonia massacre, was the mass execution of the soldiers of the Italian 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui" by German soldiers on the island of Cephalonia, Greece, in September 1943, following t ...
included division commander General
Antonio Gandin Antonio Gandin (13 May 1891 – 24 September 1943) was an Italian general, who was killed in Kefalonia in September 1943 during the Massacre of the Acqui Division. Biography Antonio Gandin was born in Avezzano in 1891, son of Pietro, prefect ...
. Other Italian forces remained trapped in Yugoslavia following the armistice and some decided to fight alongside the local resistance. Elements of the Taurinense Division, the Venezia Division, the Aosta Division and the Emilia Division were assembled in the Italian Garibaldi Partisan Division, part of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army. When the unit finally returned to Italy at the end of the war, half its members had been killed or were listed as missing in action.
Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...
, in
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 ...
, was the setting of a naval battle between Italian torpedo boats and an attacking German flotilla.


Italian military internees

Italian soldiers captured by the Germans numbered around 650,000-700,000 (some 45,000 others were killed in combat, executed, or died during transport), of whom between 40,000 and 50,000 later died in the camps. Most refused cooperation with the Third Reich despite hardship, chiefly to maintain their oath of fidelity to the King. Their former allies designated them ''Italienische Militär-Internierte'' ("Italian military internees") to deny them
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
status and the rights granted by the
Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
. Their actions were eventually recognized as an act of
unarmed resistance Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, const ...
on a par with the armed confrontation of other Italian servicemen.


Underground resistance

In the first major act of resistance following the German occupation, Italian partisans and local resistance fighters liberated the city of
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
through a chaotic popular rebellion. The people of Naples revolted and held strong against Nazi occupiers in the last days of September 1943. The popular mass uprising and resistance in Naples against the occupying Nazi German forces, known as the Four days of Naples, consisted of four days of continuous open warfare and guerrilla actions by locals against the Nazi Germans. The spontaneous uprising of Neopolitan and Italian Resistance against German occupying forces (despite limited armament, organization, or planning) nevertheless successfully disrupted German plans to deport Neopolitans en masse, destroy the city, and prevent Allied forces from gaining a strategic foothold. Elsewhere, the nascent movement began as independently operating groups were organized and led by previously outlawed political parties or by former officers of 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 ...
. Many partisan formations were initially founded by soldiers from disbanded units of 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 ...
that had evaded capture in
Operation Achse Operation Achse (german: Fall Achse, lit=Case Axis), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. ...
, and were led by junior Army officers who had decided to resist the German occupation; they were subsequently joined and re-organized by Anti-Fascists, and became thus increasingly politicized. Later the
Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against Nazi Germany’s forces during the German occup ...
(Committee of National Liberation, or CLN), created by the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...
, the
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...
, the
Partito d'Azione The Action Party ( it, Partito d'Azione, PdA) was a liberal-socialist political party in Italy. The party was anti-fascist and republican. Its prominent leaders were Carlo Rosselli, Ferruccio Parri, Emilio Lussu and Ugo La Malfa. Other prominen ...
(a
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
liberal socialist Liberal socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates liberal principles to socialism. This synthesis sees liberalism as the political theory that takes the inner freedom of the human spirit as a given and adopts liberty as the goal, ...
party),
Democrazia Cristiana Christian Democracy ( it, Democrazia Cristiana, DC) was a Christian democratic political party in Italy. The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the ideal successor of the Italian People's ...
and other minor parties, largely took control of the movement in accordance with King
Victor Emmanuel III The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
's ministers and the
Allies 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 ...
. The CLN was set up by partisans behind German lines and had the support of most groups in the region. The main CLN formations included three politically varied groups: the communist Garibaldi Brigades, the ''
Giustizia e Libertà Giustizia e Libertà (; en, Justice and Freedom) was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement, active from 1929 to 1945.James D. Wilkinson (1981). ''The Intellectual Resistance Movement in Europe''. Harvard University Press. p. 224. The mov ...
'' (Justice and Freedom) Brigades related to the Partito d'Azione, and the socialist
Matteotti Matteotti is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Giacomo Matteotti (1885–1924), Italian politician * Gianmatteo Matteotti (1921–2000), Italian politician * Luca Matteotti (born 1989), Italian snowboarder See also * ...
Brigades. Smaller groups included
Christian democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
and, outside the CLN,
monarchists Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
such as the '' Brigate Fiamme Verdi'' (Green Flame Brigades) and '' Fronte Militare Clandestino'' headed by Colonel Montezemolo. Another sizeable partisan group, particularly strong in Piedmont (where the Fourth Army had disintegrated in September 1943), were the "autonomous" (''autonomi'') partisans, largely composed of former soldiers with no substantial alignment to any anti-Fascist party; an example were the ''1° Gruppo Divisioni Alpine'' led by
Enrico Martini Enrico Martini (''nom de guerre'' "Mauri") Mondovì, 29 January 1911 – Turkey, 19 September 1976) was an Italian soldier and partisan, an Alpini ''Major'', founder of the ''1 Group Alpine Divisions'' in the Italian Resistance, and a recipien ...
. Relations among the groups varied. For example, in 1945, the Garibaldi partisans under
Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
command attacked and killed several partisans of the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and ''azionista''
Osoppo Osoppo ( fur, Osôf) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. Osoppo borders the following municipalities: Buja, F ...
groups in the
province of Udine The province of Udine ( it, provincia di Udine, fur, provincie di Udin, sl, videmska pokrajina, Resian dialect, Resian: , german: Provinz Weiden) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia of Italy, borderi ...
. Tensions between the Catholics and the Communists in the movement led to the foundation of the ''Fiamme Verdi'' as a separate formation. A further challenge to the 'national unity' embodied in the CLN came from
anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...
as well as dissident-communist Resistance formations, such as Turin's ''Stella Rossa'' movement and the ''
Movimento Comunista d'Italia The ''Movimento Comunista d'Italia'' (MCd'I), best-known after its newspaper ''Bandiera Rossa'', was a revolutionary partisan brigade, and the largest single formation of the 1943-44 Italian Resistance in Rome. History Growing out of communist unde ...
'' (Rome's largest single anti-fascist force under Occupation), which sought a revolutionary outcome to the conflict and were thus unwilling to collaborate with 'bourgeois parties'.


Partisan movement

Rodolfo Graziani Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli (; 11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's '' Regio Esercito'' ("Royal Army"), primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and durin ...
estimated the partisan strength at around 70,000-80,000 by May 1944. Some 41% in the Garibaldi Brigades and 29% were Actionists of the ''Giustizia e Libertà'' Brigades. One of the strongest units, the 8th Garibaldi Brigade, had 8,050 men (450 without arms) and operated in the
Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...
area. The CLN mostly operated in the
Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...
area, Apennine area and
Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...
of the RSI, and also in the German ''OZAK'' (the area northeast of the north end of the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
) and ''
OZAV The Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills (german: Operationszone Alpenvorland (OZAV); it, Zona d'operazione delle Prealpi) was a Nazi Germany, Nazi German occupation zone in the Alps, sub-Alpine area Italy, in Italy during World War II. Ori ...
'' (Trentino and South Tyrol) zones. Its losses amounted to 16,000 killed, wounded or captured between September 1943 and May 1944. On 15 June 1944, the General Staff of the ''
Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano The National Republican Army (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, or ENR) was the army of the Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI) from 1943 to 1945 that fought on the side of Nazi Germany during World War II. The ENR ...
'' estimated that the partisan forces amounted to some 82,000 men, of whom about 25,000 operated in
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
, 14,200 in
Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
, 16,000 in the
Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...
, 17,000 in
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
and
Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...
, 5,600 in
Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
, and 5,000 in
Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
. Their ranks were gradually increased by the influx of young men escaping the Italian Social Republic's draft, as well as from deserters from the RSI armed forces.Giuseppe Fioravanzo, ''La Marina dall'8 settembre 1943 alla fine del conflitto'', p. 433. By August 1944, the number of partisans had grown to 100,000, and it escalated to more than 250,000 with the final insurrection in April 1945. The Italian resistance suffered 50,000 fighters killed throughout the conflict. Partisan unit sizes varied, depending on logistics (such as the ability to arm, clothe and feed members) and the amount of local support. The basic unit was the ''squadra'' (squad), with three or more squads (usually five) forming a ''distaccamento'' (detachment). Three or more detachments made a ''brigata'' (brigade), of which two or more made a ''divisione'' (division). In some places, several divisions formed a ''gruppo divisione'' (divisional group). These divisional groups were responsible for a ''zona d'operazione'' (operational group). While the largest contingents operated in mountainous districts of the Alps and the
Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or  – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
, other large formations fought in the
Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ligurian language (ancient), Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira (river), Mair ...
flatland. In the large towns of northern Italy, such as
Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
, and the surrounding valleys near the
Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...
. Montechino Castle housed a key partisan headquarters. The ''
Gruppi di Azione Patriottica The Patriotic Action Groups (GAP), formed by the general command of the Garibaldi Brigades at the end of October 1943, were small groups of partisans that were born on the initiative of the Italian Communist Party to operate mainly in the city, ...
'' (GAP; "Patriotic Action Groups") commanded by the Resistance's youngest officer, Giuseppe "Beppe" Ruffino, carried out acts of
sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
and
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
, and the ''Squadre di Azione Patriottica'' (SAP; "Patriotic Action Squads") arranged
strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
s and propaganda campaigns. As in the
French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, women were often important members and couriers. Like their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, Italian partisans seized whatever arms they could find. The first weapons were brought by ex-soldiers fighting German occupiers from the
Regio Esercito 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 Manfr ...
inventory:
Carcano Carcano is the frequently used name for a series of Italian bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating military rifles and carbines. Introduced in 1891, this rifle was chambered for the rimless 6.5×52mm Carcano round (''Cartuccia Modello 1895''). It ...
rifles,
Beretta M1934 The Beretta Model 1934 is an Italian compact, semi-automatic pistol which was issued as the service pistol of the Royal Italian Army beginning in 1934. It is chambered for the 9mm Corto, more commonly known as the .380 ACP. History and usage ...
and M1935 pistols,
Bodeo M1889 The Bodeo Model 1889 ( it, Pistola a Rotazione, Sistema Bodeo, Modello 1889) was an Italian revolver named after the head of the Italian firearm commission, Carlo Bodeo. It was produced by a wide variety of manufacturers between 1889 and 1931 in ...
revolvers, SRCM and OTO hand grenades, and
Fiat–Revelli Modello 1935 The Fiat–Revelli 35 was an Italian machine gun, a modified version of the Fiat–Revelli Modello 1914, which had equipped the Italian Army of World War I. Overview The gun has an overall length of 1700 mm, including its 650 mm barr ...
,
Breda 30 The ''Fucile Mitragliatore Breda modello'' 30 was the standard light machine gun of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. Design The Breda 30 was rather unusual for a light machine gun. It was fed from a fixed magazine attached to the ri ...
and
Breda M37 The Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 modello 37 (commonly known as the Breda mod. 37 or simply Breda 37) was an Italian Medium machine gun produced by Breda and adopted in 1937 by the Royal Italian Army. It was the standard heavy machine gun for t ...
machine guns. Later, captured
K98k The Karabiner 98 kurz (; "carbine 98 short"), often abbreviated Karabiner 98k, Kar98k or K98k and also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a K98 (a K98 is a Polish carbine and copy of the Kar98a), is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92×57 ...
s,
MG 34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely n ...
s,
MG 42 The MG 42 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 42'', or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Enterin ...
s, the iconic potato-masher grenades, Lugers, and
Walther P38 The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08 ...
s were added to partisan kits. Submachine guns (such as the
MP 40 The MP 40 (''Maschinenpistole 40'') is a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Axis powers during World War II. Designed in 1938 by Heinrich Vollmer with in ...
) were initially scarce, and usually reserved for squad leaders. Automatic weapons became more common as they were captured in combat and as the Social Republic regime soldiers began defecting, bringing their own guns.
Beretta MAB The MAB 38 (''Moschetto Automatico Beretta Modello 1938''), ''Modello'' 38, or Model 38 and its variants were a series of official submachine guns of the Royal Italian Army introduced in 1938 and used during World War II. The guns were also used ...
s began appearing in larger numbers in October 1943, when they were spirited away ''en masse'' from the
Beretta Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and militar ...
factory which was producing them for the Wehrmacht. Additional weapons (chiefly of British origin) were airdropped by the Allies:
PIAT The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) Mk I was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon ...
s,
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's st ...
rifles,
Bren light machine gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...
s and
Sten gun The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production cost ...
s. U.S.-made weapons were provided on a smaller scale from the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
(OSS):
Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Stat ...
s (both M1928 and M1),
M3 submachine gun The M3 is an American .45-caliber submachine gun adopted by the U.S. Army on 12 December 1942, as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M3.Iannamico, Frank, ''The U.S. M3-3A1 Submachine Gun'', Moose Lake Publishing, , (1999), pp. 14, 22 ...
s,
United Defense M42 The United Defense M42, sometimes known as the Marlin for the company that did the actual manufacturing, was an American submachine gun used during World War II. It was produced from 1942 to 1943 by United Defense Supply Corp. for possible issue ...
s, and folding-stock
M1 carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...
s. Other supplies included explosives, clothing, boots, food rations, and money (used to buy weapons or to compensate civilians for confiscations).


Countryside

The worst conditions and fighting took place in mountainous regions. Resources were scarce and living conditions were terrible. Due to limited supplies the resistance adopted
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
. This involved groups of 40-50 fighters ambushing and harassing the Nazis and their allies. The size of the brigades was reflective of the resources available to the partisans. Resource limits could not support large groups in one area. Mobility was key to their success. Their terrain knowledge enabled narrow escapes in small groups when nearly surrounded by the Germans. The partisans had no permanent headquarters or bases, making them difficult to destroy. The resistance fighters themselves relied heavily on the local populace for support and supplies. They would often barter or just ask for food, blankets and medicine. When the partisans took supplies from families, they would often hand out
promissory notes A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...
that the peasants could convert after the war for money. The partisans slept in abandoned farms and farmhouses. One account from Paolino 'Andrea' Ranieri (a political commissar at the time) described fighters using donkeys to move equipment at night while during the day the peasants used them in the fields. The Nazis tried to split the populace from the resistance by adopting a
reprisal A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extreme ...
policy of killing 10 Italians for every German killed by the Partisans. Those executed would come from the village near where an attack took place and sometimes from captive partisan fighters. The German punishments backfired and instead strengthened the relationship. Because most resistance fighters were peasants, local populations felt a need to provide for their own. One of the larger engagements was the battle for
Monte Battaglia Monte Battaglia is a hill located in the territory of the municipality of Casola Valsenio (Province of Ravenna, Ravenna), in the Apennine Mountains#Tuscan–Emilian Apennines, Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The toponym, attested in the Middle Ages as ...
(lit. "Battle Mountain"), a mountaintop that was a part of the Gothic Line. On September 26, 1944, a joint force of 250 Partisans and three companies of U.S. soldiers from the 88th Infantry Division attacked the hill occupied by elements of the German 290th Grenadier Regiment. The Germans were caught completely by surprise. The attackers captured the hill and held it for five days against reinforced German units, securing a path for the Allied advance.


Urban areas

Resistance activities were different in the cities. Some Italians ignored the struggle, while others organized, such as the Patriotic Action Squads and issued propaganda. Groups such as the Patriotic Action Groups carried out military actions. A more expansive support network was devised than in the countryside. Networks of
safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...
s were established to hide weapons and wounded fighters. Only sympathizers were involved, because compulsion was thought to encourage betrayal. People largely supported the resistance because of economic hardships, especially inflation.
Pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are som ...
prices tripled and bread prices had quintupled since 1938; hunger unified the underground and general population.


Female partisans

Women played a large role. After the war, about 35,000 Italian women were recognised as female ''partigiane combattenti'' (partisan combatants) and 20,000 as ''patriote'' (patriots); they broke into these groups based on their activities. The majority were between 20 and 29. They were generally kept separate from male partisans. Few were attached to brigades and were even rarer in mountain brigades. Female countryside volunteers were generally rejected. Women still served in large numbers and had significant influence.


1944 uprising

During the summer and early fall of 1944, with Allied forces nearby, partisans attacked behind German lines, led by CLNAI. This rebellion led to provisional partisan governments throughout the mountainous regions.
Ossola The Ossola (, also Valle Ossola or Val d’Ossola) is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola. ...
was the most important of these, receiving recognition from Switzerland and Allied consulates there. An intelligence officer told Field Marshal
Albert Kesselring Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Luftwaffe during World War II who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. In a military career that spanned both world wars, Kesselring beca ...
, Germany's commander of occupation forces in Italy, that he estimated German casualties fighting partisans in summer 1944 amounted to 30,000 to 35,000, including 5,000 confirmed killed. Kesselring considered the number to be exaggerated, and offered his own figure of 20,000: 5,000 killed, between 7,000-8,000 missing / "kidnapped" (including deserters), and a similar number seriously wounded. Both sources agreed that partisan losses were less. By the end of the year, German reinforcements and Mussolini's remaining forces crushed the uprising. In their attempts to suppress the resistance, German and Italian Fascist forces (especially the SS,
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
, and paramilitary militias such as Xª MAS and Black Brigades) committed war crimes, including
summary execution A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...
s and systematic reprisals against civilian population. Resistance captives and suspects were often tortured and raped. Some of the most notorious mass atrocities included the
Ardeatine massacre The Ardeatine massacre, or Fosse Ardeatine massacre ( it, Eccidio delle Fosse Ardeatine), was a mass killing of 335 civilians and political prisoners carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War ...
(335 Jewish civilians and political prisoners executed without a trial in a reprisal operation after a resistance bomb attack in Rome), the
Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was a German war crime committed in the hill village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany, Italy, in the course of an operation against the Italian resistance movement during the Italian Campaign of World War ...
(about 560 random villagers brutally killed in an anti-partisan operation in the central mountains), the
Marzabotto massacre The Marzabotto massacre, or more correctly, the massacre of Monte Sole, was a World War II war crime consisting of the mass murder of at least 770 civilians by Nazi troops, which took place in the territory around the small village of Marzabotto, ...
(about 770 civilians killed in similar circumstances) and the
Salussola massacre The Massacre of Salussola consists in the execution, preceded by torture, of 20 Italian Partisans, committed in retaliation by Italian Fascist soldiers on March 9, 1945 in the town of Salussola (Italy). The facts In late February 1945, the ...
(20 partisans murdered after being tortured, as a reprisal). In all, an estimated 15,000 Italian civilians were deliberately killed, including many women and children. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-476-2051-39A, Italien, Rom, erhängte Frau, deutsche Soldaten.jpg, A woman executed by public hanging in a street of
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, early 1944 File:I "tre Martiri" (Mario Cappelli, Luigi Nicolò, Adelio Pagliarani).jpg, Three Italian partisans executed by public hanging in
Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...
, August 1944 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-477-2106-08, Bei Mailand, Soldat Zivilisten kontrollierend.jpg, German soldier examining the papers of an Italian civilian outside of
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
(1944) File:Santanna tafel des kreuzweges.JPG, The
Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was a German war crime committed in the hill village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany, Italy, in the course of an operation against the Italian resistance movement during the Italian Campaign of World War ...
memorial relief File:Fidenza cippo alla memoria Amilcare Dallagherarda Fausto Fornaciari.jpg, Memorial stone in
Soragna Soragna ( Parmigiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Parma of northern Italy with a population of about 4,800. The town is known from 712, when it was mentioned in a document by the Lombard king Liutprand. From 1198 it was a pos ...
for two Italian partisans – killed in 1944


Foreign contribution

Not all resistance members were Italians; many foreigners had escaped
POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
camps or joined guerrilla bands as so-called "military missions". Among them were Yugoslavs, Czechs (deserters from the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...
army, in Italy for guard/patrol duty in 1944), Russians, Ukrainians, Dutch, Spaniards, Greeks, Poles, German defectors and deserters disillusioned with
National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
and Britons and Americans (ex-prisoners or advisors deployed by the SAS, SOE and OSS). Some later became well-known, such as climber and explorer Bill Tilman, reporter and historian
Peter Tompkins Peter Tompkins (April 19, 1919 – January 23, 2007) was an American journalist, World War II Office of Strategic Services (OSS) spy in Rome, and best-selling author. Biography He was a war correspondent for the '' New York Herald Tribune'' ...
, former
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
pilot
Count Manfred Beckett Czernin Count Manfred Beckett Czernin, (18 January 1913 – 6 October 1962) was a Royal Air Force pilot and later an operative with the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War. Early life Czernin was born to the fourth son of Count Ott ...
, and architect Oliver Churchill.
George Dunning George Garnett Dunning (November 17, 1920 – February 15, 1979) was a Canadian filmmaker and animator. He is known for animating and directing the 1968 film inspired by the Beatles, '' Yellow Submarine''. Biography Dunning was born in Toron ...
recorded his experiences of fighting with the partisans in his book "Where bleed the many".


Aid networks

Another task carried out by the resistance was assisting escaping POWs (an estimated 80,000 were interned in Italy until 8 September 1943), to reach Allied lines or Switzerland on paths previously used by smugglers. Some fugitives and groups of fugitives hid in safe houses, usually arranged by women (less likely to arouse suspicion). After the war, Field Marshal
Harold Alexander Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served with distinction in both the First and the Second World War and, afterwards, as Governor G ...
issued a certificate to those who thereby risked their lives.
Italian Jews Italian Jews ( it, Ebrei Italiani, he, יהודים איטלקים ''Yehudim Italkim'') or Roman Jews ( it, Ebrei Romani, he, יהודים רומים ''Yehudim Romim'') can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in I ...
were aided by
DELASEM Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants (Delegazione per l'Assistenza degli Emigranti Ebrei) or DELASEM, was an Italian and Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947. It is estimated that during World War I ...
, a network extending throughout occupied Italy that included Jews and Gentiles,
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
clergy, faithful/sympathetic police officers and even some German soldiers. Since Jews were considered "enemy aliens" by the Social Republic regime, they were left with little or nothing to live on, and many were deported to Nazi concentration and extermination camps where about 7,000 died. DELASEM helped thousands of Jews by offering food, shelter and money. Some of its members would later be designated
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...
.


Liberation


1945 uprising

On April 19, 1945, the CLN called for an insurrection (the April 25 uprising). In
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, the occupying Nazi German forces and their few remaining Italian Fascist allies were openly attacked by Italian partisans on April 19, and by April 21, the city of Bologna was liberated by the partisans, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army, and the
Polish II Corps The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...
under Allied command;
Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
and
Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
were later freed on April 24 by the Italian Resistance and then the advancing Allied forces.
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
and
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
were liberated on April 25 through a popular revolt and Italian Resistance insurrection following a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
that commenced two days earlier; over 14,000 German and Fascist troops were captured in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
on April 26–27, when General Günther Meinhold surrendered to the CLN. Many of the defeated German troops attempted to escape from Italy and some partisans units allowed the German columns to pass through if they turned over any Italians who were travelling with them. The forces of German occupation in Italy officially capitulated on May 2. Fascists attempted to continue fighting, but were quickly suppressed by the partisans and the Allied forces. The April insurrection brought to the fore issues between the resistance and the Allies. Given the revolutionary dimension of the insurrection in the industrial centers of Turin, Milan, and Genoa, where concerted factory occupations by armed workers had occurred, the Allied commanders sought to impose control as soon as they took the place of the retreating Germans. While the Kingdom of Italy was the de facto ruler of the South, the National Liberation Committee, still embedded in German territory, existed as a populist organization which posed a threat to the monarchy and property owners in a post-war Italy. However the PCI, under directives from Moscow, enabled the Allies to carry out their program of disarming the partisans and discouraged any revolutionary attempt at changing the social system. Instead, the PCI emphasized national unity and "progressive democracy" in order to stake their claim in the post-war political situation. Despite the pressing need to resolve social issues which persisted after the fall of fascism, the resistance movement was subordinated to the interests of Allied leaders in order to maintain the status quo.


Revenge killings

A score-settling campaign ( it, resa dei conti) ensued against pro-German collaborators, thousands of whom were rounded up by the vengeful partisans. Controversially, many of those detainees were speedily court martialed, condemned and shot, or killed without trial. Minister of Interior
Mario Scelba Mario Scelba (5 September 1901 – 29 October 1991) was an Italian politician who served as the 33rd prime minister of Italy from February 1954 to July 1955. A founder of the Christian Democracy, Scelba was one of the longest-serving Minister of ...
later put the number of the victims of such executions at 732, but other estimates were much higher. Partisan leader
Ferruccio Parri Ferruccio Parri (; Pinerolo, 19 January 1890 – Rome, 8 December 1981) was an Italian partisan and anti-fascist politician who served as the 29th Prime Minister of Italy, and the first to be appointed after the end of World War II. During the w ...
, who briefly served as Prime Minister after the war in 1945, said thousands were killed. Some partisans, such as perpetrators of the
Schio massacre The Schio massacre was a mass prisoner killing carried out by former Italian partisans of the Garibaldi Brigade and officers of the Auxiliary Partisan Police in the city jail of Schio on the night of 6–7 July 1945. Of the 54 people who were ki ...
, were tried by an Allied Military Court. During the waning hours of the war, Mussolini, accompanied by Marshal Graziani, headed to Milan to meet with Cardinal
Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster OSB (, ; 18 January 1880 – 30 August 1954), born Alfredo Ludovico Schuster, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his ...
. Mussolini was hoping to negotiate a deal, but was given only the option of
unconditional surrender An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation. In modern times, unconditional surrenders most ofte ...
. His negotiations were an act of betrayal against the Germans. When confronted about this by Achille Marazza, Mussolini said, "They
he Nazis He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
have always treated us as slaves. I will now resume my freedom of action." With the city already held by resistance fighters, Mussolini used his connections one last time to secure passage with an escaping German convoy on its way to the
Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...
with his mistress
Claretta Petacci Clara Petacci, known as Claretta Petacci (; 28 February 1912 – 28 April 1945), was a mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. She was killed during Mussolini's execution by Italian partisans. Early life Daughter of Giuseppina Persich ...
.Behan, Tom. ''The Italian Resistance: Fascists, Guerrillas and the Allies''. London: Pluto, 2009. Print. On the morning of 27 April 1945, Umberto Lazzaro (''nom de guerre'' 'Partisan Bill'), a partisan with the 52nd Garibaldi Brigade, was checking a column of lorries carrying retreating SS troops at
Dongo, Lombardy Dongo (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy. It lies on the northwestern shore of Lake Como between Gravedona and Musso at the mouth of the Albano. It is north of Milan and about northeast of Com ...
, near the Swiss border. Lazzaro recognized and arrested Mussolini. The task of executing Mussolini was, according to the official version, given to a 'Colonel Valerio' (identified as
Walter Audisio Walter Audisio (; 28 June 1909 – 11 October 1973) was an Italian partisan and Communist politician, also known by his '' nom de guerre'' Colonel Valerio. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, Audisio was involved ...
) and the bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were later brought to Milan and hung upside down in the
Piazzale Loreto is a major city square in Milan, Italy. Origin The name ''Loreto'' is also used in a wider sense to refer to the district surrounding the square, which is part of the Zone 2 administrative division, in the northeastern part of the city. The ...
square. Eighteen executed prominent Fascists (including Mussolini, Fernando Mezzasoma, Luigi Gatti,
Alessandro Pavolini Alessandro Pavolini (27 September 1903 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and essayist, notable for his involvement in the Fascist government, during World War II, and also for his cruelty against the opponents of fascis ...
and
Achille Starace Achille Starace (; 18 August 1889 – 29 April 1945) was a prominent leader of Fascist Italy before and during World War II. Early life and career Starace was born in Sannicola, province of Lecce, in southern Apulia. His father was a wine and oi ...
) were displayed in the square; this place was significant because the bodies of 15 executed enemies of Mussolini's regime had been displayed in this square the previous year. The total number of victims of the anti-fascist terror remains unclear; it is estimated that between 12,000 and 26,000 people were killed, usually in extra-judicial executions. The outburst was particularly violent in the northern provinces; according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Interior, some 9,000 people were killed there during April and May of 1945 only. Proportionally, the scale of vengeance killings was much greater than in Belgium and significantly above this recorded in France.


Casualties

According to a book published in 1955 by an Italian ministerial committee on the tenth anniversary of the Liberation, casualties in Italy among the Resistance movement amounted to 35,828 partisans killed in action or executed, and 21,168 partisans mutilated or left disabled by their wounds. Another 32,000 Italian partisans had been killed abroad (in the Balkans and, to a lesser extent, in France). 9,980 Italian civilians had been killed in reprisals by the German and Fascist forces. In 2010, the ''Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro'' of the Italian Ministry of Defence recorded 15,197 partisans killed; however, the ''Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro'' only considered as partisans the members of the Resistance who were civilians before joining the partisans, whereas partisans who were formerly members of the Italian armed forces (more than half those killed) were considered as members of their armed force of origin.


Liberation Day

Since 1949, April 25 has been officially celebrated as
Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day. Liberation marks the date of either a revolution, as in Cuba, the fall of a dictatorship, as in Portugal, or the end of an oc ...
, also known as Anniversary of the Resistance. Speaking at the 2014 anniversary, President
Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...
said: "The values and merits of the Resistance, from the Partisan movement and the soldiers who sided with the fight for liberation to the Italian armed forces, are indelible and beyond any rhetoric of mythicization or any biased denigration. The Resistance, the commitment to reconquer Italy's liberty and independence, was a great civil engine of ideals, but above all it was a people in arms, a courageous mobilization of young and very young citizens who rebelled against foreign power."


See also

*
Anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
*
ANPI (ANPI; National Association of Italian Partisans) is an association founded by participants of the Italian resistance against the Italian Fascist regime and the subsequent Nazi occupation during World War II. ANPI was founded in Rome in 1944 wh ...
, an association of the participants to the Italian resistance * Volante Rossa an Italian communist antifascist militia active after WWII * People's Squads, an Italian left-wing antifascist militia active during the early 1920s *" Bella Ciao", anthem of the anti-fascist resistance *
Mazzini Society The Mazzini Society was an antifascist political association, formed on a democratic and republican basis, situating itself within the tradition of the Risorgimento, and created in the United States by Italian-American immigrants in the late 1930s. ...
, formed by expatriate Italian anti-Fascists in the United States *
Anni di piombo , partof = the Cold War , image = Stragedibologna-2.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Aftermath of the bombing at the Bologna railway station in August 1980 which killed 85 people, the deadliest ev ...
*
Anarchism in Italy Italian anarchism as a movement began primarily from the influence of Mikhail Bakunin, Giuseppe Fanelli, and Errico Malatesta. Rooted in collectivist anarchism, it expanded to include illegalist individualist anarchism, mutualism, anarcho-s ...
*
German resistance to Nazism Many individuals and groups in Germany that were opposed to the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime engaged in active resistance, including assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler, attempts to remove Adolf Hitler from power by assassination or by overthro ...
* Japanese dissidence during the Showa period *
Museum of the Liberation of Rome The Museum of the Liberation of Rome ( it, Museo storico della Liberazione - Roma) is located in an apartment building at Via Tasso 145, Rome, close to the basilica of Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St. John Lateran. It records the period of G ...


In works of popular culture

*'' The Abandoned'' *''
Achtung! Banditi! ''Achtung! Banditi!'' also known as ''Attention! Bandits!'' is a 1951 Italian World War II film drama directed by Carlo Lizzani and starring Gina Lollobrigida and Andrea Checchi. Cast *Gina Lollobrigida as Anna *Andrea Checchi as the engineer * ...
'' *'' Bebo's Girl'' *'' Beneath a Scarlet Sky'' *''
Blood of the Losers ''Blood of the Losers'' ( it, Il sangue dei vinti, also known as ''The Blood of the Victims'') is a 2008 Italian war drama film directed by Michele Soavi. It is based on a book by Giampaolo Pansa. Plot Cast * Michele Placido as Franco Doglia ...
'' *''
Captain Corelli's Mandolin ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'', released simultaneously in the United States as ''Corelli's Mandolin'', is a 1994 novel by the British writer Louis de Bernières, set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Italian and German occupatio ...
'' *''
Cloak and Dagger "Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common in the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery. Overview In " Th ...
'' *'' Cloak & Dagger'' *''
A Day for Lionhearts ''Un giorno da leoni'' (internationally released as ''A Day for Lionhearts'') is a 1961 Italian war - drama film directed by Nanni Loy. The film describes the gradual evolution towards anti-fascism of Italian people during the Second World War. ...
'' *'' A Day in Life'' *'' The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission'' *'' Escape by Night'' *''
Everybody Go Home ''Everybody Go Home'' ( it, Tutti a casa) is a 1960 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Luigi Comencini. It features an international cast including the U.S. actors Martin Balsam, Alex Nicol and the Franco-Italian Serge Reggiani. Nino Manfre ...
'' *''
The Fall of Italy ''The Fall of Italy'' ( hr, Pad Italije), is a 1981 Yugoslav war film directed by Lordan Zafranović. It won the Big Golden Arena for Best Film at the 1981 Pula Film Festival Pula Film Festival ( hr, Pulski filmski festival) is an annual Croa ...
'' *''
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
'' *'' The Fallen'' *''
The Fascist ''The Fascist'' ( it, Il federale) is a 1961 Italian film directed by Luciano Salce. It was coproduced with France. It was also the first feature film scored by Ennio Morricone. Plot The movie takes place in 1944, when Italy was divided bet ...
'' *'' The Four Days of Naples'' *''
From the Clouds to the Resistance ''From the Clouds to the Resistance'' ( it, Dalla nube alla resistenza, literally ''From the Cloud to the Resistance'') is a 1979 Italian drama film directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub. It competed in the Un Certain Regard section ...
'' *''
Gangsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and r ...
'' *'' General della Rovere'' *''
Harmony in Ultraviolet ''Harmony in Ultraviolet'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on October 16, 2006, on Kranky. Critical reaction The album was generally praised by critics, with ''Pitchfork Media'' writer Mar ...
'' *''
His Day of Glory ''His Day of Glory'' ( it, La sua giornata di gloria) is a 1969 Italian drama film directed by Edoardo Bruno. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Carlo Cecchi - Claude * Maria Manuela Carrilho - Marguerite ...
'' *''
Hornets' Nest ''Hornets’ Nest'' is a 1970 Italian-American war film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Rock Hudson, Sylva Koscina, and Sergio Fantoni. The plot focuses on a group of boys aged 7–14 who survive a massacre in their village in Northern It ...
'' *''
The Hunchback of Rome ''Il gobbo'' (internationally released as ''The Hunchback of Rome'') is a 1960 Italian crime-drama film directed by Carlo Lizzani. It is loosely based on the real life events of Giuseppe Albano, an Italian partisan that was one of the protagonist ...
'' *''
Johnny the Partisan ''Il partigiano Johnny'', internationally released as ''Johnny the Partisan'', is a 2000 Italian war drama film set in the Second World War and directed by Guido Chiesa. It is based on the novel of the same name by Beppe Fenoglio. The film ent ...
'' *''
Last Days of Mussolini ''Last Days of Mussolini'' (Italian: ''Mussolini: Ultimo atto'') is a 1974 Italian historical drama film co-written and directed by Carlo Lizzani and starring Rod Steiger, Franco Nero and Lisa Gastoni. The film depicts the days leading up to the d ...
'' *'' Little Teachers'' *''
Long Night in 1943 ''Long Night in '43'' (Italian: La Lunga Notte del '43) is an Italian film of 1960 set in Ferrara, in the Italian Social Republic German puppet state during the late stages of the Second World War. It was directed by Florestano Vancini and adapte ...
'' *''
The Man Who Will Come ''The Man Who Will Come'' ( it, L'uomo che verrà) is a 2009 Italian film directed by Giorgio Diritti. It was released in Italian cinemas on January 22, 2010. In the original version the film is in Bolognese dialect with subtitles in Italian. T ...
'' *''
Massacre in Rome ''Massacre in Rome'' ( it, Rappresaglia) is a 1973 Italian war drama film directed by George Pan Cosmatos about the Ardeatine massacre which occurred at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, 24 March 1944, committed by the Germans as a reprisal for a par ...
'' *''
The Mattei Affair ''The Mattei Affair'' ( it, Il Caso Mattei) is a 1972 film directed by Francesco Rosi. It depicts the life and mysterious death of Enrico Mattei, an Italian businessman who in the aftermath of World War II managed to avoid the sale of the nascent ...
'' *''
Miracle at St. Anna ''Miracle at St. Anna'' is a 2008 AmericanItalian epic war film directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's 2003 novel of the same name. The film stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfra ...
'' *''
Paisan ''Paisan'' ( it, Paisà ) is a 1946 Italian neorealist war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini. In six independent episodes, it tells of the Liberation of Italy by the Allied forces during the late stage of World War II. The film premier ...
'' *'' The Path to the Nest of Spiders'' *''
Porzûs ''Porzûs'' (also spelled ''Porzus'') is a 1997 Italian historical war-drama film written and directed by Renzo Martinelli. For his performance in this film Lorenzo Crespi won the Globo d'oro for best breakthrough actor, while Gastone Moschin wa ...
'' *''
Rome, Open City ''Rome, Open City'' ( it, Roma città aperta, also released as ''Open City'') is a 1945 Italian neorealist war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Sergio Amidei, Celeste Negarville and Federico Fellini. Set in Rome in ...
'' *''
The Seven Cervi Brothers '' The Seven Cervi Brothers'' ( it, I sette fratelli Cervi) is a 1968 Italian drama film directed by Gianni Puccini. The film recounts the last days of life during the resistance of the anti-fascist Cervi Brothers. The director Puccini died a few ...
'' *''
The Sun Still Rises ''The Sun Still Rises'' (Italian: ''Il sole sorge ancora'') also known as ''Outcry'' is a 1946 Italian neorealist war-drama film directed by Aldo Vergano and starring Elli Parvo, Massimo Serato and Lea Padovani. It was one of two films produced ...
'' *'' Ten Italians for One German'' *''
Two Anonymous Letters ''Due lettere anonime'', internationally released as ''Two Anonymous Letters'', is a 1945 Italian war- melodrama film directed by Mario Camerini. For this film Andrea Checchi won a Silver Ribbon for Best Actor. Cast * Clara Calamai: Gina * An ...
'' *'' Wild Blood''


References


External links


Italy , European Resistance Archive

ANPI – Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia

ANCFARGL – Associazione Nazionale Combattenti Forze Armate Regolari Guerra di Liberazione

INSMLI – Istituto Nazionale per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione in Italia

Il portale della guerra di LiberazioneAnarchist partisans in the Italian Resistance
{{Authority control Anti-fascism in Italy Modern history of Italy World War II resistance movements