Italian occupation of France during World War II
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
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 Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
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 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, 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 previo ...
forces occupied the abandoned areas until the Liberation ( Operation Dragoon, 1944).


Italian occupation

The initial Italian occupation of France territory occurred in June 1940; it was then expanded in November 1942. 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, 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 Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
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 dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
. In November 1942, in conjunction with '' Case Anton'', 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 te ...
, the Royal Italian Army (''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 (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 people from Corsica who identified themselves as part of Italy rather than France, and promoted the Italian annexation of the island. History Cors ...
). 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 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 te ...
. 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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
under their control and in March prevented the Nazis from deporting Jews in their zone. German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop complained to Mussolini that "Italian military circles... lack a proper understanding of the Jewish question."Italy and the Jews – Timeline by Elizabeth D. Malissa
/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 prefect ...
, outside Italian-occupied France. Operating from ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' ("BETASOM") as it was known, thirty-two Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic. These submarines sank 109 Allied 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,
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 141,22 ...
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 ...
. 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 subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an altitude of , based on the national definition as a community cont ...
(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. ...
...
sit-com A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Fre ...
'', set in WW2 occupied France, portrays a fictitious Italian army officer Captain Bertorelli, in addition to 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 previo ...
officers.


See also

*
Italian invasion of France The Italian invasion of France (10–25 June 1940), also called the Battle of the Alps, was the first major Italian engagement of World War II and the last major engagement of the Battle of France. The Italian entry into the war widened its sc ...
* France–Italy relations *
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 ...
* Alpine Line *
Military history of Italy during World War II The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology, politics, and diplomacy, while its military actions were often heavily influenced by external factors. Italy joined the war as one of the ...
*
Italian-occupied Corsica Italian-occupied Corsica refers to the military (and administrative) occupation by the Kingdom of Italy of the island of Corsica during the Second World War, from November 1942 to September 1943. After an initial period of increased control over th ...


References


Further reading

* 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 World War II occupied territories Former subdivisions of France Military history of France during World War II France, occupation of States and territories established in 1940 States and territories disestablished in 1943 Italian irredentism History of Savoy Italian military occupations Military occupations of France France–Italy military relations