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Liberation Day ( it, Festa della liberazione), also known as the Anniversary of Italy's Liberation (), Anniversary of the Resistance (), or simply 25 April () is a national holiday 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 ...
that commemorates the victory of the
Italian resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
against
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
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 ...
,
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 ...
of the Nazis and
rump state A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state, left with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, or a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case, ...
of the fascists, in the
Italian Civil War The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
, a
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
fought in Italy during
World War II 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 ...
. That is distinct from Republic Day (), which takes place on 2 June.


History

Although other European countries such as
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
also had partisan movements and collaborationist governments with
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 ...
during
World War II 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 ...
, armed confrontation between compatriots was most intense in Italy, making the Italian case unique. In 1965, the definition of "civil war" was used for the first time by fascist politician and historian Giorgio Pisanò in his books, while
Claudio Pavone Claudio Pavone (30 November 1920 – 29 November 2016) was an Italian historian and archivist. Pavone was the president of the Historic Institute of the Liberation movement in Italy, the president of the Italian Society of Contemporary History an ...
's book ''Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità della Resistenza'' (''A Civil War. Historical Essay On the Morality Of the Resistance''), published in 1991, led the term "
Italian Civil War The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
" to become a widespread term used in Italian and international historiography. The date was chosen by convention, as it was the day of the year 1945 when the
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 ...
of Upper Italy (CLNAI) - whose command was based in Milan and was chaired by
Alfredo Pizzoni Alfredo Pizzoni (February 20, 1894 – January 3, 1958) was an Italian banker and politician who was president of the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia (National Liberation Committee of Northern Italy, CLNAI) during the late stages o ...
,
Luigi Longo Luigi Longo (15 March 1900 – 16 October 1980), also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. He was also the first foreigner to be awarded an Order of Lenin. Early l ...
,
Emilio Sereni Emilio Sereni (13 August 1907, Rome – 20 March 1977, Rome) was an Italian writer, politician and historian. Biography Born into a Jewish family of anti-fascist intellectuals, Sereni graduated from the Liceo Terenzio Mamiani in Rome. Broth ...
,
Sandro Pertini Alessandro "Sandro" Pertini (; 25 September 1896 – 24 February 1990) was an Italian socialist politician who served as the president of Italy from 1978 to 1985. Early life Born in Stella (Province of Savona) as the son of a wealthy landown ...
, and
Leo Valiani Leo Valiani (''Weiczen Leó''; 9 February 1909 – 18 September 1999) was an Italian historian, politician and journalist. Early life Valiani was born in ''Fiume'' (now Rijeka), on the Adriatic Sea (then in Hungarian part of Austria-Hunga ...
(present among others the designated president
Rodolfo Morandi Rodolfo Morandi (30 July 1902 – 26 July 1955) was an Italian socialist politician and economist. He was a member of the Socialist Party and was one of its leading figures following World War II. He served as the minister of industry and commerc ...
, Giustino Arpesani, and
Achille Marazza Achille is a French and Italian masculine given name, derived from the Greek mythological hero Achilles. It may refer to: People Artists * Achille Beltrame (1871–1945), Italian painter * Achille Calici (c. 1565–?), Italian painter * Ach ...
) - proclaimed a general insurrection in all the territories still occupied by the Nazi-fascists, indicating to all the partisan forces active in Northern Italy that were part of the Volunteer Corps of Freedom to attack the fascist and German garrisons by imposing the surrender, days before the arrival of the Allied troops; at the same time, the National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy personally issued legislative decrees, assuming power "in the name of the Italian people and as a delegate of the Italian Government", establishing among other things the death sentence for all fascist hierarchs, including
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, who would be shot and killed three days later. "Surrender or die!" was the rallying call of the partisans that day and those immediately following. The end of the war on Italian territory, with the definitive surrender of the Nazi-Fascist forces to the Allied Army, took place on 2 May, as formally established by the representatives of the forces in the field during the so-called surrender of Caserta, signed on 29 April 1945: these dates also mark the definitive defeat of fascism. By 1 May, all of northern Italy was liberated, including
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 ...
(21 April),
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 ...
(23 April),
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 ...
(25 April),
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
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
(28 April). The liberation put an end to 23 years of fascist dictatorship and five years of war. The aftermath of
World War II 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 ...
left Italy with an anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime for those 23 years. These frustrations contributed to a revival of the Italian republican movement. The liberation symbolically represents the beginning of the historical journey which led to the referendum of 2 June 1946, when Italians opted for the end of the monarchy and the creation of the Italian Republic, which was followed by the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic in 1948,
Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1047
resulting from the work of a
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 ...
formed by the representatives of all the
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 ...
forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the
Italian Civil War The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
.


Institution and celebrations

The current date was chosen in 1946. On the proposal of the
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Alcide De Gasperi Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953. De Gasp ...
, King
Umberto II en, Albert Nicholas Thomas John Maria of Savoy , house = Savoy , father = Victor Emmanuel III of Italy , mother = Princess Elena of Montenegro , birth_date = , birth_place = Racconigi, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy , d ...
, then prince and lieutenant of the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, on 22 April 1946 issued the lieutenant legislative decree n. 185 "''Disposizioni in materia di ricorrenze festive''" ("Provisions on festive occasions"). The bill states that: The anniversary was also celebrated in subsequent years, but only on 27 May 1949, article 2 of law n. 260 "''Disposizioni in materia di ricorrenze festive''" ("Provisions on festive occasions") made the anniversary a permanent, annual national holiday, together with the Italian national holiday of 2 June: Since then, public events in memory of the event, like marches and parades, have been organized annually in all Italian cities - especially in those decorated with military valor for the war of liberation. Among the events of the festival program there is the solemn homage, by the
President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...
and other important officers of the State, to the chapel of the Italian Unknown Soldier (''Milite Ignoto''), buried in the
Altare della Patria The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument ( it, Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II), also known as Vittoriano or Altare della Patria ("Altar of the Fatherland"), is a large national monument built between 1885 and 1935 to honour Victor E ...
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 ...
, with the deposition of a
laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...
in memory of the fallen and missing Italians in wars.


See also

*
Italian Civil War The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
*
Italian resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Public holidays in Italy Public holidays in Italy are established by the Italian parliament and, with the exception of city or community patronal days, apply nationwide. These include a mix of national, religious and local observances. As for Whit Monday, there is an e ...
* Anniversary of the Unification of Italy *
Festa della Repubblica ''Festa della Repubblica'' (; English: ''Republic Day'') is the Italian National Day and Republic Day, which is celebrated on 2 June each year, with the main celebration taking place in Rome. The ''Festa della Repubblica'' is one of the national ...
*
National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe, or ''Giorno del ricordo'' in Italian language (English: Day of Remembrance), is an Italian celebration for the memory of the Foibe massacres, victims of the Foibe and the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, wh ...
*
National Unity and Armed Forces Day National Unity and Armed Forces Day is an Italian national day since 1919 which commemorates the victory in World War I, a war event considered the completion of the process of unification of Italy. It is celebrated every 4 November, which is the ...
*
Tricolour Day Tricolour Day ( it, Festa del Tricolore), officially National Flag Day ( it, Giornata Nazionale della Bandiera), is the flag day of Italy. Celebrated on 7 January, it was established by Law 671 on 31 December 1996. It is intended as a celebration, ...


References


External links

* * {{Italian resistance movement Public holidays in Italy 1946 establishments in Italy Recurring events established in 1946 April observances