Italian Civil War

Italian Civil War
	Part of the Italian Campaign in World War II
	Clockwise from top left: Italian partisans fighting during the general insurrection in Milan; Soldiers of the Black Brigades; Royal Italian parachutists en route to the drop zone of Operation Herring; the dead body of Benito Mussolini, Claretta Petacci, and other executed fascists on display in Milan.
Date	8 September 1943 – 2 May 1945 ; (1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Location	Italy
Result	Royal Italian and Italian Resistance victory Liberation of Italy from Nazism and Italian Fascism: end of German occupation and collapse of the collaborationist Italian Social Republic; Capitulation of German and RSI forces in Italy; Execution of Benito Mussolini and other high-ranking Fascist officials;
Belligerents
Italian Resistance; Kingdom of Italy; United Kingdom; United States	Italian Social Republic; Germany
Commanders and leaders
Ivanoe Bonomi; Alcide De Gasperi; Pietro Nenni; Palmiro Togliatti; Ugo La Malfa; Ferruccio Parri; Victor Emmanuel III; Prince Umberto; Pietro Badoglio; Giovanni Messe;	Benito Mussolini ; Alessandro Pavolini ; Rodolfo Graziani ; Renato Ricci; Junio Valerio Borghese;
Strength
CLN / CLNAI:; 300,000–350,000; Co-belligerent Army:; 190,000–244,000; Total: c. 545,000;	520,000
Casualties and losses
CLN / CLNAI: 35,828 killed; 21,168 seriously wounded; unknown captured or lightly injured; ; Co-belligerent Army: 5,927 killed; unknown wounded, captured, and missing; ;	RSI: ; 34,770 killed 13,170 regular military; 21,600 anti-partisan National Guards and paramilitaries; unknown wounded, captured, and missing;
	c. 124,000 post-armistice civilian deaths; 42,600 killed by post-armistice air raids

The Italian Civil War (Italian: Guerra civile italiana, pronounced [ˈɡwɛrra tʃiˈviːle itaˈljaːna]) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during the Italian campaign of World War II between Italian fascists and Italian partisans (mostly politically organized in the National Liberation Committee) and, to a lesser extent, the Italian Co-belligerent Army.

Many Italian fascists were soldiers or supporters of the Italian Social Republic, a collaborationist puppet state created under the direction of Nazi Germany during its occupation of Italy. The Italian Civil War lasted from around 8 September 1943 (the date of the Armistice of Cassibile, between Italy and the Allies) to 2 May 1945 (date of the Surrender at Caserta). The Italian partisans and the Italian Co-belligerent Army of the Kingdom of Italy, sometimes materially supported by the Allies, simultaneously fought against the occupying Nazi German armed forces. Armed clashes between the fascist National Republican Army of the Italian Social Republic and the Italian Co-belligerent Army of the Kingdom of Italy were rare,^[8] while clashes between the Italian fascists and the Italian partisans were common. There were also some internal conflicts within the partisan movement.^[9] In this context, Germans, sometimes helped by Italian fascists, committed several atrocities against Italian civilians and troops.

The event that later gave rise to the Italian Civil War was the deposition and arrest of Benito Mussolini on 25 July 1943 by King Victor Emmanuel III, after which Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, ending its war with the Allies. However, German forces began occupying Italy immediately prior to the armistice, through Operation Achse, and then invaded and occupied Italy on a larger scale after the armistice, taking control of northern and central Italy and creating the Italian Social Republic (RSI), with Mussolini installed as leader after he was rescued by German paratroopers in the Gran Sasso raid.^[10] As a result, the Italian Co-belligerent Army was created to fight against the Germans, while other Italian troops continued to fight alongside the Germans in the National Republican Army. In addition, a large Italian resistance movement started a guerrilla war against the German and Italian fascist forces.^[11] The anti-fascist victory led to the execution of Mussolini, the liberation of the country from dictatorship, and the birth of the Italian Republic under the control of the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories, which was operational until the Treaty of Peace with Italy in 1947.^[12]

^ ^a ^b Oliva 1998, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Bocca 2001, p. 493.
^ "Le Divisioni Ausiliarie". Associazione Nazionale Combattenti Forze Armate Regolari Guerra di Liberazione. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
^ Giuseppe Fioravanzo, La Marina dall'8 settembre 1943 alla fine del conflitto, p. 433. 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.
^ Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. Commissariato generale C.G.V. Ministero della Difesa – Edizioni 1986 (in Italian)
^ In 2010, the Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro recorded 13,021 RSI soldiers killed; however, the Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro excludes from its lists of the fallen the individuals who committed war crimes. In the context of the RSI, where numerous war crimes were committed in the anti-partisan warfare, and many individuals were therefore involved in such crimes (especially GNR and Black Brigades personnel), this influences negatively the casualty count, under a statistical point of view. The "RSI Historical Foundation" (Fondazione RSI Istituto Storico) has drafted a list that lists the names of some 35,000 RSI military personnel killed in action or executed during and immediately after World War II (including the "revenge killings" that occurred at the end of the hostilities and in their immediate aftermath), including some 13,500 members of the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana and Milizia Difesa Territoriale, 6,200 members of the Black Brigades, 2,800 Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana personnel, 1,000 Marina Nazionale Repubblicana personnel, 1,900 X MAS personnel, 800 soldiers of the "Monterosa" Division, 470 soldiers of the "Italia" Division, 1,500 soldiers of the "San Marco" Division, 300 soldiers of the "Littorio" Division, 350 soldiers of the "Tagliamento" Alpini Regiment, 730 soldiers of the 3rd and 8th Bersaglieri regiments, 4,000 troops of miscellaneous units of the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano (excluding the above-mentioned Divisions and Alpini and Bersaglieri Regiments), 300 members of the Legione Autonoma Mobile "Ettore Muti", 200 members of the Raggruppamento Anti Partigiani, 550 members of the Italian SS, and 170 members of the Cacciatori degli Appennini Regiment.
^ ^a ^b Roma: Instituto Centrale Statistica. "Morti E Dispersi Per Cause Belliche Negli Anni 1940–45" Rome, 1957. Total number of violent civilian deaths was 153,147, including 123,119 post armistice. Air raids were responsible for 61,432 deaths, of which 42,613 were post armistice.
^ Pavone 1991, p. 238.
^ See for example the Porzûs massacre.
^ Becker & Knipping 1986, pp. 506–507.
^ See as examples the following books (in Italian): Guido Crainz, L'ombra della guerra. Il 1945, l'Italia, Donzelli, 2007 and Hans Woller, I conti con il fascismo. L'epurazione in Italia 1943 - 1948, Il Mulino, 2008.
^ INCOM Video of the Week speech by Alcide De Gasperi at the peace conference in Italian language

[FOOTNOTEOliva1998[[Category:Wikipedia_articles_needing_page_number_citations_from_February_2022]]<sup_class="noprint_Inline-Template_"_style="white-space:nowrap;">&#91;<i>[[Wikipedia:Citing_sources|<span_title="This_citation_requires_a_reference_to_the_specific_page_or_range_of_pages_in_which_the_material_appears.&#32;(February_2022)">page&nbsp;needed</span>]]</i>&#93;</sup>-1] Oliva 1998, p. ^{[page needed]}.

[FOOTNOTEBocca2001493-2] Bocca 2001, p. 493.

[3] "Le Divisioni Ausiliarie". Associazione Nazionale Combattenti Forze Armate Regolari Guerra di Liberazione. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

[4] Giuseppe Fioravanzo, La Marina dall'8 settembre 1943 alla fine del conflitto, p. 433. 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.

[5] Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. Commissariato generale C.G.V. Ministero della Difesa – Edizioni 1986 (in Italian)

[6] In 2010, the Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro recorded 13,021 RSI soldiers killed; however, the Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro excludes from its lists of the fallen the individuals who committed war crimes. In the context of the RSI, where numerous war crimes were committed in the anti-partisan warfare, and many individuals were therefore involved in such crimes (especially GNR and Black Brigades personnel), this influences negatively the casualty count, under a statistical point of view. The "RSI Historical Foundation" (Fondazione RSI Istituto Storico) has drafted a list that lists the names of some 35,000 RSI military personnel killed in action or executed during and immediately after World War II (including the "revenge killings" that occurred at the end of the hostilities and in their immediate aftermath), including some 13,500 members of the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana and Milizia Difesa Territoriale, 6,200 members of the Black Brigades, 2,800 Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana personnel, 1,000 Marina Nazionale Repubblicana personnel, 1,900 X MAS personnel, 800 soldiers of the "Monterosa" Division, 470 soldiers of the "Italia" Division, 1,500 soldiers of the "San Marco" Division, 300 soldiers of the "Littorio" Division, 350 soldiers of the "Tagliamento" Alpini Regiment, 730 soldiers of the 3rd and 8th Bersaglieri regiments, 4,000 troops of miscellaneous units of the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano (excluding the above-mentioned Divisions and Alpini and Bersaglieri Regiments), 300 members of the Legione Autonoma Mobile "Ettore Muti", 200 members of the Raggruppamento Anti Partigiani, 550 members of the Italian SS, and 170 members of the Cacciatori degli Appennini Regiment.

[casualties-7] Roma: Instituto Centrale Statistica. "Morti E Dispersi Per Cause Belliche Negli Anni 1940–45" Rome, 1957. Total number of violent civilian deaths was 153,147, including 123,119 post armistice. Air raids were responsible for 61,432 deaths, of which 42,613 were post armistice.

[Pavone_1991_238-8] Pavone 1991, p. 238.

[9] See for example the Porzûs massacre.

[FOOTNOTEBeckerKnipping1986506–507-10] Becker & Knipping 1986, pp. 506–507.

[11] See as examples the following books (in Italian): Guido Crainz, L'ombra della guerra. Il 1945, l'Italia, Donzelli, 2007 and Hans Woller, I conti con il fascismo. L'epurazione in Italia 1943 - 1948, Il Mulino, 2008.

[12] INCOM Video of the Week speech by Alcide De Gasperi at the peace conference in Italian language

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