WAR, OCCUPATION AND RESISTANCE
War Comes to Italy
War and Fascism
Military strength and warfare were important pillars in fascist culture. This was exemplified by the idea of Mare nostrum, which was the ambitious vision of Mussolini to restore Ancient Roman glory to modern day Italy by taking control of the entire Mediterranean. His military was comprised of units that directly mirrored the structure of the old Roman army, which was meant to instill a sense of nationalism among all Italians.
The Axis
In November 1936 Italy and Germany signed a treaty of friendship and announced a Rome-Berlin Axis. A year later Italy signed the Anti-Comintern Pact between Japan and Germany. The three powers were united in their dreams of territorial expansion and the destruction of the Soviet system. Mussolini saw these diplomatic measures as a means to promote his goal for conquering the Mediterranean,
In May 1939 Italy and Germany signed the Pact of Steel, forming a military alliance between the two nations; however, there was a miscommunication regarding the timeline for when war would break out. According to Italy’s understanding, there would be at least a three-year waiting period before a war. Due to their outstanding debt from the Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War, as well as outdated military supplies and machinery, this wait was necessary in order for the alliance to be mutually beneficial.
Though this was a known issue to the Axis hierarchy, Hitler nevertheless invaded Poland three months later. Despite being warned against participating in the fighting by his top generals, Mussolini still sent troops into battle so that when the war ended Italy could claim casualties and have a say in post war negotiations. His ultimate goal was to ensure that Italy had influence on the redrawing of the European map after an Axis victory.
Evidence of the bombings was not completely erased in the postwar rebuilding.
Memorial to those who lost their lives in the 1943 bombing.
Evidence of the bombings was not completely erased in the postwar rebuilding.
SLIDESHOW, ABOVE: The neighborhood of San Lorenzo, site of extensive bombings. Photos by MU Students, 2014
Collapse of Mussolini and Fascism
The bombings in Rome, combined with two years of war and increasing hardship at home weakened support for Mussolini. On the evening of July 25th, 1943, Benito Mussolini was suddenly dismissed as Prime Minister by the Italian King Vittorio Emanuelle III and afterwards was immediately taken into custody.
On September 3rd, 1943, the first British landings began to take place in mainland Italy in the southern town of Reggio and six days later American forces landed at Salerno. Advancing through southern Italy would prove more difficult than initially planned despite the lack of Italian resistance. Even though on September 3rd secret negotiations had already been made with Mussolini’s successor, Pietro Badoglio, over the formal surrender of Italy to the Allies, the German armies moved quickly to occupy Rome and established a defensive line against the advancing Allies. This line would be know collectively as the “Winter Line” with its strongest point being the Gustav Line. This section featured gun pits, concrete bunkers, machine gun nests, minefields, and other defensive structures. Overall, the entire Winter Line was manned by the troops of 15 German divisions.
In October 1943, China, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union held a meeting to discuss and implement a plan for the reconstruction of Italy once the fighting had ended. This gathering would become known as the Moscow Conference. Three main points would be brought forth: the complete suppression of fascism and fascist ideas, the release of all anti-fascist political prisoners, and the establishment of a new democratic government.
War in Rome
Allied invasions in Sicily triggered the first bombings in Italy. The Allies had promised to limit their bombing to purely military targets. In Rome this meant the neighborhood of San Lorenzo came under direct attack.
San Lorenzo was home to an important freight yard, which was a major transportation hub for Southern Italy. Seven hundred thousand pounds of bombs were dropped during the raid, causing mass destruction. The raids of San Lorenzo killed over 2,800 people and wounded over 10,000 people in a very short period of time. Rome suffered from large scale bombing again on August 13, 1943, and San Lorenzo was one of the primary targets once again.
The firsthand accounts of what San Lorenzo looked like after the bombing on July 19 were horrifying: “Limbs everywhere, the streets were unrecognizable, building left as just rumble.”
Thousands of lives were lost and the entire neighborhood was virtually obliterated. The ruins of bombed buildings still stand in San Lorenzo today.
The bombing of San Lorenzo
VIDEO, ABOVE: British news coverage of the bombing of Rome and the fall of Fascism in July 1943.
GERMAN INVASION AND LIBERATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hitler viewed Italy’s removal from the war as a sign of betrayal. The Führer acted quickly. Mere days after news of the armistice agreement, German troops moved into position to invade Italy from the north. On September 12, German soldiers released Mussolini from prison, and Il Duce became head of the newly formed “Italian Social Republic.” When German troops made their way to Rome, both King Emmanuel III and Badoglio fled the city.
IMAGE: A German Tank in front of Il Vittoriano during the German occupation of Rome. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
During these negotiations, no clear plan for Italy’s military was set in place leaving thousands of soldiers without orders and at the mercy of German troops. Due to the ensuing chaos, sporadic skirmishes between German and Italian troops began to occur throughout the country. One such instance was the Massacre of the Acqui Division, which took place on the island of Cephalonia in Greece where over 5000 troops were summarily executed by German troops.
Life for Romans during the occupation was harsh. The populace suffered from food shortages, fear of attack, and skirmishes between partisans, the patriots of resistance, and the Germans. Ordinary citizens lived under constant Nazi surveillance in fear.
One of the most tragic events during German occupation was the roundup of Italian Jews. With very little warning, the German army started pulling people from their homes on October 16, 1943, to be sent up to Florence. From Florence, vast numbers of Italian Jews were eventually transported to Auschwitz. Nearly all of the men, women, and children who were taken that day never returned to Italy.
After a 9 month struggle, Allied forces finally broke through at Anzio and Monte Cassino. The Germans began to retreat and Rome was liberated on June 4, 1944. The first few minutes of newsreel to the left documents the German retreat and the arrival of the US in Rome.
For more on the Italian campaigns click on the photo below to explore the ABMC exhibit.
Image: US soldiers entering Rome. The Liberation Triology Website, Henry Holtz publishers