The Restoration of Democracy (1943-46) Flashcards
1
Q
What was the main reason why the Allies decided to invade Italy?
A
- To divert German troops from Russia and France
2
Q
How long did the Allies predict it would take for them to take control of Italy?
A
- 4 months
3
Q
How long did the Italian campaign last after the invasion of Sicily?
A
- From September 1943 to May 1945; 20 months
4
Q
What were 4 reasons why the invasion of Italy took much longer than expected?
A
- The German defensive line was in the Apennine Mountains
- The weather was predominantly wet and cold
- The Allies ended up fighting a war of attrition against the Germans
- To help the D-Day landings in June 1944, six Allied divisions were removed from Italy
5
Q
What did Badoglio do after being instated as prime minister?
A
- He and the king began negotiating Italy’s surrender to the Allies
- An armistice was signed on 8th September 1943
6
Q
What were 2 conditions of Italy’s surrender? What was the problem with them?
A
- To hand over Italy’s entire navy and airforce
- To give the Allies the assistance of 60,000 Italian soldiers
- Neither the king nor Badoglio had put these arrangements into place; Italian soldiers were only told to retaliate if attacked
7
Q
Give 5 details on what it was like for Italian soldiers after the armistice was signed.
A
- There was confusion over what they should do
- Over 1 million surrendered and were taken prisoner
- Some tried to get home
- Some wanted to continue fighting alongside the Germans
- In the Greek islands, German and Italian soldiers fought against each other which resulted it in the death of 1200 Italian soldiers in combat and another 4800 for resisting the Germans
8
Q
What impact did the the signing of the armistice have? Give 3 details.
A
- Hitler decided to invade Italy
- The king and Badoglio fled south towards the Allies, which left Italy in chaos
- They refused to command the Italian army to fight against the German army as they feared this would have a backlash on citizens
- As Rome wasn’t adequately defended, the German army took over it
9
Q
What had happened to Mussolini after his arrest?
A
- He had been imprisoned in a highly isolated location to prevent the Germans from finding him
- In September (1943) he was rescued by German commandoes and was taken to Germany
- Hitler told Mussolini to return to Italy and set up a new fascist government in the north
- Mussolini returned to Italy to be the head of this puppet state
10
Q
What was Mussolini’s new state called?
A
- The Salò Republic (officially the Italian Social Republic, RSI)
11
Q
Give 3 examples of how the Salò Republic was a puppet state.
A
- The Germans spread out the different ministries across the north of Italy to prevent Mussolini from creating an effective power base which he could then be used against German troops
- Germany appointed officials without consulting Mussolini
- The new republic was forced to sign a deal that required it to pay Germany 7 billion lire a month
12
Q
What 2 advantages did the Salò Republic have?
A
- It was based in the north, so it controlled the richest and most populous areas of Italy
- Mussolini made a new cabinet of radical fascists (who had been purged in the 1920s) who wanted to take fascism back to its violent origins
13
Q
In what 3 ways can it be argued that the RSI was a return to original fascism?
A
- It was republican
- Squads were reformed as the Black Brigades
- State regulated industry, but more equally than in Fascist Italy
14
Q
In what 2 ways can it be argued that the RSI was far from a return to original fascism?
A
- Mussolini was officially head of state, but required German approval when making decisions
- National greatness was far off; the state did not even control all of Italy, let alone irredente lands (some of which Germany had annexed)
15
Q
What were 2 brutal policies Mussolini used in the RSI?
A
- He sentenced to death the fascists who had voted in favour of Grandi’s resolution
- He executed 5 of them, including Ciano (Grandi and the others could not be found)
- He decided that all Jews would live in camps in Italy
- 7500 of them were sent to Nazi death camps, and only 500 survived
16
Q
How popular were the fascists in the RSI?
A
- Their new political party had only 487,000 members while the PNF had had 2.6 million members in 1939
17
Q
How much military power did the Salò Republic have?
A
- They had an army of 200,000 men
- They also had an air force and navy
18
Q
What was the biggest issue that the RSI had? Give 4 details.
A
- Partisans
- They were rebel fighters that fought against German and fascist forces in the north
- By June 1944 there were 82,000 of them
- 60% of them were from the PCI
- 28,000 of them came from the Party of Action
19
Q
What role did the RSI have in WW2?
A
- They didn’t fight alongside German forces as they were involved in a civil war with the partisans
20
Q
What was life like for most Italians in the Salò Republic? Give 2 details.
A
- They joined neither the partisans nor the RSI’s forces as they knew the Allies would arrive in northern Italy
- They were terrorised so that they wouldn’t help partisans
21
Q
Give an example and figures on how the population of the Salò Republic was controlled.
A
- German policy laid out that for every German soldier killed, 10 Italians would be executed
- 33 German soldiers were killed, which resulted in the death of 335 Italians
22
Q
What was the government like in the south of Italy? Describe 4 aspects.
A
- The king was head of the new Kingdom of the South
- However, in reality it was a puppet state controlled by the Allies
- The conservative elites remained in their positions as prefects and podestàs
- Badoglio was seen by the Allies as being too involved with fascism, so was removed and replaced with Bonomi, who was an antifascist liberal
23
Q
What did Bonomi do as prime minister, and how successful was this?
A
- He tried to conscript 100,000 men, but this was largely resisted
- In the end, 50,000 men from the south fought alongside the Allies
24
Q
What impact did the resistance to conscription in the south have?
A
- It deepened the north-south divide as the antifascist war was only really happening in the north
25
How did it become clear that the Salò Republic could not survive?
- By 1944 the Allies had broken through the German defensive line and German forces were retreating across Europe, which made it clear that the Germans were losing the war
- It was therefore impossible for the Salò Republic to survive
26
What was life like for Mussolini himself as it was becoming obvious that the war was lost? Give 3 details.
- He was seriously ill
- He was 61and lacked the charisma and energy that he had had before
- However, when toured bombed areas of Milan, there were still huge, cheering crowds
27
When did Mussolini accept that the war was definitely lost, and why?
- April 1945
- The Allies had captured major parts of northern Italy, and US and Soviet troops had met in central Germany
28
What did Mussolini do when he realised the Germans had definitely lost the war?
- He met with partisans and tried to negotiate a surrender on the condition that he was allowed to retreat further north with 3000 loyal Blackshirts
- However, he discovered that Germany was negotiating a surrender without informing him
- He therefore tried to escape to Switzerland
29
How successful was Mussolini's escape?
- Although he had disguised himself as a German soldier, he was recognised and taken prisoner by partisans
30
What happened after Mussolini's capture? Give 3 details.
- The local partisan leader ordered his execution and those of other top fascists
- He and his mistress Claretta Petacci were executed by machine gun
- Their bodies were publicly displayed in Piazzale Loretto Milan, where they were beaten and strung up
31
When did the German forces in Italy surrender?
- 2nd May 1945
32
What happened as the war ended?
- Leading fascists such as Farinacci were killed, but full-scale massacres were avoided
- However, it is predicted that partisans killed 30,000 alleged fascist supporters
33
Describe 5 aspects of the situation Italy was in at the end of WW2.
- Millions of Italians were homeless, unemployed or both
- The cost of living was 23 times higher than it had been in 1938
- The country's infrastructure had been ruined by the war
- Half a million Italians were dead (including civilians), and 30,000 of them had died in the civil war
- Italy was worse off than it had been after WW1
34
Who made up Italy's first post-war government? What was problematic about this?
- Communists
- Socialists
- Christian Democrats
- They put an emphasis on the role of those who had fought against the RSI, but this excluded those who had fought for it, and the south
35
How did the war affect Victor Emmanuel's position? What did he do as a result?
- He was unpopular due to his support for Mussolini from 1922 and his lack of action after the removal of Mussolini in 1943
- He abdicated in favour of his son, Umberto II, in 1946
36
Which 2 important elections happened in 1946? What was particularly important about these elections?
- A referendum on the monarchy
- A vote for the Constituent Assembly
- Women were allowed to vote
37
What was the result of the referendum of the monarchy?
- 10 million in favour of keeping the monarchy (every province in the south)
- 12 million in favour of having a republic (almost every area in the north)
38
What were the results of the election for the Constituent Assembly?
- The Christian Democrats won 207 seats
- The PSI won 114
- The PCI 104
- Liberals 41
39
Describe 4 aspects of the new constitution.
- Civil and political freedom were guaranteed
- The president was the head of state and was largely a symbolic figure
- The rule of law was under an independent judicial system
- Some aspects of Mussolini's rule, such as the Lateran Pacts, were kept
40
What 2 pieces of evidence are there to suggest that fascism had a lasting hold after 1946?
- Even as late as 1960, most prefects and police chiefs were the same people who had worked for the fascist government
- In 1957 when Mussolini's body was laid in his family's tomb, massive crowds came to watch
