To what extent did the Italian nation change between 1943-46? Flashcards
Why did Britain’s pm think an attack on Italy would be advantageous?
- could acquire more airfields from which to attack German forces opening a second front in the balkans
- helping the French invasion by pinning down the important parts of the German military
- little evidence that the south would be defended by the German forces who it appeared were being drawn back to the north
- thought it would be quick
When was the Italy’s surrender to allies signed and what did badgolio promise?
- 3 sep 1943
- Badoglio promised to secure all Italy’s airfields and ports and hand over the army, navy and airforce
- guaranteed the allies the assistance of 60,000 troops that were based around Rome
What was made clear on 8th sep 1943?
that neither badgolio nor the kinghad actually done anything to put these promises in place
- no order was issued to the Italian troops apart from the command that they should retaliate
- italian soldiers were left in confusion
How many soldiers were killed in the Greek fighting between Italians and German forces?
- 1,200 Italian soldiers
- 4,800 captured Italian soldiers shot as a punishment for resisting the German army
When did the German forces begin pouring into Italy?
9th sep 1943
Who fled south due to the German invasion? And what did this result in?
king, badoglio and other military leaders
- refused to issue any orders for the Italian army to fight against the germans and this resulted in Rome being inadequately defended and taken over by the German forces
When was Italy officially declared to be at war with germany?
13th sep 1943 (when the king and badoglio were with the allies)
What did the capture of Rome look like for the allies?
Where was the war fought?
- much of the fighting took place across mountains. narrow ridges and valleys
- weather was predominately wet and freezing
- German armies destroyed bridges and mountain passes
- after 8 months of fighting the allied army was further depleted as troops were transferred for the more important invasion of France
When did Rome fall to the allies?
4 June 1944
When was mussolini transferred to a prison on gran sasso and when he was rescued out? - who was he rescued by
- 28th august 1943
- 12th sep 1943 -rescued by German commandoes and bought back to germany
What did hitler demand mussolini to do and what did he blackmail him with?
- demanded mussolini return to at the head of a new fascist gov that the nazis would establish
- if mussolini refused hitler would have German forces destroy Milan, Genoa, Turin
When did mussolini return to Italy and where did he set up his capital?
- 25th sep 1943
- established his capital in the small town of gargano
What control did germany have over the new government that formed under mussolini?
- germans ensured the government bodies were spread out over 100 miles across Italy in order to stop them functioning effectively
- Germans appointed officials in various parts of the psi without consulting mussolini
- forced the new republic to sign a deal that required it to pay germans 7 billion lire a month
Who did the new cabinet that mussolini establish consist of?
- radical fascists - mainly those who had been part of the violent blackshirt militia that had been purged in the 1920s
When was the Verona manifesto set up and what did it say?
- 14 nov 1943
- attempted to take fascism back to what it was
- anticlerical republic
- industry nationalised
- real cooperative state run by workers and management
was mussolini able to take fascism back to its radical roots and why?
- no
- he never had the time, support or willingness from the Germans to put any of his policies in place
How was the Salo republic brutal?
- jan 1944: five fascists were arrested including ciano were sentenced to death for treason
- 13 others including grandi who could not be found were tried and sentenced to death
- fascists in the Salo republic were active in assisting the German plans to send Italians jews to nazi death camps
- 7,500 jews were taken from Italians camps and sent to nazi death camps
What was the new militia that was formed called?
National republican guard
At the start of 1944 what did the rsi army consist of?
- 200,000 men
- navy of around 20,000 and are force of 28,000 men and an anti-aircraft service of 50,000
Who was the brutal war waged in the north between?
- Italian antifascists, German and psi forces
What was the German policy set out?
for every one German soldier 10 Italian would be killed
partisan attacks in march 1944 that killed 33 German soldiers resulted in the death of 335 Italians
Describe the kingdom of the south
- a gov that had little say in its own affairs
- under the control of the allied occupation
- allies talked about a mass purge of those that had worked with the fascists but this was not carried out
- conservative who held the posts of podestas and prefects were allowed to remain in place
Who was badoglio replaced with as head of government?
Bonomi
What did Bonomi tried to do and was he successful?
- get a conscription of around 100,000
but conscription was largely resisted and only managed to get a conscription of 50,000
