The Italian Resistance was one of the most important in Europe. In the summer of 1944, the partisans numbered around 70,000, but by the end of the war they were 200,000 strong and had suffered 50,000 casualties. They tied up a third of the German army in Italy (9 Nazi divisions, a total of 300,000 troops) away from the Allied front.. While the majority of the Italian people did not take up arms against the Germans, they considered Germany an enemy and helped the partisans.
In September 1943, during what is now referred to as the “Four Days of Naples, a spontaneous insurrection of people liberated the city just before the Allies arrival. This improvised, yet effective resistance demonstrated the Italian population’s willingness to fight against the Nazis.. Nevertheless, the unpredictability of a war fought by civilians made the Allies suspicious. The British in particular, with their aristocratic approach to warfare, regarded the operations behind the lines by men without proper uniform as an “unclean war”. The Americans, however, were more pragmatic, recognizing the partisans’ strategic importance; they initiated collaboration with the Italian Resistance.
In the mountain valleys and towns, armed groups were formed by former Italian soldiers fleeing the German round-ups, and civilians fleeing the Fascist drafts. The brigate partigiane (partisan brigades) organized around natural leaders who often belonged to or had strong connections with the anti-Fascist political groups, in turn giving the groups a specific political leaning.
Although there was concern about the strong Communist Party contingent in the Resistance, the OSS believed that a revolutionary uprising, such as the one that had occurred in Greece, was not a likely possibility. However, the aims of the Italian Resistance were far more political than their Allied counterparts acknowledged, resulting in conflicts within the partisan ranks. The differences were reconciled when negotiations between all of the underground political parties led to the formation of the Committee of National Liberation of Northern Italy (CLNAI) in January 1944, which provided both military and political organization to the Resistance groups in opposition to the monarchy led by Prime Minister Badoglio’s government in the South.
Prime Minister Badoglio and the king were culturally and politically opposed to a war of the people, and tried to neutralize the Resistance. However, after the liberation of Rome (June 1944), the monarchy and CLNAI struck an uneasy truce. Badoglio resigned, and a new government formed that was inclusive of all the parties.
The effectiveness of the CLNAI gained Allied praise as noted in the following Allied field officer report:
“Assistance to the Italian partisans has paid a good dividend. The toll of bridges blown, locomotives derailed, odd Germans eliminated, small groups of transport destroyed or captured, small garrisons liquidated, factories demolished, mounts week by week. The Germans nerves are so strained, their unenviable administrative situation taxed so much further, that large bodies of German and Italian Republican troops are constantly tied down in an effort to curtail partisan activity. Occasionally pitched battles have been fought, with losses to the enemy comparable to those they might suffer in a full-scale Allied attack."
Although the Allies considered the Badoglio regime the “official” government, they began to collaborate with the partisans and their political representatives. The OSS realized that the partisan brigades would be an effective force behind the lines, and their usefulness was determined by a brigade’s military importance, regardless of its party affiliation.
The partisans demonstrated consistent support for the Allies throughout the Italian campaign. Operations behind the lines became crucial after a failed landing at Anzio in January 1945. Until the fall of the Gothic Line in April 1945 the partisans’ greatest contributions to the Allied effort were in precision acts of sabotage and their ability to communicate the exact positions of the military targets for Allied bombing raids.
The partisan movement redefined Italy politically. Despite the strong political disagreements among the anti-Fascist parties, the Resistance’s experience was a practice in democracy following twenty years of dictatorship. Regardless of their social differences and rank in the brigades, all, men and women were involved in decision-making and as a result, after the war, women were able to vote for the first time.
Through the Resistance, the Italians gained their right to freedom and self-determination. Italians acknowledge this by celebrating April 25th ,the day of the final insurrection and liberation of Milan in 1945 rather than the official surrender by German Field Marshall Kesserling one week later, as the official end of WWII in Italy.
In the mountain valleys and towns, armed groups were formed by former Italian soldiers fleeing the German round-ups, and civilians fleeing the Fascist drafts. The brigate partigiane (partisan brigades) organized around natural leaders who often belonged to or had strong connections with the anti-Fascist political groups, in turn giving the groups a specific political leaning.
Although there was concern about the strong Communist Party contingent in the Resistance, the OSS believed that a revolutionary uprising, such as the one that had occurred in Greece, was not a likely possibility. However, the aims of the Italian Resistance were far more political than their Allied counterparts acknowledged, resulting in conflicts within the partisan ranks. The differences were reconciled when negotiations between all of the underground political parties led to the formation of the Committee of National Liberation of Northern Italy (CLNAI) in January 1944, which provided both military and political organization to the Resistance groups in opposition to the monarchy led by Prime Minister Badoglio’s government in the South.
Prime Minister Badoglio and the king were culturally and politically opposed to a war of the people, and tried to neutralize the Resistance. However, after the liberation of Rome (June 1944), the monarchy and CLNAI struck an uneasy truce. Badoglio resigned, and a new government formed that was inclusive of all the parties.
The effectiveness of the CLNAI gained Allied praise as noted in the following Allied field officer report:
“Assistance to the Italian partisans has paid a good dividend. The toll of bridges blown, locomotives derailed, odd Germans eliminated, small groups of transport destroyed or captured, small garrisons liquidated, factories demolished, mounts week by week. The Germans nerves are so strained, their unenviable administrative situation taxed so much further, that large bodies of German and Italian Republican troops are constantly tied down in an effort to curtail partisan activity. Occasionally pitched battles have been fought, with losses to the enemy comparable to those they might suffer in a full-scale Allied attack."
Although the Allies considered the Badoglio regime the “official” government, they began to collaborate with the partisans and their political representatives. The OSS realized that the partisan brigades would be an effective force behind the lines, and their usefulness was determined by a brigade’s military importance, regardless of its party affiliation.
The partisans demonstrated consistent support for the Allies throughout the Italian campaign. Operations behind the lines became crucial after a failed landing at Anzio in January 1945. Until the fall of the Gothic Line in April 1945 the partisans’ greatest contributions to the Allied effort were in precision acts of sabotage and their ability to communicate the exact positions of the military targets for Allied bombing raids.
The partisan movement redefined Italy politically. Despite the strong political disagreements among the anti-Fascist parties, the Resistance’s experience was a practice in democracy following twenty years of dictatorship. Regardless of their social differences and rank in the brigades, all, men and women were involved in decision-making and as a result, after the war, women were able to vote for the first time.
Through the Resistance, the Italians gained their right to freedom and self-determination. Italians acknowledge this by celebrating April 25th ,the day of the final insurrection and liberation of Milan in 1945 rather than the official surrender by German Field Marshall Kesserling one week later, as the official end of WWII in Italy.
