118-767: The Ispettorato Militare del Lavoro ( ILM ), informally called the Organizzazione Paladino or Azione Graziani , was an organization of the Italian Social Republic during World War II composed of volunteer labourers "to collaborate with the German authorities in repairing roads and railways, and in general carry out other work of either a civil or military nature." The organization was proposed by General Francesco Paladino . With German agreement, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani appointed Paladino its first director on 6 October 1943. Its headquarters
236-683: A truce with Allied forces, without consulting either Mussolini or Hitler. Smaller units like the Black Brigades ( Brigate nere ) led by Alessandro Pavolini and the Decima Flottiglia MAS led by Junio Valerio Borghese (called " principe nero ", the Black Prince) fought for the RSI during its entire existence. The Germans were satisfied if these units were able to participate in anti-partisan activities . In March 1944,
354-722: A "sawdust Caesar ". The new government began secret negotiations with the Allied powers and made preparations for the capitulation of Italy. These surrender talks implied a commitment from Badoglio to leave the Axis alliance . While the Germans formally recognised the new status quo in Italian politics, they intervened by sending some of the best units of the Wehrmacht to Italy. This was done both to resist new Allied advances and to face
472-554: A civil or military nature." The organization was proposed by General Francesco Paladino . With German agreement, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani appointed Paladino its first director on 6 October 1943. Its headquarters was initially in Rome and it was under the authority of the Ministry of Defence. Women volunteers served in uniform as noncombatants in paramilitary units and police formations ( Servizio Ausiliario Femminile ). The commander
590-645: A completely totalitarian state . During the preceding twenty years of the Fascist association with the Savoy monarchy of the Kingdom of Italy, some of the actions of the Fascists had been restricted by the monarchy. However, the formation of the RSI allowed Mussolini to be the official head of an Italian state and it also allowed the Fascists to return to their earlier republican stances. In one way or another, most of
708-461: A more active role in pushing the Germans out of Lapland, thus intensifying hostilities. The Germans adopted a scorched-earth policy, and proceeded to lay waste to the entire northern half of the country as they retreated. Around 100,000 people lost their homes, adding to the burden of post-war reconstruction. The actual loss of life, however, was relatively light. Finland lost approximately 1,000 troops and Germany about 2,000. The Finnish army expelled
826-569: A name-based estimate of 74 Jews), most likely perished in Nazi concentration camps . During World War II , Finland was anomalous: It was the only European country bordering the Soviet Union in 1939 which was still unoccupied by 1945. It was a country which sided with Germany, but in which native Jews and almost all refugees were safe from persecution. It was the only country that fought alongside Nazi Germany which maintained democracy throughout
944-678: A new Fascist state under the protection of the Wehrmacht. Mussolini balked; he was tired of the responsibilities of the war and unwilling to retake power. Hitler told him the alternative would be a German military administration that would treat Italy no differently from other occupied countries. Hitler also threatened to destroy Milan , Genoa and Turin unless Mussolini agreed to set up a revived Fascist government. Reluctantly, Mussolini agreed to Hitler's demands. Mussolini returned to Italy and settled in Milan, from where on 15 September he announced
1062-552: A new constitution, but that was cancelled by Mussolini on 14 November 1943 and delayed until after the end of the war. The disintegration of the Italian Social Republic at the end of the war meant that no new constitution was written. The RSI was led by the Republican Fascist Party , established on 18 September 1943 out of the disbanded National Fascist Party . The party's official newspaper
1180-675: A part of Finland before. This resulted with Stalin asking Roosevelt for help in restoring peaceful relations between Finland and the Soviet Union on 4 August 1941. Finland's refusal of the Soviet offer of territorial concessions in exchange for a peace treaty would later cause Great Britain to declare war on Finland on 6 December (the US maintained diplomatic relations with Finland until the summer of 1944). The German and Finnish troops in Northern Finland were less successful, failing to take
1298-689: A part of Finland. After the extinction of the Hohenzollern monarchy on 9 November 1918, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became independent, German troops left Finland, and British ships patrolled the Baltic Sea. Mannerheim was elected regent by the Eduskunta , and Finnish policy became pro-Entente as the western powers intervened in the Russian Civil War (7 November 1917 – 16 June 1923). Mannerheim favoured intervention against
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#17327720325411416-622: A second political party called the National Republican Socialist Rally (RNRS), later rebranded as the Italian Socialist Republican Party) under the leadership of Edmondo Cione. The party supported a leftist view of fascism strongly focused on the socialization of the economy, and included several former socialists, such as Pulvio Zocchi, Carlo Silvestri, and Walter Mocchi. It also published a newspaper called L'Italia del Popolo . It
1534-742: The Adriatic Sea and five in the Black Sea ) and one larger submarine, CM1 . Troops of the Decima Flottiglia MAS (the elite Italian frogman corps) fought primarily as a land unit of the RSI. Some of the naval personnel at the BETASOM submarine base in Bordeaux , France , remained loyal to Mussolini. The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy and the disbandment of the MVSN or " Blackshirts " saw
1652-791: The Allied landings in Sicily , on a motion by Dino Grandi , the Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Benito Mussolini . Mussolini's authority had been undermined by a series of military defeats from the start of Italy's entry into the war during June 1940, including the bombing of Rome , the loss of the African colonies in the East African and North African campaigns ,
1770-463: The Grand Council of Fascism —with the support of King Victor Emmanuel III — overthrew and arrested Mussolini . The new government began secret peace negotiations with the Allied powers but when the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September, Nazi Germany was prepared and quickly intervened. German troops seized control of the northern half of Italy , freed Mussolini , and brought him to
1888-573: The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) declared that the Treaties of Rome of 18 May 1941 with the Kingdom of Italy were null and void and annexed the portion of Dalmatia that had been ceded to Italy as part of those treaties. The NDH attempted to annex Zara , which had been a recognized territory of Italy since 1919, but Germany prevented the NDH from doing this. Because of these actions,
2006-630: The LXXXXVII "Liguria" Army under Graziani and were placed to guard the western flank of the Gothic Line facing France. The fourth RSI division, the 1st Italian "Italia" Infantry Division , was attached to the German 14th Army in a sector of the Apennine Mountains thought least likely to be attacked. On 26 December 1944, several sizeable RSI military units, including elements of the 4th Italian "Monterosa Division" Alpine Division and
2124-773: The League of Nations , and as a result, the Soviet Union was expelled from that body on 14 December. The aim of the invasion was to liberate the 'Red Finns' and eventually annex Finland to the Soviet Union . To this end, a puppet government, the Finnish Democratic Republic , was established in Terijoki under the leadership of the exiled O. W. Kuusinen . Strategic goals of the Red Army included cutting Finland in half and capturing Petsamo in
2242-538: The National Republican State of Italy (Italian: Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia ; SNRI ), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (Italian: Repubblica di Salò , Italian: [reˈpubblika di saˈlɔ] ), was a German puppet state and fascist rump state with limited diplomatic recognition that was created during the latter part of World War II . It existed from
2360-634: The Paris Peace Treaty , Finland was classified as an ally of Nazi Germany, bearing its responsibility for the war. The treaty imposed heavy war reparations on Finland and stipulated the lease of the Porkkala area near the Finnish capital Helsinki as a military base for fifty years. The reparations were initially thought to be crippling for the economy, but a determined effort was made to pay them. The reparations were reduced by 25% in 1948 by
2478-525: The Red Army launched a major strategic offensive against Finland , attaining vast numerical superiority and surprising the Finnish army. This attack pushed the Finnish forces approximately to the same positions as they were holding at the end of the Winter War. Eventually, the Soviet offensive was fought to a standstill in the Battle of Tali–Ihantala , while still tens or hundreds of kilometres in front of
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#17327720325412596-535: The Second World War initially in a defensive war against the Soviet Union , followed by another, this time offensive, war against the Soviet Union acting in concert with Nazi Germany and then finally fighting alongside the Allies against Germany. The first two major conflicts in which Finland was directly involved were the defensive Winter War against an invasion by the Soviet Union in 1939, followed by
2714-440: The de facto capital became the small town of Salò on Lake Garda, midway between Milan and Venice , where Mussolini resided along with the foreign office of the RSI. While Rome itself was still under Axis control at the time, given the city's proximity to Allied lines and the threat of civil unrest, neither the Germans nor Mussolini himself wanted him to return to Rome. On 18 September, Mussolini made his first public address to
2832-568: The de facto capital was Salò (hence the colloquial name of the state), a small town on Lake Garda , near Brescia , where Mussolini and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were headquartered. The Italian Social Republic nominally exercised sovereignty in Northern and Central Italy , but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control. In July 1943, after the Allies had pushed Italy out of North Africa and subsequently invaded Sicily ,
2950-635: The 3rd Italian "San Marco" Marine Division, participated in Operation Winter Storm . This was a combined German and Italian offensive against the United States Army 's 92nd Infantry Division . The battle was fought in the Apennines. While limited in scale, this was a successful offensive and the RSI units did their part. The RSI military was under the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni while Field Marshal Rodolfo Graziani ,
3068-677: The Axis forces north of the Gothic Line , Mussolini declared that "he would fight to the last Italian" and spoke of turning Milan into the " Stalingrad of Italy", where Fascism would make its last glorious fight. Despite such strong rhetoric, Mussolini considered evacuating Fascists into Switzerland, although this was opposed by Germany, which instead proposed that Mussolini and key Fascist officials be taken into exile in Germany. Further disintegration of support for his government occurred as fascist and German military officials secretly tried to negotiate
3186-613: The Banda Koch on Germany's behalf. The RSI took revenge against the 19 members who had voted against Mussolini on the Grand Council with the Verona trial ( processo di Verona ) which handed down a death sentence to all of the accused but one. Only six of the 19 were in RSI custody ( Giovanni Marinelli , Carlo Pareschi , Luciano Gottardi , Tullio Cianetti , Emilio De Bono and Mussolini's own son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano ). With
3304-490: The Bolsheviks and Germany collapsed, German troops intervened in the country and occupied Helsinki and Finland. The Red faction was defeated and the survivors were subjected to a reign of terror, in which at least 12,000 people died. A new government, with Juho Kusti Paasikivi as prime minister, pursued a pro-German policy and sought to annex Russian Karelia , which had a Finnish-speaking majority, despite never having been
3422-695: The Bolsheviks but suspicion of the White Russians who refused to recognise Finnish independence led to his aggressive policy being overruled; then, the Bolshevik victory in Russia forestalled Finnish hostilities. Paasikivi led a delegation to Tartu , in Estonia, with instructions to establish a frontier from Lake Ladoga in the south, via Lake Onega to the White Sea in the north. The importance of
3540-722: The Continuation War. Finnish political policy during the Cold War was aimed at appeasing the Soviet Union in order to maintain good relations. In 1809, the Russian Empire seized Finland from Sweden in the Finnish War . Finland entered a personal union with the Russian Empire as a grand duchy with extensive autonomy . On 6 December 1917, during the Russian Civil War , the Finnish parliament ( Suomen Eduskunta ) declared independence from Russia, which
3658-589: The Finnish Army controlled East Karelia between 1941 and 1944, several concentration camps were set up for Russian civilians . The first camp was set up on 24 October 1941, in Petrozavodsk. Of these interned civilians 4,361 perished mainly due to malnourishment, 90% of them during the spring and summer of 1942. Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact , but was aided in its military assault on
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3776-421: The Finnish army had just 9 smaller divisions. The Soviets also enjoyed overwhelming superiority in the number of armour and air units deployed. The Finns had to defend a border that was some 1287 km (800 miles) in length, putting them at a significant disadvantage. The Winter War was fought in two Soviet offensives, divided by a short lull. The war was fought mainly in three areas. The Karelian Isthmus and
3894-479: The Finnish efforts to improve the security of the country. Defensive arrangements were attempted with Sweden and the United Kingdom, but the political and military situation in the context of the Second World War rendered these efforts fruitless. Finland then turned to Nazi Germany for military aid. As the German offensive against the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) approached, the cooperation between
4012-517: The Finns to be Finnish territory. No agreement was reached. On 26 November the Soviet Union accused the Finnish army of shelling the village of Mainila . It was subsequently found that the Soviets had in fact shelled their own village, in order to create a pretext for withdrawal from their non-aggression pact with Finland. On 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland. The attack was denounced by
4130-414: The German orbit, did not recognize it. Unofficial relations were maintained with Argentina , Portugal , Spain , and, through commercial agent, Switzerland . Vatican City did not recognize the RSI. Around 25 April 1945, 19 months after its founding, the RSI all but collapsed . In Italy, the day is known as Liberation Day ( festa della liberazione ). On that day, a general partisan uprising, alongside
4248-485: The German-occupied area to establish a satellite regime. The Italian Social Republic was proclaimed on 23 September 1943. Although the RSI claimed sovereignty over all of Italy and its colonies, its de facto jurisdiction only extended to a vastly reduced portion of the country. The RSI received diplomatic recognition only from the Axis powers and their satellite states. Finland and Vichy France , although in
4366-539: The Germans after the armistice and so resistance to the German takeover was scattered and of little effect. King Victor Emmanuel made no effort to rally resistance to the Germans, instead fleeing with his retinue to the safety of the Allied lines. On 10 September 1943, after two days of battle between the Wehrmacht and the remnants of the Royal Italian Army , Rome fell to the Germans. The new Italian government had moved Mussolini from place to place while he
4484-524: The Germans to tie them more tightly together. Finland managed not to take part in the siege of Leningrad despite Hitler's wishes, and refused to cut the Murmansk railway. Finnish Jews were not persecuted, and even among extremists of the Finnish Right they were highly tolerated, as many leaders of the movement came from the clergy. Of approximately 500 Jewish refugees, eight were handed over to
4602-473: The Germans, a fact for which Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen issued an official apology in 2000. The field synagogue operated by the Finnish army was probably a unique phenomenon in the Eastern Front of the war. Finnish Jews fought alongside other Finns. About 2,600–2,800 Soviet prisoners of war were handed over to the Germans in exchange for roughly 2,200 Finnic prisoners of war held by
4720-572: The Germans. In November 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center submitted an official request to Finnish President Tarja Halonen for a full-scale investigation by the Finnish authorities of the prisoner exchange. In the subsequent study by Professor Heikki Ylikangas it turned out that about 2,000 of the exchanged prisoners joined the Russian Liberation Army . The rest, mostly army and political officers, (among them
4838-479: The Italian people since his rescue, in which he commended the loyalty of Hitler as an ally while condemning Victor Emmanuel for betraying Italian Fascism. He declared: "It is not the regime that has betrayed the monarchy, it is the monarchy that has betrayed the regime". He also formally repudiated his previous support of the monarchy, saying: "When a monarchy fails in its duties, it loses every reason for being…The state we want to establish will be national and social in
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4956-592: The Italian population, his liberation made it possible for a new German-dependent Fascist Italian state to be created. Timeline Three days following his rescue in the Gran Sasso raid, Mussolini was taken to Germany for a meeting with Hitler in Rastenburg at his headquarters in East Prussia . While Mussolini was in poor health and wanted to retire, Hitler wanted him to return to Italy and start
5074-480: The Italian resistance movement and political enemies. On 15 August 1944, the GNR became part of the National Republican Army. The Ispettorato Militare del Lavoro ( ILM ), informally called the Organizzazione Paladino or Azione Graziani , was an organization of the Italian Social Republic during World War II composed of volunteer labourers "to collaborate with the German authorities in repairing roads and railways, and in general carry out other work of either
5192-437: The Kingdom of Italy surrendered and many Italian soldiers in the Aegean were tired of the war and had become opposed to Mussolini, Italian Fascist loyalists remained allied to Germany in the Greek campaign; German forces in Greece convinced 10,000 Italians in the Aegean to continue to support their war effort. In 1944, Mussolini urged Hitler to focus on destroying Britain rather than the Soviet Union, as Mussolini claimed that it
5310-399: The Murmansk railway, built in 1916, led the Soviet delegation to reject the Finnish border proposal, and the treaty of 14 October 1920 recognised a border agreement in which Finland obtained the northern port of Petsamo (Pechenga), an outlet to the Arctic Ocean , and a border roughly the same as that of the former Grand Duchy of Finland . Claims on areas of Eastern Karelia were abandoned and
5428-456: The RSI held the NDH in contempt and refused to have diplomatic relations with the NDH or to recognize its territorial claims. After the Italian capitulation, the Italian Islands of the Aegean were occupied by the Germans (see Dodecanese campaign ). During the German occupation, the islands remained under the nominal sovereignty of the RSI but were de facto subject to the German military command. The Italian concession of Tientsin in China
5546-491: The RSI. The RSI's National Republican Navy ( Marina Nazionale Repubblicana or MNR) only reached a twentieth the size of the Italian Co-belligerent Navy that fought on the Allied side after the September 1943 armistice. The National Republican Navy consisted of nine motor torpedo boats (two large and seven small) and dozens of MTSM small motor torpedo boats and MTM explosive motorboats . The National Republican Navy also operated 15 CB -class midget submarines (ten in
5664-421: The Red Army seemed to have inexhaustible amounts of ammunition and supplies, as attacks were always preceded by barrages, followed by aerial assaults and then random troop movements against the lines. Finnish military and government leaders came to feel that their only hope of preserving their nation lay in negotiating a peace treaty with Moscow . The tenacity of the Finnish people, both military and civilian, in
5782-493: The Republic of China and the Empire of Manchuria . Finland and Vichy France , despite being in the Axis orbit, did not recognise the RSI. Even otherwise sympathetic States such as Spain or Portugal refused to establish formal diplomatic relations with the RSI. The Holy See did not recognise the RSI. During the existence of the Italian Social Republic, Mussolini, whose former government had banned trade unions and strikes, began to make increasingly populist appeals to
5900-406: The Russian port city of Murmansk during Operation Silver Fox . On 31 July 1941 the United Kingdom launched Operation EF to demonstrate support for the Soviet Union. These raids were unsuccessful. In December 1941, the Finnish army took defensive positions. This led to a long period of relative calm in the front line, lasting until 1944. During this period, starting at 1941 but especially after
6018-437: The Soviet Union and were paid off in 1952. Porkkala was returned to Finnish control in 1956. In subsequent years the position of Finland was unique in the Cold War . The country was heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, but was the only country on the Soviet pre-World War II border to retain democracy and a market economy . Finland entered into the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance (YYA Treaty) with
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#17327720325416136-457: The Soviet Union by Germany from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and in its defence against Soviet attacks in 1944 prior to the separate peace with the Soviet Union in 1944. Finland was led by its elected president and parliament during the whole 1939–1945 period. As a result, some political scientists name it as one of the few instances where a democratic country was engaged in a war against one or more other democratic countries, namely
6254-463: The Soviet Union in which the Soviet Union agreed to the neutral status of Finland. Arms purchases were balanced between East and West until the fall of the Soviet Union. During the Continuation War (1941–1944) Finland's wartime government claimed to be a co-belligerent of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, and abstained from signing the Tripartite Pact . Finland was dependent on food, fuel, and armament shipments from Germany during this period, and
6372-426: The Soviet leadership, as they were in a race to reach Berlin before the Western Allies . This, and the heavy casualties inflicted on the Red Army by the Finns, led to the transfer of most troops from the Finnish front. On 4 September 1944 a ceasefire was agreed, and the Moscow Armistice between the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on one side and Finland on the other was signed on 19 September. The Moscow armistice
6490-426: The Soviet leadership. On 23 August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which included a secret clause demarcating Finland as part of the Soviet sphere of influence. On 12 October the Soviet Union began negotiations with Finland regarding the disposition of the Karelian Isthmus , the Hanko Peninsula , and various islands in the Gulf of Finland, all of which were considered by
6608-404: The Soviets accepted that the south-eastern border would not be moved west of Petrograd. During the Interwar period , relations between Finland and the Soviet Union were tense. Some elements in Finland maintained the dream of a "Greater Finland" which included the Soviet-controlled part of Karelia , while the proximity of the Finnish border to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) caused worry among
6726-468: The Soviets had become bogged down, with the two main fronts at a standstill as the Finns counterattacked with greater strength than anticipated. With the failure of two of its three offensives by the end of December, Soviet headquarters ordered a cessation of operations. By 27 December, it was observed that the Soviets were digging in on the Karelian Isthmus. In the north, the Finns had been pushed back to Nautsi , but with reinforcements, had been able to take
6844-434: The USSR was willing to negotiate peace. The last phase began in February 1940, with a major artillery barrage that began on the 2nd and lasted until the 11th, accompanied by reconnaissance raids at key objectives. The Soviets, using new equipment and materials, also began using the tactic of rotating troops from the reserve to the front, thus keeping constant pressure on the Finnish defenders. Relative to Finnish resources,
6962-472: The United States division's advance. However, the situation continued to deteriorate for the Axis forces on Gothic Line. By mid-April 1945, the final Allied offensive in Italy had led German defences to collapse. At the end of that month, the last remaining troops of RSI were bottled up along with two Wehrmacht divisions at Collecchio by 1st Brazilian Division being forced to surrender after some days of fighting. On 29 April, Graziani surrendered and
7080-411: The area of Lake Ladoga were the primary focus of the Soviet war effort. A two-pronged attack was launched in this region, with one pincer engaging Finnish forces on the Isthmus while the other went around Lake Ladoga in an attempt at encircling the defenders. This force was then to advance to and capture the city of Viipuri . The second front was in central Karelia, where Soviet forces were to advance to
7198-444: The attack and joining in the attack on the USSR almost immediately. The 1947 Paris Peace treaty signed by Finland stated that Finland had been "an ally of Hitlerite Germany" and bore partial responsibility for the conflict. Finland was an anomaly among German allies in that it retained an independent, democratic government. Moreover, during the war, Finland kept its army outside the German command structure despite numerous attempts by
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#17327720325417316-535: The beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of Axis troops in Italy in May 1945 . The German occupation triggered widespread national resistance against it and the Italian Social Republic, leading to the Italian Civil War . The Italian Social Republic was the second and last incarnation of the Italian Fascist state, led by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his reformed anti-monarchist Republican Fascist Party . The newly founded state declared Rome its capital but
7434-400: The bulk of the 1st Italian volunteers Storm Brigade were sent to the Anzio beachhead , where they fought alongside their German allies, receiving favourable reports and taking heavy losses. In recognition of their performance, Heinrich Himmler declared the unit to be fully integrated into the Waffen SS . On 16 October 1943, the Rastenburg Protocol was signed with Nazi Germany and the RSI
7552-471: The city of Oulu , cutting the country in half. Finally, a drive from the north was intended to capture the Petsamo region. The first attack, on 30 November 1939, was an aerial bombardment of the city of Helsinki , with subsidiary attacks all along the Finnish-Soviet border. This had the effect of instantly unifying the once deeply-divided Finnish people in defense of their homes and country, without any referendums needing to be carried out. By late December
7670-425: The commander of the German occupying forces in Italy. The RSI had no constitution or organized economy, and its financing was dependent entirely on funding from Berlin. German forces themselves had little respect for Mussolini's failed fascism, and considered the regime merely as a tool for maintaining order, such as repressing the Italian partisans . This work was also carried out by the infamous Pietro Koch and
7788-439: The creation of the Republican Fascist Party and, three days later, the resumption of the war alongside Germany and Japan. The Duce immediately announced the formation of a new republican cabinet, although they actually came from a list chosen and appointed by Hitler himself. The Italian Social Republic was proclaimed on 23 September, with Mussolini as both chief of state and prime minister. The RSI claimed Rome as its capital, but
7906-542: The defeat of the Italian Army in Russia and the Allied invasion of Sicily . The next day, King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini from office, ordered him arrested, and appointed Marshal Pietro Badoglio as new prime minister. By this time, the monarchy, a number of Fascist government members, and the general Italian population had grown tired of the futile war effort which had driven Italy into subordination to and subjugation by Nazi Germany . The failed war effort left Mussolini humiliated at home and abroad as
8024-437: The democracies in the Allied forces. However, nearly all Finnish military engagements in World War II were fought solely against an autocratic power, the Soviet Union, and the lack of direct conflicts specifically with other democratic countries leads others to exclude Finnish involvement in World War II as an example of a war between two or more democracies. Finnish President Tarja Halonen , speaking in 2005, said that "For us
8142-460: The efforts of Allied forces during their final offensive in Italy , managed to oust the Germans and the remaining RSI forces from Italy almost entirely. Mussolini was captured and killed by Italian partisans on 28 April as he and an entourage attempted to flee. The RSI Minister of Defense, Rodolfo Graziani , surrendered what was left of the Italian Social Republic on 1 May, one day after the German forces in Italy capitulated. On 24 July 1943, after
8260-449: The end of World War II, Finland remained an independent country. However, Finland ceded approximately 10% of its territory to the Soviet Union, including Viipuri (Finland's second-largest city [Population Register] or fourth-largest city [Church and Civil Register], depending on the census data ). Finland was also required to pay out a large amount of war reparations to the Soviet Union and to formally acknowledge partial responsibility for
8378-413: The establishment of the National Republican Guard ( Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana or GNR) and the Republican Police Corps ( Corpo di Polizia Repubblicana ) and the emergence of the Black Brigades ( brigate nere ). The GNR consisted of former OVRA , carabinieri, soldiers, Italian Africa Police , and others still loyal to the Fascist cause, while the Republican Police Corps was the successor agency of
8496-416: The exception of Tullio Cianetti, who received a life sentence , they were all executed on 11 January 1944 in the fort of San Procolo in Verona . The changing political and military situation re-opened questions regarding the status of Italian territories, particularly those with German-speaking majorities that were formerly under Austrian rule. Previously, Hitler had vigorously suppressed any campaigning for
8614-644: The face of a superior opponent gained the country much sympathy throughout the world; however, material support from other countries was very limited, as none of Finland's neighbors were willing to commit their militaries to a war against the USSR. The need for a diplomatic solution became even more apparent after Soviet forces broke through the Finnish defensive line on the Karelian Isthmus and moved on towards Viipuri. A peace proposal authored by Molotov
8732-455: The former governor-general of Italian Libya , was the RSI's Minister of Defense and commander-in-chief of the combined German-Italian Army Group Liguria . Mussolini, as Duce and head of state of RSI assumed supreme command over all military forces of the RSI. In February 1945, the 92nd Infantry Division again came up against RSI units. This time it was Bersaglieri of the 1st Italian "Italia" Infantry Division. The Italians successfully halted
8850-549: The higher ground and halt the Soviet advance south of Petsamo. During this period the Finns harassed supply columns and carried out raids against fortified Soviet positions. A lull followed in January 1940, as the Soviet army reassessed its strategy, and rearmed and resupplied. On 29 January, Molotov put an end to the puppet Terijoki Government and recognized the Ryti government as the legal government of Finland, informing it that
8968-403: The highest sense of the word; that is, it will be Fascist, thus returning to our origins". From the start, the Italian Social Republic was little more than a puppet state dependent entirely upon Germany and a rump state for the Fascists who are still loyal to Mussolini. Mussolini himself knew this; even as he stated in public that he was in full control of the RSI, he was well aware that he
9086-407: The image that Fascism was a progressive movement. The economic policy of the RSI was given the name " Socialization ", and Mussolini had even considered the idea of calling his new republic the "Italian 'Socialist' Republic". In practice, little resulted from the declared socialization of the economy. Unions did not exert real control of their management and took no part in state planning (as they had
9204-638: The impression of official annexation of South Tyrol. However, in practice the territory of South Tyrol within the boundaries defined by Germany as Operationszone Alpenvorland that included Trento , Bolzano and Belluno were de facto incorporated into Germany's Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg and administered by its Gauleiter Franz Hofer . The region identified by Germany as Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland that included Udine , Gorizia , Trieste , Pola and Fiume were de facto incorporated into Reichsgau Kärnten and administered by its Gauleiter Friedrich Rainer . On 10 September 1943,
9322-634: The last of the foreign troops from Finland in April 1945. The war caused great damage to infrastructure and the economy. From the autumn of 1944, the Finnish army and navy performed many mine clearance operations, especially in Karelia, Lapland and the Gulf of Finland. Sea mine clearance activities lasted until 1950. The mines caused many military and civilian casualties, particularly in Lapland. As part of
9440-459: The main Finnish line of fortifications, the Salpa Line . However, the war had exhausted Finnish resources and it was believed that the country would not be able to hold against another major attack. The worsening situation in 1944 had led to Finnish president Risto Ryti giving Germany his personal guarantee that Finland would not negotiate peace with the Soviet Union for as long as he was
9558-626: The major German defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad , intermittent peace inquiries took place. These negotiations did not lead to any settlement. In September 1943, a few months after Stalingrad, Finland indicated its independence of Germany by not recognizing the puppet Italian Social Republic , proclaimed by the Germans in northern Italy. On 16 March 1944, the President of the United States , Franklin D. Roosevelt , called for Finland to disassociate itself from Nazi Germany. On 9 June 1944,
9676-643: The massive Allied air offensive over Northern Italy. During 1944 and 1945, the ANR shot down 262 Allied aircraft for the loss in action of 158 of its own. Little of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) joined the RSI. This was because the bulk of the Regia Marina was ordered to steam to Malta at the time of the September 1943 armistice, where it was out of the reach of the Germans and
9794-583: The negotiations, acted immediately by ordering German troops to seize control of Northern and Central Italy. The Germans quickly occupied Italy, disarmed the Italian troops and took over all of the Italian Army's materials and equipment , meeting only limited resistance. The Germans also dissolved the Italian occupation zone in southeastern France and forced Italian troops stationed there to leave. The Italian armed forces were not given clear orders to resist
9912-631: The north and Helsinki in the south. The leader of the Leningrad Military District, Andrei Zhdanov , commissioned a celebratory piece from Dmitri Shostakovich , Suite on Finnish Themes , intended to be performed as the marching bands of the Red Army paraded through Helsinki. The Soviets had been building up their forces on the border during the earlier negotiations, and now fielded four armies composed of 16 divisions, with another three being brought into position; meanwhile,
10030-599: The offensive Continuation War , together with Germany and the other Axis Powers against the Soviets, in 1941–1944. The third conflict, the Lapland War against Germany in 1944–1945, followed the signing of the Moscow Armistice with the Allied Powers, which stipulated expulsion of Nazi German forces from Finnish territory. The Soviet attempt to conquer Finland in the Winter War was thwarted, and by
10148-411: The power to do on paper after the socialization). The Italian industrial sector was excluded from the new reforms by the Germans and Italian industrialists were opposed to the changes in any case. The Italian labour force (large parts of which had remained leftist despite fascist rule) regarded socialization as a sham and responded with a massive strike on 1 March 1944. In Greece, while the government of
10266-558: The predictably imminent defection of Italy. While Badoglio continued to swear loyalty to Germany and the Axis powers, Italian government emissaries prepared to sign an armistice at Cassibile in Allied-occupied Sicily , which was finalized on 3 September. On 8 September, Badoglio announced Italy's armistice with the Allies (although termed an "armistice", its terms made it akin to an unconditional surrender ). German Führer Adolf Hitler and his staff, long aware of
10384-517: The president. In exchange, Germany delivered weapons to the Finns. After the Soviet offensive was halted, however, Ryti resigned. Due to the war, elections could not be held, and therefore the Parliament selected the Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim , the Finnish commander-in-chief , as president and charged him with negotiating a peace. The Finnish front had become a sideshow for
10502-641: The prominent leaders of the post-war Italian far-right (parliamentary and extraparliamentary) were associated with the experience of the RSI. Among them were Filippo Anfuso , Pino Romualdi , Rodolfo Graziani , Junio Valerio Borghese , Licio Gelli , and Giorgio Almirante . Most of the 8,000 Italian Jews who died in the Holocaust in Italy were killed during the 20 months of the Salò regime. Finland in World War II Finland participated in
10620-553: The public security complex formed by the Directorate of Public Security and the Public Security Agents Corps. The Black Brigade was formed by the new fascist party members both young and old. Both units fought alongside Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) counterparts against the Italian resistance movement in an extensive anti- partisan war. The Black Brigades committed many atrocities in their fight against
10738-496: The region was the nickel mines in the Petsamo area. Initially the warfare was cautious on both sides, reflecting the previous cooperation of the two countries against their common enemy, but by the end of 1944 the fighting intensified. Finland and Germany had made an informal agreement and schedule for German troops to withdraw from Lapland to Norway. The Soviet Union did not accept this "friendliness" and pressured Finland to take
10856-473: The return of lands such as South Tyrol in order to maintain good relations with his Italian ally. In the aftermath of Italy's abandonment of the Axis on 8 September 1943, Germany seized and de facto incorporated some Italian territories. However, Hitler refused to officially annex South Tyrol in spite of urging by local German officials and instead supported having the RSI hold official sovereignty over these territories and forbade all measures that would give
10974-520: The terms of the treaty, Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the USSR. This was more territory than the Soviets had originally demanded . The period of peace following the Winter War was widely regarded in Finland as temporary, even when peace was announced in March 1940. A period of frantic diplomatic efforts and rearmament followed. The Soviet Union kept up intense pressure on Finland, thereby hastening
11092-458: The two countries intensified. German troops arrived in Finland and took up positions, mostly in Lapland , from where they would invade the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June 1941. On 25 June the Soviet Union launched an air raid against Finnish cities, after which Finland declared war and also allowed German troops stationed in Finland to begin offensive warfare. The resulting war
11210-408: The war. With the removal of the monarchy, Mussolini claimed the full ideology of Fascism could be pursued; and to gain popular support he reversed over twenty years of Fascist policy of backing private property and relative economic independence by ordering the nationalization of all companies with over 100 employees. Mussolini even reached out to ex-communist Nicola Bombacci to help him in spreading
11328-477: The war. It was in fact the only democracy in mainland Europe that remained so despite being an involved party in the war. According to the Finnish records 19,085 Soviet prisoners of war died in Finnish prison camps during the Continuation War, which means that 29.6% of Soviet POWs taken by the Finns did not survive. The high number of fatalities was mainly due to malnutrition and diseases. However, about 1,000 POWs were shot, primarily when attempting to escape. When
11446-452: The war. The RSI became so desperate for soldiers that it granted convicts freedom if they would join the army and imposed a sentence of death on anyone who opposed being conscripted. Autonomous military forces in the RSI also fought against the Allies including the notorious Decima Flottiglia MAS of Prince Junio Valerio Borghese . Borghese held no allegiance to Mussolini and even suggested that he would take him prisoner if he could. During
11564-411: The whole of Petsamo over to the Soviet Union. Finland also agreed to legalize communist parties and ban fascist organizations. Finally, the armistice also demanded that Finland expel German troops from its territory, which was the cause of the Lapland War . The Lapland War was fought between Finland and Nazi Germany in Lapland , the northernmost part of Finland. The main strategic interest of Germany in
11682-571: The winter of 1944–1945, armed Italians were on both sides of the Gothic Line . On the Allied side were four Italian groups of volunteers from the old Italian army. These Italian volunteers were equipped and trained by the British. On the Axis side were four RSI divisions. Three of the RSI divisions, the 2nd Grenadier Division "Littorio" , the 3rd Italian "San Marco" Marine Division and the 4th Italian Monterosa Alpini Division were allocated to
11800-438: The working class. He claimed to regret many of the decisions made earlier in supporting the interests of big business and promised a new beginning if the Italian people would be willing to grant him a second chance. Mussolini claimed that he had never totally abandoned his left-wing influences, insisting that he had attempted to nationalize property in 1939–1940 but had been forced to delay such action for tactical reasons related to
11918-656: The world war meant a separate war against the Soviet Union and we did not incur any debt of gratitude to others". Finnish President Mauno Koivisto also expressed similar views in 1993. However the view that Finland only fought separately during the Second World War remains controversial within Finland and was not generally accepted outside Finland. In a 2008 poll of 28 Finnish historians carried out by Helsingin Sanomat , 16 said that Finland had been an ally of Nazi Germany, six said it had not been, and six did not take
12036-459: Was Il Lavoro Fascista , formerly the publication of Fascist trade unions; Mussolini was largely indifferent toward the new paper and generally wrote on the Corriere della Sera instead. The Duce explicitly refused to revive his former newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia , not willing to let it become a mouthpiece of the German occupation. On 14 February 1945, Mussolini authorized the formation of
12154-751: Was Britain that had turned the conflict into a world war and that the British Empire must be destroyed in order for peace to come in Europe. Mussolini wanted to conduct a small offensive along the Gothic Line against the Allies with his new RSI Divisions; in December 1944, the Alpine Division "Monte Rosa" with some German battalions fought the Battle of Garfagnana with some success. As the situation became desperate, with Allied forces in control of most of Italy and from February 1945 resumed pushing
12272-471: Was accepted by the Bolshevik government of the Soviet Union on 31 December. In January 1918, the Eduskunta ordered General Carl Mannerheim to use local Finnish White Guards to disarm Finnish Red Guards and Russian troops throughout the country, a process which began on 27 January and led to the beginning of the Finnish Civil War . After the Eastern Front and peace negotiations between
12390-483: Was allowed to raise division-sized military formations. This protocol allowed Marshal Rodolfo Graziani to raise four RSI divisions totalling 52,000 men. In July 1944, the first of these divisions completed training and was sent to the front. Recruiting military forces was difficult for the RSI as most of the Italian Army had been interned by German forces in 1943, many military-aged Italians had been conscripted into forced labour in Germany and few wanted to participate in
12508-680: Was ceded by the RSI to the Japanese puppet Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China . The RSI was recognized as the legitimate government of Italy by Germany , Imperial Japan , Bulgaria , Romania , Hungary and Thailand ; it was also recognised by puppet and client States of the Axis, such as the Independent State of Croatia , the Slovak Republic , the Reorganised National Government of
12626-564: Was in captivity in an attempt to foil any attempts at rescue. Despite this, the Germans eventually pinpointed Mussolini at the Hotel Campo Imperatore at Gran Sasso . On 12 September, Mussolini was freed by the Germans in Operation Eiche (directed by SS - Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny ) in the mountains of Abruzzo . After being freed, Mussolini was flown to Bavaria . Gathering what support he still had among
12744-612: Was influenced to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact , a less formal alliance than the Tripartite Pact seen as by the Nazi leadership as a "litmus test of loyalty". The Finnish leadership adhered to many written and oral agreements on practical co-operation with Germany during the conflict. Finland was one of Germany's most important allies in the attack on the Soviet Union, allowing German troops to be based in Finland before
12862-758: Was initially in Rome and it was under the authority of the ministry of defence. The initial goal was to recruit 90,000 workers, but recruitment lagged expectations. There was competing recruitment by the German Organisation Todt (for work in Italy) and the Arbeitseinsatz (for work in Germany). By the spring of 1944, the Organizzazione Paladino consisted of 50 battalions divided into centurie . It employed 40,000 men. This
12980-522: Was known to the Finns as the Continuation War . During the summer and autumn of 1941 the Finnish Army was on the offensive, retaking the territories lost in the Winter War. The Finnish army also advanced further, especially in the direction of Lake Onega , (east from Lake Ladoga ), closing the blockade of the city of Leningrad from the north, and occupying Eastern Karelia , which had many ethnic Finns living there, but had never technically been
13098-515: Was little more than the Gauleiter of Lombardy . The SS kept Mussolini under what amounted to house arrest; it monitored his communications and controlled his travel. Mussolini later said that he would have preferred being sent to a concentration camp to the manner that the SS treated him. Real power rested with German General Plenipotentiary Rudolf Rahn and SS- Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff ,
13216-627: Was politically insignificant and its membership is unknown. Mussolini himself privately told German ambassador Rudolf Rahn that he only authorised the formation of the RNRS in an attempt to sway some working-class voters away from the National Liberation Committee and that it was never meant to create any real political pluralism. While the RSI supported Nazi Germany, it allowed the Italian Fascist movement to build
13334-547: Was present at Caserta when a representative of German General Heinrich von Vietinghoff -Scheel signed the unconditional instrument of surrender for all Axis forces in Italy, but since the Allies had never recognised the RSI Graziani's signature was not required at Caserta. The surrender was to take effect on 2 May; Graziani ordered all RSI forces under his command to lay down their arms on 1 May. The National Republican Air Force ( Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana or ANR)
13452-478: Was sent to Helsinki in mid-February. It placed heavy demands on Finland, claiming more land for the USSR and imposing significant diplomatic and military sanctions. By 28 February, Molotov had made his offer into an ultimatum with a 48-hour time limit, which pushed the Finnish leadership to act quickly. On 12 March 1940, the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed, with hostilities ending the following day. By
13570-460: Was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 19 September 1944 ending the Continuation War, though the final peace treaty was not to be signed until 1947 in Paris. The conditions for peace were similar to those previously agreed in the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty, with Finland being forced to cede parts of Finnish Karelia, a part of Salla and islands in the Gulf of Finland. The new armistice also handed
13688-475: Was substantially less than the 120,000–286,000 Italians serving in the Organisation Todt in Italy. During the war, it suffered 100 dead and 560 wounded. Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Sociale Italiana , Italian: [reˈpubblika soˈtʃaːle itaˈljaːna] ; RSI ; German : Italienische Sozialrepublik ), known prior to December 1943 as
13806-609: Was the air force of Italian Social Republic and also the air unit of National Republican Army. It was organized into three fighter groups , one torpedo bomber group, one bomber group, and other transport and minor units. The ANR worked closely with the German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ) in Northern Italy. In 1944, after the withdrawal of all German fighter units for home air defense over Germany, ANR fighter groups were left alone and heavily outnumbered to face
13924-503: Was the brigadier general Piera Gatteschi Fondelli . The Government of the Italian Social Republic held office from 23 September 1943 until 25 April 1945, a total of 1 year, 274 days. Its head was Benito Mussolini. The Government wrote a constitution for the Italian Social Republic, but it was never discussed or approved. On 13 October 1943, the Government announced that a Constituent Assembly would be called to write
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