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55-586: Comando Supremo (Supreme command) was the highest command echelon of the Italian Armed Forces between June 1941 and May 1945. Its predecessor, the Stato Maggiore Generale (General Staff), was a purely advisory body with no direct control of the several branches of the armed forces and with very little staff. Created amidst the exigencies of World War II , Comando Supremo was a large organization with several departments and operational command of

110-547: A Reich Minister, which essentially made him the second most powerful person in the armed forces' hierarchy after Hitler. The next officer after Keitel was Lieutenant General Alfred Jodl , who served as the OKW's Chief of Operations Staff. However, despite this seemingly powerful hierarchy, the German military's officers mostly disregarded Keitel's position, deeming him nothing more than Hitler's lackey. Other officers often had direct access to

165-568: A different trajectory from its German counterpart, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW). Whereas the German leader Adolf Hitler exercised increasing control over his armed forces as the war progressed, limiting OKW's influence on the Eastern Front , Italy's early defeats forced Mussolini to accept more and more the advice of Comando Supremo . By 1 January 1943, it had direct command of Italian forces operating in Africa , Albania , Croatia , Dalmatia ,

220-480: A dominant role in decision making. This "divide and conquer" method helped put most military decisions in Hitler's own hands, which at times included even those affecting engagements at the battalion level, a practice which, due to bureaucratic delays and Hitler's worsening indecision as the war progressed, would eventually contribute to Germany's defeat. The OKW was established by executive decree on 4 February 1938, in

275-420: A mockery of the soldier's oath of obedience to military orders. When it suits their defence they say they had to obey; when confronted with Hitler's brutal crimes, which are shown to have been within their general knowledge, they say they disobeyed. The truth is, they actively participated in all these crimes, or sat silent and acquiescent, witnessing the commission of crimes on a scale larger and more shocking than

330-451: A return to normality, in fact the situation was entirely new, since nothing like Comando Supremo had existed in Italy before the king delegated his command to Mussolini. The situation was also unusual in that Badoglio disclaimed any authority in military affairs, leaving military matters almost entirely to Comando Supremo . The result was a government in which Ambrosio was the de facto equal of

385-529: The Duce del Fascismo (Leader of Fascism). Each service now had an operations section at Comando Supremo . In addition, Comando Supremo had direct command of most Italian forces operating outside of Italy. The new Comando Supremo was much larger than the old Stato Maggiore Generale . The chief of staff was served by a secretary and a generale addetto (attached general) and presided over three departments and three coordinating offices. The First Department contained

440-688: The Führer , such as officers with the rank of field marshal, while other officers even outranked Keitel, an example being the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Hermann Göring . This position ideally meant Göring was subordinate to Keitel, but his alternate rank of Reichsmarschall made him the second most powerful person in Germany after Hitler, and he used this alternate power to circumvent Keitel and access Hitler directly whenever he wished. By June 1938,

495-528: The Führer Directives , and issuing them to the three services while having little control over them. However, as the war progressed, the OKW found itself exercising increasing amounts of direct command authority over military units, particularly in the west. This created a situation such that by 1942, the OKW held the de facto command of western forces while the Army High Command directly controlled

550-637: The Regia Aeronautica (which equates to "Royal Air Force"). During the 1930s, it was involved in its first military operations in Ethiopia in 1935, and later in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. Eventually, Italy entered World War II alongside Germany. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, Italy was divided into two sides, and the same fate befell the Regia Aeronautica . The Air Force

605-615: The Dodecanese , Greece , Montenegro , Slovenia and the Soviet Union . Under Cavallero, Comando Supremo maintained good relations with Oberbefehlshaber Süd , the command of German forces in Italy. The German military attaché in Rome, Enno von Rintelen , was seconded to Comando Supremo . By early 1943, Cavallero's subservient attitude to the Germans was an embarrassment. On 1 February 1943, he

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660-496: The Eastern Front . It was not until 28 April 1945 (two days before his suicide ) that Hitler placed the OKH directly under the OKW, finally giving the latter full command of Germany's armed forces. True to his strategy of setting different parts of the Nazi bureaucracy to compete for his favor in areas where their administration overlapped, Hitler ensured there was a rivalry between the OKW and

715-669: The Italian Civil War . During the Cold War the Army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union , it has seen extensive peacekeeping service in Lebanon , Afghanistan , and Iraq . On 29 July 2004 it became a professional all-volunteer force when conscription was finally ended. The navy of Italy was created in 1861, following

770-541: The Mediterranean Sea . After the war, the new Marina Militare , being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations. It is a blue-water navy . The Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) is a component of the navy. The air force of Italy was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923, by King Vittorio Emanuele III as

825-739: The Nuremberg trials , the OKW was indicted but acquitted of being a criminal organization because of Article 9 of the charter of the International Military Tribunal. In the opinion of the Tribunal, the General Staff and High Command is neither an "organisation" nor a "group" Although the Tribunal is of the opinion that the term "group" in Article 9 must mean something more than this collection of military officers, it has heard much evidence as to

880-570: The Sea Islands Conference of the G8 in 2004, the Carabinieri were given the mandate to establish a Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units ( CoESPU ) to spearhead the development of training and doctrinal standards for civilian police units attached to international peacekeeping missions. Italy has joined in many UN , NATO and EU operations as well as with assistance to Russia and

935-546: The Servizio Informazioni Esercito (Army Information Service) was formed at the Ministry of War to cover operational intelligence, leaving only higher-level intelligence to Comando Supremo . In June 1943, the former was renamed Reparto Informazioni Esercito (Army Intelligence Section) and downgraded to operational intelligence collecting, with Comando Supremo resuming its wider remit. Comando Supremo followed

990-912: The proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy , as the Regia Marina . The new navy's baptism of fire came during the Third Italian War of Independence against the Austrian Empire . During the First World War , it spent its major efforts in the Adriatic Sea , fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy . In the Second World War , it engaged the Royal Navy in a two-and-a-half-year struggle for the control of

1045-591: The Armed Forces Operating on all Fronts". The Stato Maggiore Generale (Supreme General Staff), despite its exalted name, had only seven employees and was a purely advisory body to Mussolini. It did not have direct communication with the ministries and no authority over the staffs of the army , navy and air force . It was led by the Capo di Stato Maggiore Generale (Chief of the General Staff), whose deputy chief

1100-746: The Armed Forces. In Berlin and Königsberg, the German Army had large Fernschreibstelle (teleprinter offices) which collected morning messages each day from regional or local centres. They also had a Geheimschreibstube or cipher room where plaintext messages could be encrypted on Lorenz SZ40/42 machines. If sent by radio rather than landline they were intercepted and decrypted at Bletchley Park in England, where they were known as Fish . Some messages were daily returns, and some were between Hitler and his generals; both were valuable to Allied intelligence. During

1155-406: The OKH. Since most German operations during World War II were army-controlled (with Luftwaffe support), the OKH demanded control over German military forces. Nevertheless, Hitler decided against the OKH in favor of the OKW overseeing operations in many land theaters, despite being the head of the OKH. As the war progressed, more and more influence moved from the OKH to the OKW, with Norway being

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1210-611: The OKW and Oberbefehlshaber West (OBW, Commander in Chief West), who was Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (succeeded by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge ). There was even more fragmentation since the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe operations had their own commands (the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM) and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL)) which, while theoretically subordinate, were largely independent from

1265-631: The OKW comprised four departments: The WFA replaced the Wehrmachtsamt (Armed Forces Office) which had existed between 1935 and 1938 within the Reich War Ministry, headed by Keitel. Hitler promoted Keitel to Chief of the OKW ( Chef des OKW ), i.e. Chief of the Armed Forces High Command. As head of the WFA, Keitel appointed Max von Viebahn  [ de ] although after two months he

1320-404: The OKW from becoming a unified German General Staff in an effective chain of command , though it did help coordinate operations among the three services. During the war, the OKW acquired more and more operational powers. By 1942, the OKW had responsibility for all theatres except for the Eastern Front . However, Adolf Hitler manipulated the system in order to prevent any one command from taking

1375-566: The OKW or the OBW. Further complications in OKW operations also arose in circumstances such as when, on 19 December 1941, Hitler dismissed Walther von Brauchitsch as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, after the failure of the Battle of Moscow , and assumed von Brauchitsch's former position, in essence reporting directly to himself, since the Commander-in-Chief of the Army reported to the Supreme Commander of

1430-585: The aftermath of the Blomberg-Fritsch affair , which had led to the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and head of the Reich Ministry of War , Werner von Blomberg , as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army , Werner von Fritsch . Adolf Hitler, who had been waiting for an opportunity to gain personal control over the German military, quickly took advantage of the scandal, using

1485-453: The aggressive ambitions of Hitler and his fellow Nazis would have been academic and sterile. Although they were not a group falling within the words of the Charter, they were certainly a ruthless military caste. The contemporary German militarism flourished briefly with its recent ally, National Socialism, as well as or better than it had in the generations of the past. Many of these men have made

1540-480: The aim of providing the Kingdom of Sardinia with a police corps; it is therefore older than Italy itself. The new force was divided into divisions on the scale of one division for each province of Italy . The divisions were further divided into companies and subdivided into lieutenancies, which commanded and coordinated the local police stations and were distributed throughout the national territory in direct contact with

1595-512: The armed forces on the active fronts. At the end of the war, it was reduced to a purely advisory role again. At the time of Italy's entry into World War II on 10 June 1940, the Italian armed forces were not unified, although Prime Minister Benito Mussolini held the ministries of War , the Navy and Aeronautics concurrently. On 11 June 1940, King Victor Emmanuel III named Mussolini "Supreme Commander of

1650-623: The army general staff ceased to have a functional basis in 1943, with the end of active Italian participation on the Eastern Front, the loss of Africa and the Allied invasion of Sicily . According to the division, the defence of Italy fell to the army. Ambrosio did get his nominee, Mario Roatta , appointed chief of the army general staff, but the two were at odds over Germany. Ambrosio wanted to limit German forces in Italy, while Roatta called for reinforcements. The overthrow of Mussolini on 25 July 1943,

1705-680: The conflict. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom , Italy contributed to the international operation in Afghanistan . Italian forces have contributed to ISAF , the NATO force in Afghanistan , and to the Provincial reconstruction team . Italy has sent 3,800 troops, including one infantry company from the 2nd Alpini Regiment tasked to protect the ISAF HQ, one engineer company, one NBC platoon, one logistic unit, as well as liaison and staff elements integrated into

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1760-524: The departments were the Servizio Informazioni Militare (Military Intelligence Service), which was taken over from the ministry of war; the Office of War Economy; and the Office of Communications. Comando Supremo did not control research and development or procurement and production, which matters were left to the service branches. The Comando Supremo represented a complete transformation of

1815-567: The first "OKW war theater ". More and more areas came under complete control of the OKW. Finally, only the Eastern Front remained the domain of the OKH. However, as the Eastern Front was by far the primary battlefield of the German military, the OKH was still influential. The OKW ran military operations on the Western front, in North Africa , and in Italy . In the west, operations were further split between

1870-534: The high command. The chief of staff of the armed forces went from being an advisor with responsibility for planning only to being in direct control of operations on most of Italy's battle fronts. Mussolini retained supreme command, but after June 1941 it was mostly exercised through Comando Supremo . The staffs and ministries of the service branches lost much of their competence. The change was opposed by Mussolini's undersecretaries for navy and air, Arturo Riccardi and Francesco Pricolo , respectively. In November 1941,

1925-584: The king and the government, abandoned Rome for Brindisi . Most of Comando Supremo ' s records fell into the hands of the Italian Social Republic in September 1943. As a result, many of them were lost in April 1945. On 18 November 1943, Ambrosio was replaced by Giovanni Messe . On 1 May 1945, Messe was replaced by Claudio Trezzani . On 31 May, on the advice of the minister of war, Alessandro Casati ,

1980-512: The lieutenant-general of the realm, Prince Umberto , issued a legislative decree reducing the chief of staff of Comando Supremo to a purely advisory role. This was renamed Stato Maggiore della Difesa (Defence General Staff). Italian Armed Forces The office of the Chief of Defence is organised as follows: [REDACTED] The ground force of Italy, the Regio Esercito dates back to

2035-446: The offices of operations; organization and training; order of battle; and press and propaganda. The Second Department contained the offices of serves; fuel oils and transportation; and war potential. The Third Department contained the offices of personnel; general affairs (statistics, military law and prisoners); code; and general headquarters. It also included a secretaryship of the general staffs. The three coordinating offices not part of

2090-457: The operation chain of command . Italian forces also command a multinational engineer task force and have deployed a platoon of Carabinieri military police . The Italian Army did not take part in combat operations of the 2003 Iraq War , dispatching troops only when major combat operations were declared over by the U.S. President George W. Bush . Subsequently, Italian troops arrived in the late summer of 2003, and began patrolling Nasiriyah and

2145-529: The other CIS nations, Middle East peace process, peacekeeping , and combating the illegal drug trade , human trafficking , piracy and terrorism. Italy did take part in the 1982 Multinational Force in Lebanon along with US, French and British troops. Italy also participated in the 1990–91 Gulf War , with the deployment of eight Panavia Tornado IDS bomber jets; Italian Army troops were subsequently deployed to assist Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq following

2200-425: The participation of these officers in planning and waging aggressive war, and in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. This evidence is, as to many of them, clear and convincing. They have been responsible, in large measure, for the miseries and suffering that have fallen on millions of men, women and children. They have been a disgrace to the honourable profession of arms. Without their military guidance,

2255-469: The political head of government, both under the king. After the signing of the armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943, Comando Supremo made no effort to notify the other staffs, ministries or headquarters under its command prior to the armistice's publication on 8 September. It had apparently convinced itself that the announcement would come on 12 September. On 9 September, Comando Supremo , along with

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2310-518: The powers granted to him by the Enabling Act to do so. The decree dissolved the ministry and replaced it with the OKW. The OKW was directly subordinate to Hitler in his position as Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht (Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces), to the detriment of the existing military structure. The OKW was led by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as Chief of the OKW with the rank of

2365-469: The public. The Italian unification saw the number of divisions increased, and in 1861 the Carabinieri were appointed the "First Force" of the new national military organization. In recent years Carabinieri became the fourth branch of Italian Armed Forces. Primarily they carry out law enforcement , military policing duties and peacekeeping mission abroad, such as Kosovo , Afghanistan , and Iraq . At

2420-742: The same duties. Commander-in-Chief of the OKW Chief of Operations Staff of the OKW Officially, the OKW served as the military general staff for the Third Reich, coordinating the efforts of the army, navy, and air force. With the start of World War II , tactical control of the Waffen-SS was exercised by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht . In practice, however, Hitler used OKW as his personal military staff, translating his ideas into military orders, such as

2475-483: The second post-war the Italian armed force has become more and more engaged in international peace support operations, mainly under the auspices of the United Nations. The Italian armed forces are currently participating in 26 missions. Oberkommando der Wehrmacht The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ( German: [ˈoːbɐkɔˌmando deːɐ̯ ˈveːɐ̯ˌmaxt] ; abbreviated OKW German: [oːkaːˈveː] ; Armed Forces High Command)

2530-444: The surrounding area. Italian participation in the military operations in Iraq was concluded by the end of 2006, with full withdrawal of Italian military personnel except for a small group of about 30 soldiers engaged in providing security for the Italian embassy in Baghdad . Italy played a major role in the 2004–2011 NATO Training Mission to assist in the development of Iraqi security forces training structures and institutions. Since

2585-449: The unification of Italy in the 1850s and 1860s. It fought in colonial engagements in China during the Boxer Rebellion , against the Ottoman Empire in Libya (1911–1912) , on the Alps against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I , and in Ethiopia , Spain , and Albania during the Interwar period . In World War II it attacked France , Egypt , Greece , Yugoslavia , and the Soviet Union , and then fought in Italy during

2640-407: The world has ever had the misfortune to know. This must be said. Despite this, both Keitel and Jodl were convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by hanging . During the subsequent High Command Trial in 1947–48, fourteen Wehrmacht officers were charged with war crimes , especially for the Commissar Order to execute Soviet political commissars in occupied territories in the east,

2695-400: Was abolished and Comando Supremo was given operational control of the armed forces, standing between them and Mussolini. Comando Supremo acquired the right to command the staffs of the four service branches (army, navy and air force) and of the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (Voluntary Militia for National Security), which was previously directly subordinate to Mussolini as

2750-445: Was in practice often consulted instead. Following Italy's disastrous invasion of Greece , the chief of staff, Pietro Badoglio , was dismissed on 6 December 1940. His replacement, Ugo Cavallero , submitted proposals for the Stato Maggiore ' s complete reorganization to Mussolini on 15 and 19 May 1941. This was implemented in June. The Stato Maggiore Generale was redesignated Comando Supremo . The office of deputy chief of staff

2805-399: Was planned in Comando Supremo by Castellano. When Victor Emmanuel approved the plan on 20 July, he informed Ambrosio, who made arrangements to arrest Mussolini and bring more troops to Rome. After the appointment of Badoglio as prime minister, the king resumed his command of the armed forces and Comando Supremo became directly subordinate to him. Although Roatta was later to describe this as

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2860-512: Was removed from command, and this post was not refilled until the promotion of Alfred Jodl. To replace Jodl at the Abteilung Landesverteidigungsführungsamt (WFA/L), Walther Warlimont was appointed. In December 1941 further changes took place with the Abteilung Landesverteidigungsführungsamt (WFA/L) being merged into the Wehrmacht-Führungsamt and losing its role as a subordinate organization. These changes were largely cosmetic however as key staff remained in post and continued to fulfill

2915-454: Was replaced by Vittorio Ambrosio . On 11 March, Ambrosio reinstated the office of deputy chief of staff and appointed Francesco Rossi  [ it ] . He appointed Giuseppe Castellano as his generale addetto . Although he told Mussolini in their first meeting that he intended to lighten the Comando Supremo ' s load, its structure remained mostly as it had been under Cavallero. The division of command between Comando Supremo and

2970-456: Was split into the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force in the south aligned with the Allies, and the pro-Axis Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana in the north until the end of the war. When Italy was made a republic by referendum, the air force was given its current name Aeronautica Militare . The Arma dei Carabinieri is the gendarmerie and military police of Italy. The corps was instituted in 1814 by King Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy with

3025-429: Was the supreme military command and control office of Nazi Germany during World War II . Created in 1938, the OKW replaced the Reich Ministry of War and had oversight over the individual high commands of the country's armed forces : the army ( Heer ), navy ( Kriegsmarine ), and air force ( Luftwaffe ). Rivalry with the different services' commands, mainly with the Army High Command (OKH), prevented

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