125-538: Filippo Maria Beltrami (14 July 1908 – 13 February 1944) was an Italian officer and Resistance leader during World War II . He was born in Cireggio (today part of Omegna ), and during his high school studies he made friends with philosophers Eugenio Colorni and Piero Martinetti , who influenced his thinking. From 1932, after graduating in architecture , Beltrami established himself professionally in Milan following in
250-555: A distaccamento (detachment). Three or more detachments made a brigata (brigade), of which two or more made a divisione (division). In some places, several divisions formed a gruppo divisione (divisional group). These divisional groups were responsible for a zona d'operazione (operational group). While the largest contingents operated in mountainous districts of the Alps and the Apennine Mountains , other large formations fought in
375-738: A guerrilla army . During its existence, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fought against the Poles and the Soviets as their primary opponents, although the organization also rarely fought against the Germans starting in February 1943. From late spring 1944, the UPA and Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists -B (OUN-B)—faced with Soviet advances—also cooperated in many instances with German forces and Soviet forces against
500-506: A mountaintop that was a part of the Gothic Line. On September 26, 1944, a joint force of 250 Partisans and three companies of U.S. soldiers from the 88th Infantry Division attacked the hill occupied by elements of the German 290th Grenadier Regiment. The Germans were caught completely by surprise. The attackers captured the hill and held it for five days against reinforced German units, securing
625-651: A certificate to those who thereby risked their lives. Italian Jews were aided by DELASEM , a network extending throughout occupied Italy that included Jews and Gentiles, Roman Catholic clergy, faithful/sympathetic police officers and even some German soldiers. DELASEM operated in Rome until the liberation under the leadership of the Jewish delegates Septimius Sorani, Giuseppe Levi, and the Capuchin Father Maria Benedetto . Since Jews were considered "enemy aliens" by
750-641: A collaborationist regime and puppet state of the Third Reich. Subsequently, the Italian resistance movement , alongside the Italian Co-Belligerent Army , fought the German and Fascist forces. One of the most important episodes of resistance by Italian armed forces after the armistice was the battle of Piombino , Tuscany . On 10 September 1943, during Operation Achse , a small German flotilla, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Karl-Wolf Albrand, tried to enter
875-535: A dictatorship centered around his fascist doctrine, and in 1936 Mussolini formed the Axis powers with Nazi Germany . In July 1943, fascist Italy crumbled ; Mussolini was turned in by the monarchy and placed under arrest by his government. On 8 September 1943, when the armistice of Cassibile was announced, Germans invaded Italy and liberated Mussolini, putting him in charge of the Italian Social Republic ,
1000-559: A few and just in between 1941 and 1944. In Ukraine and southeastern Poland, the Poles fought against the Ukrainian nationalists and UPA ( Ukrainian Insurgent Army ) to protect the ethnic Poles from mass murder visited upon them during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia . They were aided, until after the war was over, by the Soviet partisans. At least 60,000 Poles lost their lives,
1125-477: A foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity. The term can apply to the field element of resistance movements . The most common use in present parlance in several languages refers to occupation resistance fighters during World War II , especially under the Yugoslav partisan leader Josip Broz Tito . The initial concept of partisan warfare involved the use of troops raised from
1250-605: A heroic death while trying to prevent the blowing up of the Elizabeth Bridge. They forged papers, protected the Ferdinánd-bridge, took over vehicles, weapons and multiple factories. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( Ukrainian : Українська Повстанська Армія (УПА) , Ukrayins’ka Povstans’ka Armiya; UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan army that engaged in a series of guerrilla conflicts during World War II in concert with Nazi Germany against
1375-535: A mere nuisance to those of a major factor in the general situation. In many parts of occupied Europe, the enemy was suffering losses at the hands of partisans that he could ill afford. Nowhere were these losses heavier than in Yugoslavia. By late 1944, the total forces of the Partisans numbered 650,000 men and women organized in four field armies and 52 divisions , which engaged in conventional warfare . By April 1945,
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#17330924843321500-607: A par with the armed confrontation of other Italian servicemen. After disarmament by the Germans, the Italian soldiers and officers were confronted with the choice to continue fighting as allies of the German army (either in the armed forces of the Italian Social Republic , the German puppet regime in northern Italy led by Mussolini, or in Italian "volunteer" units in the German armed forces) or, otherwise, be sent to detention camps in Germany. Those soldiers and officials who refused to recognize
1625-660: A path for the Allied advance. Resistance activities were different in the cities. Some Italians ignored the struggle, while others organized, such as the Patriotic Action Squads and issued propaganda. Groups such as the Patriotic Action Groups carried out military actions. A more expansive support network was devised than in the countryside. Networks of safe houses were established to hide weapons and wounded fighters. Only sympathizers were involved, because compulsion
1750-553: A popular revolt and Italian Resistance insurrection following a general strike that commenced two days earlier; over 14,000 German and Fascist troops were captured in Genoa on 26–27 April, when General Günther Meinhold surrendered to the CLN. The forces of German occupation in Italy officially capitulated on 2 May. Fascists attempted to continue fighting, but were quickly suppressed by the partisans and
1875-511: A revolutionary outcome to the conflict and were thus unwilling to collaborate with 'bourgeois parties'. Rodolfo Graziani estimated the partisan strength at around 70,000–80,000 by May 1944. Some 41% in the Garibaldi Brigades and 29% were Actionists of the Giustizia e Libertà Brigades. One of the strongest units, the 8th Garibaldi Brigade, had 8,050 men (450 without arms) and operated in
2000-806: A ten-day battle, the Germans executed 5,155 officers and enlisted men in retaliation. Those killed in the massacre of the Acqui Division included division commander General Antonio Gandin . On 1 March 2001, the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi visited Cefalonia, giving a speech underlining how "their conscious choice [of the Acqui Division] was the first act of the Resistenza , of an Italy free from fascism". Other Italian forces remained trapped in Yugoslavia following
2125-420: A united, independent national state on Ukrainian ethnic territory. Violence was accepted as a political tool against foreign as well as domestic enemies of their cause, which was to be achieved by a national revolution led by a dictatorship that would drive out the occupying powers and set up a government representing all regions and social groups. The organization began as a resistance group and developed into
2250-742: The partigiani ( partisans ), fought a guerra di liberazione nazionale ('national liberation war') against the invading German forces; in this context, the anti-fascist partigiani of the Italian Resistance also simultaneously participated in the Italian Civil War , fighting against the Italian Fascists of the collaborationist Italian Social Republic . The Resistance was a diverse coalition of various Italian political parties, independent resistance fighters and soldiers, and partisan brigades and militias . The modern Italian Republic
2375-725: The Ardeatine massacre (335 Jewish civilians and political prisoners executed without a trial in a reprisal operation after a resistance bomb attack in Rome), the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre (about 560 random villagers brutally killed in an anti-partisan operation in the central mountains), the Marzabotto massacre (about 770 civilians killed in similar circumstances), the Ossola massacre (24 partisans murdered during their retreat from Croveo to Switzerland) and
2500-947: The Beretta factory which was producing them for the Wehrmacht. Additional weapons (chiefly of British origin) were airdropped by the Allies: PIATs , Lee–Enfield rifles, Bren light machine guns and Sten guns . U.S.-made weapons were provided on a smaller scale from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS): Thompson submachine guns (both M1928 and M1), M3 submachine guns , United Defense M42s , and folding-stock M1 carbines . Other supplies included explosives, clothing, boots, food rations, and money (used to buy weapons or to compensate civilians for confiscations). The worst conditions and fighting took place in mountainous regions. Resources were scarce and living conditions were terrible. Due to limited supplies,
2625-799: The French Resistance like Elek Tamás and Botzor József. The Sovereignty movement took over multiple newspapers including the Népszava, the Magyar Nemzet, and the Szabad Szó, to propagate anti-fascist and anti-german sentiment. Their main goal being to break away from the Axis powers . Most of these groups were decentralised, multiple paramilitary groups worked in Budapest in parallel. The most famous of which operated in Angyalföld , under Gidófalvy Lajos, who died
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#17330924843322750-618: The French Resistance , women were often important members and couriers. Like their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, Italian partisans seized whatever arms they could find. The first weapons were brought by ex-soldiers fighting German occupiers from the Regio Esercito inventory: Carcano rifles, Beretta M1934 and M1935 pistols, Bodeo M1889 revolvers, SRCM and OTO hand grenades, and Fiat–Revelli Modello 1935 , Breda 30 and Breda M37 machine guns. Later, captured K98ks , MG 34s , MG 42s ,
2875-399: The Giustizia e Libertà (Justice and Freedom) movement. Republican and Catholic women, along with those without prior political or ideological commitments, also joined. These groups predominantly operated in the northern midlands of Italy. Scholars attribute this geographic spread to the influence of local women's clothing, which fostered individual initiative and civic awareness. Initially,
3000-647: The Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy from 1943 to 1945. As a diverse anti-fascist and anti-nazist movement and organisation, the Resistenza opposed Nazi Germany and its Fascist puppet state regime, the Italian Social Republic, which the Germans created following
3125-519: The PCI emphasized national unity and "progressive democracy" in order to stake their claim in the post-war political situation. Despite the pressing need to resolve social issues which persisted after the fall of fascism, the resistance movement was subordinated to the interests of Allied leaders in order to maintain the status quo. Partisan (military) A partisan is a member of a domestic irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by
3250-726: The Po River flatland. In the large towns of northern Italy, such as Piacenza , and the surrounding valleys near the Gothic Line . Montechino Castle housed a key partisan headquarters. The Gruppi di Azione Patriottica (GAP; "Patriotic Action Groups") commanded by the Resistance's youngest officer, Giuseppe "Beppe" Ruffino, carried out acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare , and the Squadre di Azione Patriottica (SAP; "Patriotic Action Squads") arranged strike actions and propaganda campaigns. As in
3375-654: The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia army, in Italy for guard/patrol duty in 1944), Russians, Ukrainians, Dutch, Spaniards, Greeks, Poles, German defectors and deserters disillusioned with Nazism and Britons and Americans (ex-prisoners or advisors deployed by the SAS, SOE and OSS ). Some later became well-known, such as climber and explorer Bill Tilman , reporter and historian Peter Tompkins , former RAF pilot Count Manfred Beckett Czernin , and architect Oliver Churchill . George Dunning recorded his experiences of fighting with
3500-819: The Romagna area. The CLN mostly operated in the Alpine area, Apennine area and Po Valley of the RSI , and also in the German OZAK (the area northeast of the north end of the Adriatic Sea ) and OZAV (Trentino and South Tyrol) zones. Its losses amounted to 16,000 killed, wounded or captured between September 1943 and May 1944. On 15 June 1944, the General Staff of the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano estimated that
3625-507: The Salussola massacre (20 partisans murdered after being tortured, as a reprisal). In all, an estimated 15,000 Italian civilians were deliberately killed, including many women and children. Although other European countries such as Norway , the Netherlands , and France also had partisan movements and collaborationist governments with Nazi Germany , armed confrontation between compatriots
3750-672: The Soviet Union , Czechoslovakia , and both Underground and Communist Poland . The group was the military wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists — Bandera faction (the OUN-B), originally formed in Volyn in the spring and summer of 1943. Its official date of creation is 14 October 1942, day of Intercession of the Theotokos feast. The OUN's stated immediate goal was the re-establishment of
3875-750: The Spanish Civil War with the hope of setting an example of armed resistance to Franco 's dictatorship against Mussolini's regime; hence their motto: "Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy". Armed resistance to the German occupation following the armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces of 3 September 1943 partially began with Italian regular forces: the Italian Armed Forces and the Carabinieri military police . The period's best-known battle broke out in Rome
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4000-514: The Third Reich (often by smaller German outfits). However, some garrisons stationed in occupied Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and Italy fought the Germans. Admirals Inigo Campioni and Luigi Mascherpa led an attempt to defend Rhodes , Kos , Leros and other Dodecanese islands from their former allies. With reinforcements from SAS , SBS and British Army troops under the command of Generals Francis Gerrard Russell Brittorous and Robert Tilney ,
4125-446: The Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters , noted the following: The right eye is covered with haematoma, on the eyelid there are six stab wounds made, judging by their diameter, by a thin wire or nail going deep into the eyeball. Multiple haematomas in the area of the stomach, a cut wound on a finger of the right hand. The genitalia reveal the following: a large tear wound on the right side of
4250-519: The fall of the Fascist regime , Beltrami was promoted to captain in the 27th Artillery Regiment, stationed in Baggio . After the armistice of Cassibile , Beltrami moved from Milan to his native Cireggio, in a family villa, along with his wife and children. Being known in the area for his anti-fascist ideas, he was soon approached by some young Communists and quickly gathered a group of soldiers who had escaped
4375-534: The labor movement , fought against the violent Blackshirts and against the rise of the fascist leader Benito Mussolini. After the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) signed a pacification pact with Mussolini and his Fasces of Combat on 3 August 1921, and trade unions adopted a legalist and pacified strategy, members of the workers' movement who disagreed with this strategy formed Arditi del Popolo . The Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGL) and
4500-453: The political commissar of the group, Gianni Citterio. Beltrami was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor , and another partisan group, the "Beltrami" Alpine Brigade, was named after him. Italian Resistance The Italian Resistance ( Italian : Resistenza italiana , pronounced [reziˈstɛntsa itaˈljaːna] , or simply La Resistenza ) consisted of all
4625-677: The province of Udine . Tensions between the Catholics and the Communists in the movement led to the foundation of the Fiamme Verdi as a separate formation. A further challenge to the 'national unity' embodied in the CLN came from anarchists as well as dissident-communist Resistance formations, such as Turin's Stella Rossa movement and the Movimento Comunista d'Italia (Rome's largest single anti-fascist force under Occupation), which sought
4750-416: The "autonomous" ( autonomi ) partisans, largely composed of former soldiers with no substantial alignment to any anti-Fascist party; an example was the 1° Gruppo Divisioni Alpine led by Enrico Martini . Relations among the groups varied. For example, in 1945, the Garibaldi partisans under Yugoslav Partisan command attacked and killed several partisans of the Catholic and azionista Osoppo groups in
4875-443: The "republic" led by Mussolini were taken as civilian prisoners too. Only 10 percent agreed to enroll. The Nazis considered the Italians as traitors and not as prisoners of war. The former Italian soldiers were sent into forced labour in war industries (35.6%), heavy industry (7.1%), mining (28.5%), construction (5.9%) and agriculture (14.3%). The working conditions were very poor. The Italians were inadequately fed or clothed for
5000-417: The Allied forces. The April insurrection brought to the fore issues between the resistance and the Allies. Given the revolutionary dimension of the insurrection in the industrial centres of Turin, Milan, and Genoa, where concerted factory occupations by armed workers had occurred, the Allied commanders sought to impose control as soon as they took the place of the retreating Germans. While the Kingdom of Italy
5125-549: The Art of Making War in Detachment... (English translation published in London in 1760.) Johann von Ewald described techniques of partisan warfare in detail in his Abhandlung über den kleinen Krieg ("Treatise on little war", Cramer: Cassel, 1785). The concept of partisan warfare would later form the basis of the " Partisan Rangers " of the American Civil War of 1861–1865. In that war, Confederate States Army Partisan leaders , such as John S. Mosby , Jesse James , William Quantrill , or Bloody Bill Anderson , operated along
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5250-579: The German command of Meina , offered him a safe conduct in exchange for abandoning the fight, but Beltrami refused. In the morning of 13 February 1944, a column composed of troops of the 12th SS Police Regiment , led by Captain Ernst Simon, and of the National Republican Guard , led by Captain Renato Vanna, attacked Beltrami's group, now down to thirteen men, in their provisional base, a group of abandoned huts near Megolo. Severely outnumbered and outgunned, after several hours of fighting all partisans were killed, including Beltrami, his deputy Antonio Di Dio, and
5375-628: The German occupation, and successfully at that. The people of Naples revolted and held strong against Nazi occupiers in the last days of September 1943. The popular mass uprising and resistance in Naples against the occupying Nazi German forces, known as the Four days of Naples , consisted of four days of continuous open warfare and guerrilla actions by locals against the Nazi Germans. The spontaneous uprising of Neopolitan and Italian Resistance against German occupying forces (despite limited armament, organization, or planning) nevertheless successfully disrupted German plans to deport Neopolitans en masse, destroy
5500-434: The German occupation; they were subsequently joined and re-organized by Anti-Fascists, and became thus increasingly politicized. Later the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (Committee of National Liberation, or CLN), created by the Italian Communist Party , the Italian Socialist Party , the Partito d'Azione (a republican liberal socialist party), Democrazia Cristiana and other minor parties, largely took control of
5625-476: The German torpedo boat TA11 ; Italian artillery also sank seven Marinefährprahme , the péniches Mainz and Meise (another péniche, Karin , was scuttled at the harbour entrance as a blockship ) and six Luftwaffe service boats ( Fl.B.429 , Fl.B.538 , Fl.C.3046 , Fl.C.3099 , Fl.C.504 e Fl.C.528 ), and heavily damaged the torpedo boat TA9 and the steamers Carbet and Capitano Sauro (former Italian ships). Sauro and Carbet were scuttled because of
5750-428: The German winter. Many became sick and died. The death rate of the military internees at 6-7% was second only to that of Soviet prisoners of war although much lower. In the first major act of resistance following the German occupation, Italian partisans and local resistance fighters liberated the city of Naples through a chaotic popular rebellion. Naples was the first of the major European cities to rise up against
5875-433: The Germans) joined the underground; General Gioacchino Solinas (commander of the Granatieri) instead opted for the pro-German Italian Social Republic . One of the most important episodes of resistance by Italian Armed Forces after the armistice was the Battle of Piombino in Tuscany . On 10 September 1943, during Operation Achse , a small German flotilla, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Karl-Wolf Albrand, tried to enter
6000-430: The Germans, of which he assumed command, setting up a partisan group in the mountains of Valle Strona (southwestern Ossola ); by December the group had grown to about 200 partisans. In late January 1944, Beltrami's partisan group was repeatedly attacked by German and Fascist forces, and was forced to split up and retreat from Valle Strona to the village of Megolo, a hamlet of Pieve Vergonte . A German officer, sent from
6125-401: The Germans. The partisans had no permanent headquarters or bases, making them difficult to destroy. The resistance fighters themselves relied heavily on the local populace for support and supplies. They would often barter or just ask for food, blankets and medicine. When the partisans took supplies from families, they would often hand out promissory notes that the peasants could convert after
6250-420: The Great Patriotic War propaganda. In East Karelia , most partisans attacked Finnish military supply and communication targets, but inside Finland proper, almost two-thirds of the attacks targeted civilians, killing 200 and injuring 50, mostly women, children and elderly. The Yugoslav Partisans or the National Liberation Army (officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia),
6375-408: The Home Army or Armia Krajowa , also known as AK, were themselves organized in 1939. Home Army was the largest Polish partisan organization; moreover, organizations such as peasant Bataliony Chłopskie , created primarily for self—defense against the Nazi German abuse, or the armed wing of the Polish Socialist Party and most of the nationalist National Armed Forces did subordinate themselves, before
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#17330924843326500-404: The Iron Curtain – including the information provided by the Lithuanian partisans. Former members of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, Lithuanian Liberty Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces , Lithuanian Riflemen's Union formed the basis of Lithuanian partisans. Farmers, Lithuanian officials, students, teachers, and even pupils joined the partisan movement. The movement was actively supported by
6625-406: The Italian fascist community. The Italian liberal anti-fascist Benedetto Croce wrote his Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals , which was published in 1925. Other notable Italian liberal anti-fascists around that time were Piero Gobetti and Carlo Rosselli . After the murder of the socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti (1924) and the decisive assumption of responsibility by Mussolini,
6750-460: The Liberation of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Vyriausiasis Lietuvos išlaisvinimo komitetas , VLIK), was created on 25 November 1943. VLIK published underground newspapers and agitated for resistance against the Nazis. The Gestapo arrested the most influential members in 1944. After the reoccupation of Lithuania by the Soviets, VLIK moved to the West set its goal to maintain non-recognition of Lithuania's occupation and dissemination of information from behind
6875-405: The Lithuanians as pl. stribai , from the Russian : izstrebiteli – destroyers , i.e., the destruction battalions ), used shock tactics such as displaying executed partisans' corpses in village courtyards to discourage further resistance. The report of a commission formed at a KGB prison a few days after the 15 October 1956, arrest of Adolfas Ramanauskas ("Vanagas"), chief commander of
7000-417: The Nazi German invasion and military occupation of Italy by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS from 8 September 1943 until 25 April 1945. General underground Italian opposition to the Fascist Italian government existed even before World War II, but open and armed resistance followed the German invasion of Italy on 8 September 1943: in Nazi-occupied Italy, the Italian Resistance fighters, known as
7125-505: The Nazi Germans, Ukrainian nationalists, Lithuanian Nazi collaborators, and even the Soviets. In spite of the ideological enmity, the Home Army did launch a massive sabotage campaign after the Germans began Operation Barbarossa . Amongst other acts of sabotage, the Polish partisans damaged nearly 7,000 locomotives, over 19,000 railway cars, over 4,000 German military vehicles and built-in faults into 92,000 artillery projectiles as well as 4710 built-in faults into aircraft engines, just to mention
7250-428: The Netherlands campaigns of 1673-1678 during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672-1678. Some of the practices of ninjas in feudal Japan resembled irregular partisan warfare. De Jeney , a Hungarian military officer who served in the Prussian Army as captain of military engineers during the Seven Years' War of 1756–1763, produced one of the first manuals of partisan tactics in the 18th century: The Partisan, or
7375-437: The PSI refused to officially recognize the anti-fascist militia and maintained a non-violent, legalist strategy, while the Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I) ordered its members to quit the organization. The PCd'I organized some militant groups, but their actions were relatively minor. The Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni , who exiled himself to Argentina following the 1922 March on Rome , organized several bombings against
7500-454: The Partisans numbered over 800,000. Shortly before the end of the war, in March 1945, all resistance forces were reorganized into the regular armed force of Yugoslavia and renamed the Yugoslav Army. It would keep this name until 1951, when it was renamed Yugoslav People's Army . Postwar Yugoslavia was one of only two European countries that were largely liberated by its own forces during World War II. It received significant assistance from
7625-410: The Partisans. Those executed would come from the village near where an attack took place and sometimes from captive partisan fighters. The German punishments backfired and instead strengthened the relationship. Because most resistance fighters were peasants, local populations felt a need to provide for their own. One of the larger engagements was the battle for Monte Battaglia (lit. "Battle Mountain"),
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#17330924843327750-537: The Polish communists. Hundreds of Hungarians fought in the Slovak National Uprising notably in the Nógrádi and Petőfi groups (after Petőfi Sándor , Hungarian poet from the Hungarian War of Independence ). They also appeared in significant numbers in 20 other units, but unfortunately this did not have an effect on the Kassa declaration (Kassai nyilatkozat). Many activists fought abroad like Kilián György activist and soldier in Poland or Szalvai Mihály politician, who fought in Moscow and Yugoslavia. Many have been martyrs in
7875-411: The Social Republic regime, they were left with little or nothing to live on, and many were deported to Nazi concentration and extermination camps where about 7,000 died. DELASEM helped thousands of Jews by offering food, shelter and money. Some of its members would later be designated Righteous Among the Nations . On 19 April 1945, the CLN called for an insurrection (the April 25 uprising). In Bologna ,
8000-402: The Soviet Union during the liberation of Serbia , and substantial assistance from the Balkan Air Force from mid-1944, but only limited assistance, mainly from the British, prior to 1944. At the end of the war, no foreign troops were stationed on its soil. Partly as a result, the country found itself halfway between the two camps at the onset of the Cold War . Among the three Baltic countries,
8125-399: The Soviet partisans as well as fought against the Lithuanian Nazi collaborators. The Poles failed to defeat the Soviet Partisans, but did achieve a decisive victory against the Lithuanian Nazi collaborators, Battle of Murowana Oszmianka . Afterwards, about half of the Polish partisans in Lithuania assisted the invading Soviet Army, and many ended up mistreated and even killed by the Soviets and
8250-409: The armed fighters while the organizational sector was tasked with passive resistance , including supply of food, information, and transport to Vanagai . In the middle of 1944, the LLA had 10,000 members. The Soviets killed 659 and arrested 753 members of the LLA by 26 January 1945. Founder Kazys Veverskis was killed in December 1944, the headquarters were liquidated in December 1945. This represented
8375-469: The armistice and some decided to fight alongside the local resistance. Elements of the Taurinense Division , the Venezia Division , the Aosta Division and the Emilia Division were assembled in the Italian Garibaldi Partisan Division, part of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army . When the unit finally returned to Italy at the end of the war, half its members had been killed or were listed as missing in action. On 9 September 1943, Bastia , in Corsica ,
8500-399: The camps. Most refused cooperation with the Third Reich despite hardship, chiefly to maintain their oath of fidelity to the King. Their former allies designated them Italienische Militär-Internierte ("Italian military internees") to deny them prisoner of war status and the rights granted by the Geneva Convention . Their actions were eventually recognized as an act of unarmed resistance on
8625-477: The city, and prevent Allied forces from gaining a strategic foothold. Elsewhere, the nascent movement began as independently operating groups were organized and led by previously outlawed political parties or by former officers of the Royal Italian Army . Many partisan formations were initially founded by soldiers from disbanded units of the Royal Italian Army that had evaded capture in Operation Achse , and were led by junior Army officers who had decided to resist
8750-440: The concept of partisan warfare with their kommandos during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. Imperial Russia also made use of partisans in World War I , for example Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz . On 28 October 1922, Benito Mussolini and his fascist paramilitary troops, the Blackshirts , marched on Rome , seized power, and the following day Mussolini became Duce (Prime Minister) of Italy. He thenceforth established
8875-606: The consolidation of Soviet rule through ambush, sabotage, assassination of local Communist activists and officials, freeing imprisoned guerrillas, and printing underground newspapers. On 1 July 1944, Lithuanian Liberty Army (LLA) declared a state of war against the Soviet Union and ordered all its able members to mobilize into platoons, stationed in forests and not leave Lithuania. The departments were replaced by two sectors – operational, called Vanagai (Hawks or Falcons; abbreviated VS), and organizational (abbreviated OS). Vanagai , commanded by Albinas Karalius (codename Varenis), were
9000-413: The damage they had suffered. The German attack was repelled; by the dawn of 11 September, 120 Germans had been killed and about 200–300 captured, 120 of them wounded. Italian casualties had been 4 killed (two sailors, one Guardia di Finanza brigadier, and one civilian) and a dozen wounded; four Italian submarine chasers ( VAS 208 , 214 , 219 and 220 ) were also sunk during the fighting. Later in
9125-854: The day the armistice was announced. Regio Esercito units such as the Sassari Division , the Granatieri di Sardegna , the Piave Division , the Ariete II Division , the Centauro Division , the Piacenza Division and the "Lupi di Toscana" Division (in addition to Carabinieri, infantry and coastal artillery regiments) were deployed around the city and along surrounding roads. Outnumbered German Fallschirmjäger and Panzergrenadiere were initially repelled and endured losses, but slowly gained
9250-616: The defenders held on for a month. However, the Wehrmacht took the islands through air and sea landings by infantry and Fallschirmjäger supported by the Luftwaffe . Both Campioni and Mascherpa were captured and executed at Verona for high treason. On 13 September 1943, the Acqui Division stationed in Cefalonia chose to defend themselves from a German invasion during ongoing negotiations. After
9375-855: The end of the World War II, to the very Home Army. The communist Gwardia Ludowa remained indifferent and even hostile towards the Home Army, and of two Jewish organizations, the Jewish Military Union did cooperate with the Home Army, when the leftist and pro-Soviet Jewish Combat Organization did not. Both Jewish combat organizations staged the Ghetto uprising in 1943. Armia Krajowa staged Warsaw Uprising in 1944, amongst other activities. Bataliony Chłopskie fought mainly in Zamość Uprising . The Polish partisans faced many enemies. The main enemies were
9500-483: The failure of highly centralized resistance, as the organization was too dependent on Veverskis and other top commanders. In 1946 remaining leaders and fighters of LLA started to merge with Lithuanian partisans. In 1949 all members of presidium of Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters - captain Jonas Žemaitis-Tylius, Petras Bartkus-Žadgaila, Bronius Liesys-Naktis ir Juozas Šibaila-Merainis came from LLA. Supreme Committee for
9625-470: The footsteps of his paternal great-uncle, architect Luca Beltrami , and in 1936, after less than three months of engagement, he married Giuliana Gadola, with whom he had three children, Luca, Giovanna and Michele. After the outbreak of the Second World War , Beltrami was called up for military service and stationed as an officer in a horse artillery regiment in Lucca and Piacenza . In the summer of 1943, after
9750-619: The front lines. The sabotage groups were organized before Rydz-Śmigły's order was received. Independently, the Separated Unit of the Polish Army created in late 1939 in Poland is often recognized as the first partisan unit of World War II. The situation amongst the Polish partisans and the situation of the Polish partisans were both complicated. The founding organizations that led to the creation of
9875-542: The generals in charge of the city without a coordinated defence plan; also the absence of the Italian Centauro II Division, composed primarily of ex- Blackshirts and not trusted, with its German-made tanks, contributed to the defeat of the Italian forces by the Germans. By 10 September, the Germans had penetrated downtown Rome and the Granatieri (aided by civilians) made their last stand at Porta San Paolo . At 4 pm, General Giorgio Calvi di Bergolo signed
10000-462: The harbor of Piombino but was denied access by the port authorities. Eventually, after a drawn-out period of combat, the Italian partisans achieved victory. This was assisted by the fall of the Third Reich , which effectively nullified the attacks from German occupation, the ensuing uprising of 25 April 1945 which pushed out all remaining German forces, the fall of Genoa and Milan on April 26, that of Turin two days after. That same day, Mussolini
10125-495: The harbour of Piombino but was denied access by the port authorities. General and Fascist official Cesare Maria De Vecchi in command of the Italian 215th Coastal Division ordered the port authorities to allow the German flotilla to enter, against the advice of Commander Amedeo Capuano, the Naval commander of the harbour. Once they entered and landed, the German forces showed a hostile behaviour, and it became clear that their intent
10250-614: The iconic potato-masher grenades , Lugers , and Walther P38s were added to partisan kits. Submachine guns (such as the MP 40 ) were initially scarce, and usually reserved for squad leaders. Automatic weapons became more common as they were captured in combat and as the Social Republic regime soldiers began defecting, bringing their own guns. Beretta MABs began appearing in larger numbers in October 1943, when they were spirited away en masse from
10375-462: The invading Germans, Soviets, and Poles in the hope of creating an independent Fascist Ukrainian state. The UPA committed ethnic cleansing of the Polish population of Volhynia and East Galicia . Soviet partisans during World War II, especially those active in Belarus , effectively harassed German troops and significantly hampered their operations in the region. As a result, Soviet authority
10500-489: The left-wing parties (among which Palmiro Togliatti himself) a true "civil war" in defence of the popular classes against the reactionary forces. In Italy, Mussolini's Fascist regime used the term anti-fascist to describe its opponents. Mussolini's secret police was officially known as the Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism . During the 1920s in the Kingdom of Italy , anti-fascists, many of them from
10625-476: The lines described by von Ewald (and later by both Jomini (1779–1869) and Clausewitz (1780–1831)). In essence, 19th-century American partisans were closer to commando or ranger forces raised during World War II than to the partisan forces which would operate in Nazi-occupied Europe . Mosby-style fighters would have been legally considered uniformed members of their state's armed forces. Partisans in
10750-470: The local population in a war zone (or in some cases regular forces) who would operate behind enemy lines to disrupt communications, seize posts or villages as forward-operating bases, ambush convoys, impose war taxes or contributions, raid logistical stockpiles, and compel enemy forces to disperse and protect their base of operations. George Satterfield has analyzed the "partisan warfare" ( French : petite guerre , lit. 'little war') in
10875-476: The majority of them civilians, men, women, and children. Some of the victims were Poles of Jewish descent who had escaped from the ghetto or death camp . The majority of the Polish partisans in Ukraine assisted the invading Soviet Army. Few of them were mistreated or killed by the Soviets or the Polish communists. In Lithuania and Belarus, after a period of initial cooperation, the Poles defended themselves against
11000-449: The mid-19th century were substantially different from raiding cavalry , or from unorganized/semi-organized guerrilla forces . Russian partisans played a crucial part in the downfall of Napoleon . Their fierce resistance and persistent inroads helped compel the French emperor to retreat from Russia after invading in 1812 (e.g., the activities of Denis Davydov ). The Boers also deployed
11125-428: The morning, however, De Vecchi ordered the prisoners to be released and had their weapons returned to them. New popular protests broke out, as the Italian units were disbanded and the senior commanders fled from the city; the divisional command surrendered Piombino to the Germans on 12 September, and the city was occupied. Many of the sailors, soldiers and citizens who had fought in the battle of Piombino retreated to
11250-561: The movement in accordance with King Victor Emmanuel III 's ministers and the Allies . The CLN was set up by partisans behind German lines and had the support of most groups in the region. The main CLN formations included three politically varied groups: the communist Brigate Garibaldi (Garibaldi Brigades), the Giustizia e Libertà (Justice and Freedom) Brigades related to the Partito d'Azione, and
11375-488: The number of partisans had grown to 100,000, and it escalated to more than 250,000 with the final insurrection in April 1945. The Italian resistance suffered 50,000 fighters killed throughout the conflict. Partisan unit sizes varied, depending on logistics (such as the ability to arm, clothe and feed members) and the amount of local support. The basic unit was the squadra (squad), with three or more squads (usually five) forming
11500-519: The occupying Nazi German forces and their few remaining Italian Fascist allies were openly attacked by Italian partisans on 19 April, and by 21 April, the city of Bologna was liberated by the partisans, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army , and the Polish II Corps under Allied command; Parma and Reggio Emilia were later freed on 24 April by the Italian Resistance and then the advancing Allied forces. Turin and Milan were liberated on 25 April through
11625-485: The older Italian anti-fascist parties. Giustizia e Libertà also made the international community aware of the realities of fascism in Italy, thanks to the work of Gaetano Salvemini . Some historians have also underlined how the Resistance movement may have had links with the Spanish Civil War , in particular with those who had served in the International Brigades . Many Italian anti-fascists participated in
11750-455: The order of surrender; the Italian divisions were disbanded and their troops taken prisoner. Although some officers participating in the battle later joined the resistance, the clash in Rome was not motivated by anti-German sentiment so much as the desire to control the Italian capital and resist the disarmament of Italian soldiers. Generals Raffaele Cadorna Jr. (commander of Ariete II) and Giuseppe Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (later executed by
11875-520: The orders (Perni and De Vecchi even tried to dismiss them for this), assumed command and started distributing weapons to the population, and civilian volunteers joined the Italian sailors and soldiers in the defense. A battle broke out at 21:15 on 10 September, between the German landing forces (who aimed to occupy the town centre) and the Italian coastal batteries, tanks of the XIX Tank Battalion "M" , and civilian population. Italian tanks sank
12000-618: The organization's objectives were reformulated to prioritize activities that broadly promoted women's emancipation. During the summer and early fall of 1944, with Allied forces nearby, partisans attacked behind German lines, led by CLNAI. This rebellion led to provisional partisan governments throughout the mountainous regions. Ossola was the most important of these, receiving recognition from Switzerland and Allied consulates there. An intelligence officer told Field Marshal Albert Kesselring , Germany's commander of occupation forces in Italy, that he estimated German casualties fighting partisans in
12125-757: The partisan forces amounted to some 82,000 men, of whom about 25,000 operated in Piedmont , 14,200 in Liguria , 16,000 in the Julian March , 17,000 in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna , 5,600 in Veneto , and 5,000 in Lombardy . Their ranks were gradually increased by the influx of young men escaping the Italian Social Republic's draft, as well as from deserters from the RSI armed forces. By August 1944,
12250-444: The partisans in his book "Where bleed the many". Another task carried out by the resistance was assisting escaping POWs (an estimated 80,000 were interned in Italy until 8 September 1943), to reach Allied lines or Switzerland on paths previously used by smugglers. Some fugitives and groups of fugitives hid in safe houses, usually arranged by women (less likely to arouse suspicion). After the war, Field Marshal Harold Alexander issued
12375-455: The period from the mid-1920s, when weak forms of opposition to the fascist regime already existed, until the beginning of World War II . Furthermore, in the memory of the partisan fighters, especially those of communist and socialist inspiration, the memory of the Biennio Rosso and of the violent struggles against the fascist squads in the period 1919–1922, considered by some exponents of
12500-616: The populace, killing entire families. The war crimes committed in Finland by Soviet partisans were investigated by the National Bureau since 1999. However, Russia refused access to Soviet archives and the investigation ended in 2003. Partisan warfare was routinely distorted in the Soviet Union. According to historian Veikko Erkkilä the Russian attitude towards civilian atrocities has been marred by
12625-561: The process of totalitarianization of the State began in the Kingdom of Italy , which will give rise to ever greater control and severe persecution of opponents, at risk of imprisonment and confinement. The anti-fascists therefore organized themselves clandestinely in Italy and abroad, creating with great difficulty a rudimentary network of connections, which however did not produce significant practical results, remaining fragmented into small uncoordinated groups, incapable of attacking or threatening
12750-490: The regime, if some attacks carried out in particular by anarchists are excluded. Their activity was limited to the ideological side; the production of writings was copious, particularly among the anti-fascist exile communities, which however did not reach the masses and did not influence public opinion. Concentrazione Antifascista Italiana (English: Italian Anti-Fascist Concentration ), officially known as Concentrazione d'Azione Antifascista (Anti-Fascist Action Concentration),
12875-451: The resistance adopted guerrilla warfare . This involved groups of 40–50 fighters ambushing and harassing the Nazis and their allies. The size of the brigades was reflective of the resources available to the partisans. Resource limits could not support large groups in one area. Mobility was key to their success. Their terrain knowledge enabled narrow escapes in small groups when nearly surrounded by
13000-517: The resistance was best organized in Lithuania, where guerrilla units controlled whole regions of the countryside until 1949. Their armaments included Czech Skoda guns , Russian Maxim heavy machine guns , assorted mortars and a wide variety of mainly German and Soviet light machine guns and submachine guns . When not in direct battles with the Red Army or special NKVD units, they significantly delayed
13125-629: The scrotum and a wound on the left side, both testicles and spermatic ducts are missing. Juozas Lukša was among those who managed to escape to the West; he wrote his memoirs in Paris - Fighters for Freedom. Lithuanian Partisans Versus the U.S.S.R. and was killed after returning to Lithuania in 1951. Pranas Končius (code name Adomas ) was the last Lithuanian anti-Soviet resistance fighter, killed in action by Soviet forces on 6 July 1965 (some sources indicate he shot himself in order to avoid capture on 13 July). He
13250-647: The socialist Brigate Matteotti ( Matteotti Brigades). Smaller groups included Christian democrats and, outside the CLN, monarchists such as the Brigate Fiamme Verdi (Green Flame Brigades) and Fronte Militare Clandestino (Clandestine Military Front) headed by Colonel Montezemolo. Another sizeable partisan group, particularly strong in Piedmont (where the Fourth Army had disintegrated in September 1943), were
13375-651: The society and the Catholic church. It is estimated that by the end of 1945, 30,000 armed people stayed in forests in Lithuania. The partisans were well-armed. During the 1945-1951 Soviet repressive structures seized from partisans 31 mortars, 2,921 machine guns, 6,304 assault rifles, 22,962 rifles, 8,155 pistols, 15,264 grenades, 2,596 mines, and 3,779,133 cartridges. The partisans usually replenished their arsenal by killing istrebiteli , members of Soviet secret police forces or by purchasing ammunition from Red Army soldiers. Every partisan had binoculars and few grenades. One grenade
13500-437: The summer of 1944 amounted to 30,000 to 35,000, including 5,000 confirmed killed. Kesselring considered the number to be exaggerated, and offered his own figure of 20,000: 5,000 killed, between 7,000 and 8,000 missing / "kidnapped" (including deserters), and a similar number seriously wounded. Both sources agreed that partisan losses were less. By the end of the year, German reinforcements and Mussolini's remaining forces crushed
13625-431: The surrounding woods and formed the first partisan formations in the area. For the deeds of its citizens, the town received a gold medal for Military Valour from the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi . In the days following 8 September 1943 most servicemen, left without orders from higher echelons (due to Wehrmacht units ceasing Italian radio communications), were disarmed and shipped to POW camps in
13750-533: The upper hand, aided by their experience and superior Panzer component. The defenders were hampered by a number of facts: Allied support was cancelled at the last minute since the Fallschirmjäger took the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division drop zones ( Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor had crossed enemy lines and gone to Rome to personally supervise the operation); King Victor Emmanuel III , Marshal Pietro Badoglio and their staff fled to Brindisi , which left
13875-463: The uprising. In their attempts to suppress the resistance, German and Italian Fascist forces (especially the SS, Gestapo , and paramilitary militias such as Xª MAS and Black Brigades ) committed war crimes, including summary executions and systematic reprisals against the civilian population. Resistance captives and suspects were often tortured and raped. Some of the most notorious mass atrocities included
14000-412: The war for money. The partisans slept in abandoned farms and farmhouses. One account from Paolino 'Andrea' Ranieri (a political commissar at the time) described fighters using donkeys to move equipment at night while during the day the peasants used them in the fields. The Nazis tried to split the populace from the resistance by adopting a reprisal policy of killing 10 Italians for every German killed by
14125-412: The women's groups aimed to support resistance efforts in auxiliary roles. However, they quickly assumed leadership responsibilities in areas such as information dissemination, propaganda, issuing orders, and handling ammunition. Some women even directly engaged in armed resistance as "gappistas". Ada Gobetti was among the first to criticize the use of the term "assistance" in the group's name. In 1944,
14250-508: Was Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement . It was led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during World War II . Its commander was Marshal Josip Broz Tito . They were a leading force in the liberation of their country during the People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia . By the middle of 1943 partisan resistance to the Germans and their allies had grown from the dimensions of
14375-412: Was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement , active from 1929 to 1945. The movement was cofounded by Carlo Rosselli , Ferruccio Parri , who later became Prime Minister of Italy , and Sandro Pertini , who became President of Italy , were among the movement's leaders. The movement's members held various political beliefs but shared a belief in active, effective opposition to fascism, compared to
14500-522: Was an Italian coalition of Anti-Fascist groups which existed from 1927 to 1934. Founded in Nérac , France, by expatriate Italians, the CAI was an alliance of non-communist anti-fascist forces (republican, socialist, nationalist) trying to promote and to coordinate expatriate actions to fight fascism in Italy; they published a propaganda paper entitled La Libertà . Giustizia e Libertà (English: Justice and Freedom )
14625-508: Was captured; he was executed on April 28 by Italian partisan Walter Audisio . German forces in Italy officially surrendered on May 2. The order to organize partisan groups was issued by the Marshal of Poland Rydz-Śmigły on 16 September 1939. The first sabotage groups were created in Warsaw on 18 September 1939. Each battalion was to choose 3 soldiers who were to sabotage the enemy's war effort behind
14750-763: Was declared to be founded on the struggle of the Resistance: the Constituent Assembly was mostly composed of representatives of the parties that had given life to the Italian Resistance's National Liberation Committee . These former Italian Resistance fighters wrote the Constitution of Italy at the end of the war based on a compromissory synthesis of their Resistance parties' respective principles of democracy and anti-fascism . The Italian Resistance has its roots in anti-fascism , which progressively developed in
14875-741: Was more intense in Italy, making the Italian case unique. In 1965, the definition of "civil war" was used for the first time by fascist politician and historian Giorgio Pisanò in his books, while Claudio Pavone 's book Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità della Resistenza ( A Civil War. Historical Essay On the Morality Of the Resistance ), published in 1991, led to the term " Italian Civil War " being used more frequently by Italian and international historiography. Not all resistance members were Italians; many foreigners had escaped POW camps or joined guerrilla bands as so-called "military missions". Among them were Yugoslavs, Czechs (deserters from
15000-517: Was re-established deep inside the German-held territories. In some areas partisan collective farms raised crops and livestock to produce food. However this was not usually the case and partisans also requisitioned supplies from the local populace, sometimes involuntarily. According to many anti Soviet accounts, Soviet partisans in Finland were known to have attacked villages and indiscriminately targeted
15125-543: Was the de facto ruler of the south, the National Liberation Committee, still embedded in German territory, existed as a populist organization which posed a threat to the monarchy and property owners in post-war Italy. However the PCI , under directives from Moscow, enabled the Allies to carry out their program of disarming the partisans and discouraged any revolutionary attempt at changing the social system. Instead,
15250-502: Was the setting of a naval battle between Italian torpedo boats and an attacking German flotilla . It was one of the few successful Italian reactions to Operation Achse , and one of the first acts of resistance by the Italian armed forces against Nazi Germany after the armistice of Cassibile . Italian soldiers captured by the Germans numbered around 650,000–700,000 (some 45,000 others were killed in combat, executed, or died during transport), of whom between 40,000 and 50,000 later died in
15375-1098: Was thought to encourage betrayal. People largely supported the resistance because of economic hardships, especially inflation. Pasta prices tripled and bread prices had quintupled since 1938; hunger unified the underground and general population. Women played a large role. After the war, about 35,000 Italian women were recognised as female partigiane combattenti (partisan combatants) and 20,000 as patriote (patriots); they broke into these groups based on their activities. The majority were between 20 and 29. They were generally kept separate from male partisans. Few were attached to brigades and were even rarer in mountain brigades. Female countryside volunteers were generally rejected. Women still served in large numbers and had significant influence. The groups were formed collaboratively by women from diverse political backgrounds. Prominent participants included communists Giovanna Barcellona, Lina Fibbi , Marisa Diena , and Caterina Picolato; socialists Laura Conti and Lina Merlin ; actionists Elena Dreher and Ada Gobetti ; as well as women associated with
15500-442: Was to occupy the town; the local population asked for a resolved reaction by the Italian forces, threatening an insurrection, but the senior Italian commander, general Fortunato Perni, instead ordered his tanks to open fire on the civilians – an order the tankers refused. Meanwhile, De Vecchi forbade any action against the Germans. This however did not stop the protests; some junior officers, acting on their own initiative and against
15625-510: Was usually saved to blow themselves and their faces to avoid being taken as prisoners, since the physical tortures of Soviet MGB/NKVD were very brutal and cruel, and be recognized, to prevent their relatives from suffering. Captured Lithuanian Forest Brothers themselves often faced torture and summary execution while their relatives faced deportation to Siberia (cf. quotation ). Reprisals against anti-Soviet farms and villages were harsh. The NKVD units, named People's Defense Platoons (known by
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