September 1943: Surrender of Italy

Beginning with the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 June 1943, the Allies invaded Italy, quickly capturing much of the south. On 25 June, King Vittorio Emanuele III deposed Mussolini and had him arrested. Italy then announced its switch from the Axis to the Allied side, signing an armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943. In response, German troops invaded and occupied northern and central Italy, freed Mussolini, and reestablished him at the head of a new Italian government in Salo.

Italy, despite its military weakness, was one of the primary belligerents of WWII and the invasion of Italy was seen as a crucial part of defeating the Axis. The capture of North Africa in Operation Torch had paved the way for an invasion of Italy. Moreover, British and American forces were already in the Mediterranean as a result of that previous operation.

Once the invasion of Italy began, Italian forces proved reluctant to fight Americans and largely incapable of resistance. The Italian aristocracy, which still dominated the highest ranks of the Italian military through reliably royalist generals, had always opposed Mussolini and consistently opposed his expansionist policies and warmongering. To this group of Italian generals, the Allied invasion of Italy was the final proof of the disastrous consequences of Mussolini’s policies. Not wanting to fight a war that would devastate their country and that they had always opposed, the King and his generals overthrew Mussolini and made peace with the USA.

To Germany, the surrender of Italy was a strategic disaster, as it would have allowed the Allies to invade Germany directly through the Alpine passes and would have given them access to German rear lines in France and the Balkans. To avert this scenario, Germany invaded Italy itself and created a new Italian government. Mussolini, although opposed by the senior ranks of the military, was still largely popular among the population and common soldiers, particularly in northern Italy. Germany’s move to occupy most of Italy was thus largely successful.

The defection of Italy to the Allied side is significant because Italy was the first of many Axis powers to do so. The sense in late 1943 was that the Axis was likely to lose the war and the surrender of Italy demonstrated that the Allies would act leniently toward surrendering belligerents. This encouraged the defection of additional countries from the Axis in the following months.