As a result of the
Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, political forces allied to King
Victor Emmanuel III seized power in Italy, imprisoned dictator Benito Mussolini and negotiated an
armistice between Italian and the Allied Forces, which came into effect on 8 September 1943. On 12 September 1943, the Germans launched the
Operation Oak and rescued Mussolini. The Fascist Italian Social Republic (
Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI) was formed as a
puppet state in northern Italy with Mussolini as its leader. Marshal
Rodolfo Graziani was appointed as the
Minister of Defence of the RSI. On 16 October, the Rastenburg Protocol was signed with Nazi Germany. According to this protocol, the RSI was allowed to raise
Division-sized military formations. This allowed 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. near
Nettuno, 1944. . Recruiting troops was difficult for the RSI because most of the Italian army had been interned by the Germans in 1943, many Italians had been
conscripted for forced labour in Germany, and few wanted to fight on the side of Nazi Germany after 8 September 1943. The RSI became so desperate for soldiers that it granted freedom to prisoners if they would join the army, and the death penalty was imposed on anyone who resisted conscription. Autonomous military forces in the RSI also fought against the Allies, including the
Decima Flottiglia MAS commanded by Prince
Junio Valerio Borghese (National Republican Navy). Borghese was not loyal to Mussolini and even suggested he would take him prisoner if he could. During the winter of 1944-1945, there were armed Italians on both sides of the
Gothic Line. Four groups of Italian volunteers from the
Royal Italian Army were on the Allied side. These troops (the
Italian Co-Belligerent Army) were equipped and trained by the British. On the Axis side, there were four RSI divisions. Three of the RSI divisions, the
2nd Grenadier Division "Littorio", the
3rd Marine Infantry Division "San Marco", and the
4th Alpine Division "Monterosa", were assigned to
Army Group Liguria under Graziani and were placed to guard the western flank of the Gothic Line facing France. The fourth RSI division, the
1st Bersaglieri Division "Italia", was attached to the German
14th Army in an area of the Apennine Mountains that was considered to be the least vulnerable to attack. On 26 December 1944, several large RSI military units, including elements of the
4th Alpine Division "Monterosa" and the
3rd Marine Infantry Division "San Marco", took part in the
Operation Winter Storm. This was a combined German and Italian offensive against the American
92nd Infantry Division. The battle was fought in the
Apennines. Although limited in scale, it was a successful offensive in which RSI units played their part. In February 1945, the
92nd Infantry Division again encountered RSI units. This time it was the
1st Bersaglieri Division "Italia". The Italians successfully stopped the advance of the US division. The Minister of Defence of the Italian Social Republic, Graziani, could even say that he commanded a whole army. This was the Italo-German Ligurian Army. However, the situation for the Axis forces on the Gothic Line subsequently deteriorated. In late April,
at Collecchio, the last remaining RSI troops, along with two
Wehrmacht divisions, were pinned down by the
1st Brazilian Division and forced to surrender after several days of fighting. On 29 April, Graziani surrendered and sent a delegation to surrender at
Caserta when a representative of German General
Heinrich von Vietinghoff-Scheel signed the unconditional surrender of all Axis forces in Italy. However, possibly because of the Allies' low opinion and regard for the Italian Social Republic, Graziani's signature was not required at Caserta. The surrender was to take effect on 2 May. Graziani ordered the RSI forces under his command to lay down their arms on 1 May. The
Italian Social Republic suffered some 34,770 deaths during the war and, using conventional ratios of killed to wounded and killed to missing, probably more than 100,000 in total. The majority of deaths, around 21,600, were suffered by anti-partisan formations, such as
National Republican Guard,
Black Brigades, and
Territorial Defense Militia. The remainder, approximately 13,170, were incurred by regular forces, mostly facing the Allies. The dead break down as: 13,500 members of the
Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana and Milizia Difesa Territoriale, 6,200 members of the
Black Brigades, 2,800
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana personnel, 1,000
Marina Nazionale Repubblicana personnel, 1,900
X MAS personnel, 800 soldiers of the "Monterosa" Division, 470 soldiers of the "Italia" Division, 1,500 soldiers of the "San Marco" Division, 300 soldiers of the "Littorio" Division, 350 soldiers of the "Tagliamento" Alpini Regiment, 730 soldiers of the 3rd and 8th Bersaglieri regiments, 4,000 troops of miscellaneous units of the
Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano (excluding the above-mentioned Divisions and Alpini and Bersaglieri Regiments), 300 members of the
Legione Autonoma Mobile "Ettore Muti", 200 members of the
Raggruppamento Anti Partigiani, 550 members of the
Italian SS, and 170 members of the
Cacciatori degli Appennini Regiment. ==Organization==