Massimo Coltrinari (coltrinari@libero.it)
The theme of this conference is dedicated to our approach of the liberation war, or give a more complete meaning to the term "war of liberation on five fronts."
The fight that the Italian people taken, following the armistice of 8 September 1943 with the United Nations can be understood as one unit, or a Nazi-Fascism and armed opposition to the accession to the anti-Hitler coalition. The War of Liberation in this reading can be considered a war fought on five fronts in the name of a different, democratic Italy. A war. Once won, would represent a break with fascism in the first place, especially with aberrations and degeneration of fascism itself, recovering substance in that spirit, love of country, unity of purpose and popular participation, that sense of peace and brotherhood that had been the glue of the perils of the First World War and who came from the inheritance, the progressive
Mazzini Garibaldi and the best of what the Prime cavourriano mazionale Risorgimento.
In this context, 'cos outlined, the fronts of the War of Liberation have been identified include:
- What free Italy, where the Allies held the front and allow the Government of the King of Italy to exercise its prerogatives, albeit with limitations also natural for war needs. The government is the legitimate government of the King of Italy by the Allies, including the USSR. Recognize.
- What German-occupied Italy. Here the face is illegal and political struggle is being led by CLN, these compounds raised by anti-fascist parties. It 's the great partisan movement of northern Italy.
- That the resistance of Italian soldiers abroad. It 's a face that is not known, forgotten, soon fell into oblivion. And 'the struggle of our soldiers who are placed in local partisan to lead the fight to the Germans (Yugoslavia, Greece, Albania).
- What the Resistance of the Italian military internees in Germany, which opposed a determined refusal to adhere to the IHR, in effect de-legitimized.
- That of the Italian military prison of the Second World War.
Outlined as fronts of the War of Liberation should be made clear two points: the identification of the front "Enemy" and the relationship that exists between "War of Liberation and the Italian Campaign"
The Front "Enemy" is undoubtedly the Hitler coalition. The leaderschip Nazis came to power in 1933 in Germany intended to dominate Europe and, indirectly, in the Eurocentric vision of that world, strengthening within the state, exacerbating the totalitarian and authoritarian aspects of applying at any time and at any time Nazi doctrine of Aryan supremacy of man, and trying to bring within the boundaries of all the German Reich, which is the home acquired in a purity of blood that was implemented, according to the laws on those of German blood and honor of the Nuremberg 1935. This involved a tremendous
reset since the war with neighboring peoples would have been in a relationship gradually increasing power and in favor of Germany, the quickest and effective way to achieve the goals and then Nazi Germany. Taking advantage of the weakness and diplomatic policy of passive acceptance by France and Britain, which until the expansion is not directly touched by German neighbors their direct interests, but only those of allies and friends did not consider or take action to counter directly, which is really a legacy of positive moral behavior of British and French, although not to pay direttament
intervened and they left the Czechs, Slovaks, Bohemians, and most recently the Poles. When the action of Germany put in danger the domain of Europe through Italy and extended to the Mediterranean, arrived ill-prepared for war. Germany then began striking those campaigns, by virtue of its preparation saw her in a few months to conquer Poland, Norway and Denmark, Belgium and Holland, and finally France. By now the war had become the instrument for the new order that you wanted to build. After the conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece, with the attack on the USSR in 1941, also became an ideological war. Convinced that the Soviet Union in a few months to surrender under the attacks of the Germans, Hitler did not try in any way the help of his allies. When the operations were stranded in the Soviet Union and German units before they stopped in Moscow, the war by "flash" was normal. In this round of time Hitler seeks new aid and forces, then pulling the strings of his coalition, calling for aid, and labor for its war effort, rather than soldiers. And 'the strengthening of the Hitler coalition, in which the various local men to serve the Germans well, contributing to their victory. There is a whole galaxy of states involved in this key, including after the Armistice crisis, including the Italian Social Republic, founded and ruled by Benito Mussolini, with the help of the components contain fascism, the idealized, often irrational extremist.
the same level, in the War of Liberation, the five fronts is as "enemy lines" that Hitler coalition, in which the Italian Social Republic in Italy is paramount. The Italian Social Republic verràgestita that according to the extremism of the Republican party that prevails on the moderate fascist is one of the streams that feed into the grand unification of the postwar period, a vlta overcome extremism due to the war.
Another aspect to focus on. The relationship between the Italian Campaign and the War of Liberation. And 'no doubt that the political and military leaders of Britain and the United States, alongside those of the USSR and the remaining part of the Gaullist French extraction, when undertaking the invasion Sicily, intend by this action to force Italy out of the war, or break the alliance with Germany. This can and Italy, with the armistice of 8 September 1943, and then open the Italian front, that Germany must look at its southern borders, or even open the third front for it. The Allies, as they are commonly called in our heritage, today and yesterday by the generations who were the protagonists of those events, they intended to continue "their" war, and had no intention
tion to put the interests of Italy and Italian if not to the extent practical and in harmony with their specific interests. Subject this Italy was always an enemy nation, where fascism had dominated, and, in the aftermath of victory, could not afford in any case that summed up the role of European power, and high-powered, as was the aftermath the victory of 1918. He had, especially in British design, be in a subordinate position on the European stage and medium-low power, under English or American influence, a design that then sank miserably Yalta emerged as his superpowers, USA and the USSR, which until 1989 gave rise to two-party system in the management of the world that binds all other States, winners and losers of World War II, the same plane.
The Italian Campaign events are then acting on a higher plane and different from those operating in the War of Liberation. Everyone here is subordinate to the first and the last word always belongs to others, never us Italians, and always take precedence over the interests of others to our own. The only option we have in this dynamic, this geosistema of power and relations between nations engaged in a war, it is our commitment: the more we can help or indulge in their actions the Allies, the possibility of having better treatment increases but always subject to a decision of others.
Outlined as fronts of the War of Liberation and tried briefly to outline the relationship between the Italian Campaign and the War of Liberation, we see more closely, which is the profile of every Italian, in those dramatic events that we now call "crisis Armistice."
If we see the single military that individual document to the weapons we see that the war was attended by various ways, often according to the most diverse choices: who as a refusal to surrender to the Germans, who, caught, ended up in concentration camps in Germany and Poland, who became partisan in the ranks and took up arms, who returned to Italy in the south and the vast majority joined the ranks of the king, who lived, without giving in on the mountains in Italy and abroad for not surrender to the Germans and do not cooperate, those in the camps of former enemies, now presumed allies, agreed to cooperate in the name of the contribution that Italy had to give for a better tomorrow.
This approach has allowed an opening parenthesis, to promote research in these five directions in order to see how many and which led Italians, says Luciano Bolis their "grain of sand," the War of Liberation as well as what he saw involved those who remained faithful to the old covenant, which made their militancy not only in the Italian Social Republic, but also ranks as the German army and enrolled in German uniform and as auxiliaries, which has helped to bring to light many episodes now shrouded in darkness, but must be further integrated.
Let's see more closely the five fronts in the War of Liberation
The First Front: Italy South
Here was the old man begins to run, but next develops the dialectic of the parties. Involved in the war before the clusters Motorsports, then the CIL, then the combat groups. They are, in essence, the soldiers of the future Italian army, which operate under the classic rules of war. And 'no doubt that fighting against the Germans, even if the relationship is always with the Allies of subjection. With the liberation of Rome in central and advanced the fight against fascism is not separated by a passionate discussion on Italy's political future and the prospects for genuine democratic renewal. The partisan forces and anti-fascist parties coexist, as well as the military organization of the Kingdom, with the Catholic Church, both factors that affect the anti-Fascist activities in moderate sense.
The Second Front: Northern Italy
At the time of the Armistice, Italy was cut in two. In the north, the Germans imposed the Social Republic. Here you have the most complete form of resistance. You have the guerrilla formations organized by anti-fascist parties in the mountains, while in the plains and cities are organized GAP and SAP. In addition, the civilian population participating in the war working with the craftsman movement in a thousand forms, and suffering terrible and inhuman reprisals, also the workers with their strikes and their passive resistance to help slow down the war effort and to occupant also undermine its security. You have the involvement of large sections of the population in the war against fascism, which is integrated with the special shape of the bands in the mountains, not just groups of combatants, but also places of debate and political education.
The Third Front: The Internment
During the months of September and October, the German Army prisoners ago, interior and more than 600,000 Italian troops in Germany, giving rise to the phenomenon of internment Italian military during World War II. These soldiers did not the status of prisoners, but inmates, or the scale of the German concentration camp world, are on the same level of Soviet prisoners of war (The Soviet Union had not signed the Geneva Convention of 1929) and slightly above the Jews. Or their treatment was very hard. In these circumstances to get out of this hell we would have expected a unanimous adherence to the proposed collaboration of both Nazis and members of the CSR Instead almost all of the inmates objected to the refusal of any form of collaboration, and conceded the most terrible consequences. It was a resistance front person, but determined that in reality deligittimò internally but also in the eyes of the Germans Republic Social. In fact, a decision en masse to the fascists of Salò Internati would allow the CSR to reinforce the arguments of the propaganda that was the only representative of the real Italy. In fact, this non-membership in the system with the partisan struggle, relegating him to mere isolated Mussolini represented himself and his associates.
The Fourth Front: The Military Strength of Italians Abroad
If in northern Italy developed the partisan movement by armed gangs abroad, the Italian soldiers caught on September 8th and escaping from the capture German opposed the Germans in arms, initially, then giving life, in harmony with the local resistance movements to real armed formations. For resistance training are known facts of organic Lero and Cephalonia. Many other lesser-known fact that organic Italian military units resisted the Germans to the limit of capacity. An example for all: The Division "Perugia", allocated in southern Albania held weapons in the port of Saranda until October 3, 1943, awaiting help from the Italian and allied. A division of 10,000 men, who dominated a large enough area and was able to give strong support to a speech to the other side of the Adriatic. 10,000 Italian soldiers who remained compact for three weeks beyond the armistice, arms and compares badly in this resistance. In fact, all Perugia officers were shot, and men iternati in Poland.
For units that went into the mountains and joined the partisans, local movements, known are the events of the division "Venice" and "Taurinense" which gave birth to the partisan division Garibaldi, lesser-known events of the division "Florence" and "Arezzo "in Albania and Italian divisions stationed in Greece. Italian military gave birth to the division "Italy" in Yugoslavia. Apart from the Balkans, mil
ITAR Italians participated in the faces of local resistance. So in Corsica, where more than 700 soldiers fell for the liberation of Ajaccio, so in Provence, in central Europe the presence of Italian soldiers is certain.
The Fifth Face: The Prison
There were, at the time of the Armistice, some 600,000 prisoners in the hands of the United Nations. Soldiers for the most part fallen into enemy hands as a result of the offensive in North Africa (1940-'41) to surrender in Tunisia in July and the collapse in August 1943 in Sicily. For the most part, except the 10 to 12,000 soldiers in the hands of the Soviet Union, were in the hands of Anglo-American. These soldiers, these Italians had the announcement of the Armistice, like everyone else, to make choices. The vast majority chose to cooperate with former enemies, and to contribute them to build a better future. A very low rate would not cooperate, not only because the old faithful alliance, but for varied reasons.
For example, in Hereford (USA) streets were nearly 4,000 Italians and Americans considered "sout court" fascists. In fact, among these there were not so co-fascists, and also prisoners of the Forces of CSR, but monarchists, liberals, moderates, Republicans, socialists, communists or lay in the narrow sense that they had made a personal choice.
The prisoners in the hands of the Anglo-Americans were held in ISU, Italian Service Units, companies of 150 men involved in a particular job. Their contribution is expressed in the United States and Great Britain with the commitment in the large arsenals, or bases, or in North Africa and then in Italy, part of Allied logistics. They, too, with their work, they brought the contribution to final victory. Especially the prisoners who worked in Italy in the field of communications, transport and engineering, feed into the new Italian army units, managing the U.S. war material
That is, even the prisoner, in a particular fight. The Front
opponent: The Coalition
Hitler The Rise of the Italian Social Republic is the will of Germany. Freed Mussolini on the Gran Sasso, a Duce tired and saddened by the events now in the hot summer of 1943 and eager to go out and put aside to recover and reflect on why his movement and his regime in less than twenty-four hours collapsed and no one moved a finger to defend him in the aftermath of his arrest July 26, 1943, he was forced to engage heavily in Italian political life. The Birth of the Italian Social Republic was an opportunity for the well-known fascists and pure feelings to field their own ideas without the constraints of the two decades. We wanted to create a republic actually fascist. This trend, which was changed in practice in the Congress of Verona (the famous ten points) of the regenerated PNF, brought to the fore not the moderates or those in the prevailing conditions could build bridges with the other Italy, but the extremists, the diehard supporters of revenge (a term that led to the shooting of the hierarchy, including Galeazzo Ciano, 11 January 1944 in Verona, accused of treason 25 July 1943 during the session of the Grand Council). A choice that even more exasperated the situation and generates, by reaction, the mass membership of the partisan movement in the north. The Italian Social Republic in the hands of the extremists of the party was never able to solve for the entire relationship with the German, who was always a relationship of subordination, and especially failed to enforce and implement those social reforms (the full socialization) on which was based politic internai and saw the total failure for refusing to accede by the working masses and proletarian.
you access to all sides because volunteers. There are different legal entities, which already describe as a partisan, the patriot, the prisoner, the inmate, the hostage, deported, and in this particular site we can point to the Intelligence Liaison Officers, all of whom are delineated in Depending on the front with which to fight. A front that is unified in the firm will to defeat fascism. And in the name of this unit, it's always nice to highlight the fact that Italians, despite the difference in degree but not of nature, made its contribution, its grain of sand, on several fronts, that there be a better Italy, which is the fifth essence of the War of Liberation, and the matrix cradle of our republic today
For further information see the volume of the series History Laboratory
Massimo Coltrinari,
The War of Liberation, a war on five fronts, Rome, New Culture Publishing, 2008
15 €
(more information www.secondorisirgimento.it)
