Italian Social Republic Repubblica Sociale Italiana (Italian) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943–1945 | |||||||||
| Motto: Per l'onore d'Italia "For the honour of Italy" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Giovinezza (de facto) "Youth" | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
 Administrative divisions of the Italian Social Republic | |||||||||
| Status | Puppet state of Germany[2][3] Rump state of Italy[4][5] | ||||||||
| Capital | |||||||||
| Largest city | Rome | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary republic under a fascist one-party totalitarian dictatorship | ||||||||
| Duce | |||||||||
• 1943–1945 | Benito Mussolini | ||||||||
| Plenipotentiary | |||||||||
• 1943–1945 | Rudolf Rahn | ||||||||
| Historical era | |||||||||
| 8–19 September 1943 | |||||||||
| 23 September 1943 | |||||||||
| 25 April 1945 | |||||||||
| 28 April 1945 | |||||||||
| 1 May 1945 | |||||||||
| Currency | Italian lira | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Italian Social Republic (Italian: Repubblica Sociale Italiana, Italian: [reˈpubblika soˈtʃaːle itaˈljaːna]; RSI; German: Italienische Sozialrepublik), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (Italian: Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (Italian: Repubblica di Salò, Italian: [reˈpubblika di saˈlɔ]), was a German puppet state and fascist rump state with limited diplomatic recognition that was created during the latter part of World War II. It existed from the beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of Axis troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation triggered widespread national resistance against it and the Italian Social Republic, leading to the Italian Civil War.
The Italian Social Republic was the second and last incarnation of the Italian Fascist state, led by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his reformed anti-monarchist Republican Fascist Party. The newly founded state declared Rome its capital but the de facto capital was Salò (hence the colloquial name of the state), a small town on Lake Garda, near Brescia, where Mussolini and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were headquartered. The Italian Social Republic nominally exercised sovereignty in Northern and Central Italy, but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control.
In July 1943, after the Allies had pushed Italy out of North Africa and subsequently invaded Sicily, the Grand Council of Fascism—with the support of King Victor Emmanuel III—overthrew and arrested Mussolini. The new government began secret peace negotiations with the Allied powers but when the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September, Nazi Germany was prepared and quickly intervened. German troops seized control of the northern half of Italy, freed Mussolini, and brought him to the German-occupied area to establish a satellite regime. The Italian Social Republic was proclaimed on 23 September 1943.[3][6] Although the RSI claimed sovereignty over all of Italy and its colonies, its de facto jurisdiction only extended to a vastly reduced portion of the country.[7] The RSI received diplomatic recognition only from the Axis powers and their satellite states. Finland and Vichy France, although in the German orbit, did not recognize it. Unofficial relations were maintained with Argentina, Portugal, Spain, and, through commercial agent, Switzerland. Vatican City did not recognize the RSI.
Around 25 April 1945, 19 months after its founding, the RSI all but collapsed. In Italy, the day is known as Liberation Day (festa della liberazione). On that day, a general partisan uprising, alongside the efforts of Allied forces during their final offensive in Italy, managed to oust the Germans and the remaining RSI forces from Italy almost entirely. Mussolini was captured and killed by Italian partisans on 28 April as he and an entourage attempted to flee. The RSI Minister of Defense, Rodolfo Graziani, surrendered what was left of the Italian Social Republic on 1 May, one day after the German forces in Italy capitulated.
- ^ Both OZAV and OZAK were still formally part of the RSI. But the two regions were put under direct German military administration.
- ^ Renzo De Felice, Breve storia del fascismo, Milano, Mondadori (Collana oscar storia), 2002, pp. 120–121.
- ^ a b c Pauley, Bruce F. (2003), Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century Italy (2nd ed.), Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, p. 228, ISBN 0-88295-993-X
- ^ Eric Morris, Circles of Hell: The War in Italy 1943-1945, ISBN 0091744741, 1993, p. 140
- ^ Neville, Peter (2014). Mussolini (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 199. ISBN 9781317613046.
- ^ Shirer, William (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York City: Simon & Schuster. p. 1055. ISBN 0-671-72868-7.
- ^ Susan Zuccotti. The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival. University of Nebraska Press paperback edition. University of Nebraska Press, 1996. P. 148.