Italian military in the War of Resistance in Yugoslavia after the 8 September 1943 Armistice

The essay deals with the role of Italian troops stationed in Yugoslavia in the period from the 1943 armistice between the Allies and Italy to the end of World War II. It will examine the role played by Italian troops fighting alongside the partisan units in the war of Resistance in Yugoslavia against the Nazi occupants, and aims at closing some gaps in the historiography of the Second World War specific to this issue. As a matter of fact the contribution of the Italian army to the Resistance has been completely ignored, since it was impossible to ascribe antifascist sentiment to the military that were identified with the fascist regime. According to part of Italian historiography, the army dissolved in two days, and even in situations where soldiers were involved in fighting, they «did not intend to go on, so in these events we cannot see any perspective of resistance»; that is, the resistance started with antifascists. As a matter of fact, the first examples of resistance against the Germans after the September 8 Armistice, in Italy and abroad, came from the military, and in the few clear-cut cases where the Italian army opposed the Germans, such as the defence of Rome at Porta San Paolo or in Cephalonia, the interpretation was often ideological - these actions were ascribed to a spontaneous popular uprising among the soldiers. Among the Italian military units fighting for the liberation of Yugoslavia, the Garibaldi division is the most successful example.