The Italian Co-Belligerent Army (Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano), or the Army of the South (Esercito del Sud), was the army of the Italian Royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies during World War II. The Italian Co-Belligerent Army was formed in southern Italy after the Allied armistice with Italy was declared on September 8, 1943; King Victor Emmanuel III had dismissed Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister in July 1943 following the Allied invasion of Southern Italy, and had nominated Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia) Pietro Badoglio instead.
The Italian soldiers of the Co-Belligerent Army no longer fought for Mussolini or for the Axis. Their allegiance was to King Victor Emmanuel and to the Allies. In many regards, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army was a reorganized version of the Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito).
Read more about Italian Co-Belligerent Army: Formation, Italian Liberation Corps, Italian Co-Belligerent Army From Late 1944 To 1945, Italian Army, Famous Members
Famous quotes containing the words italian and/or army:
“Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O’er all the Italian fields where still doth sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who, having learnt thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“That’s what an army is—a mob; they don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with courage that’s borrowed from their mass, and from their officers.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)