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The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war.

Strategic Background

Even prior to victory in the North African Campaign, there was disagreement between the Allies on the best strategy to defeat the Axis.

The British, especially Winston Churchill, advocated their traditional naval-based peripheral strategy. With a relatively small army, but great naval power, the traditional British strategy against a continental enemy was to fight as part of a coalition and mount small peripheral operations designed to gradually weaken the enemy. The United States, with a far larger army, favored a more direct strategy of fighting the main force of the German army in northern Europe. The ability to launch such a campaign depended on first winning the Battle of the Atlantic.

The strategic disagreement was fierce, with the US service chiefs arguing for an invasion of France as early as possible, while their British counterparts advocated a mediterranian strategy. The American staff believed that a full-scale invasion of France as soon as possible was necessary to end the war in Europe, and that no operations should be undertaken which might delay that effort. The British argued that the presence of large numbers of troops trained for amphibious landings in the Mediterranean made a limited-scale invasion possible and useful. Eventually the US and British political leadership made the decision to commit to an invasion of France in 1944, but with a low-priority Italian campaign to tie up German forces in the meantime.

The primary strategic goal of the campaign was thus to force the German army to tie down units in Italy, which both sides knew was a secondary theater. With the greater Allied numerical strength, such a strategy favored the Allies.

However, political events in Italy intervened. It was clear that the Italian people had never been enthusiastic about their participation in the war, and it was hoped that an invasion would knock them out of the war, or provide at least a major propaganda blow. The elimination of Italy as an enemy would also enable the Royal Navy to completely dominate the Mediterranean Sea, massively improving communications with Egypt, the Far East, the Middle East and India. It would also mean that the Germans would have to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to defend Italy and the entire southern coast of France, thus aiding the Soviets.

A secondary objective was thus to eliminate Italy as a partner in the axis coalition. A symbolic part of this would be the capture of Rome.

Invasion of Sicily

Main article:Allied invasion of Sicily

A combined British-American invasion of Sicily began on July 10 1943 with both seaborne and airborne landings at the gulf of Gela and north of Syracuse. The Germans were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, the last leaving on August 17 1943. Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare, and mass Airborne drops.

Invasion of continental Italy

Main article:Allied invasion of Italy.

British forces landed in the 'toe' of Italy on September 3 1943 in Operation Baytown. The Italian government surrendered on 8 September, but the German forces prepared to defend without their assistance. On 9 September American forces landed at Salerno in Operation Avalanche and additional British forces at Taranto in Operation Slapstick. While the rough terrain prevented fast movement and proved ideal for defense, the Allies continued to push the Germans northwards throughout the rest of the year.

The main Allied effort initially centered on the port of Naples. Naples was selected because it was the northernmost port city that could be taken while under cover of Allied fighter aircraft operating from Sicily.

The Winter Line, Anzio and Monte Cassino

Main articles:Winter Line, Operation Shingle, Battle of Monte Cassino

The German prepared defensive line called the Winter Line (parts of which were called the Gustav Line) proved a major obstacle to the Allies at the end of 1943, halting the advance. Landings at Anzio behind the line were intended to break it, but did not have the desired effect. The line was eventually broken by outflanking attacks at Monte Cassino in the Spring of 1944, and Rome fell on June 4th. However, an opportunity to cut off a large part of the German army in Italy was lost.

The Final Stages

Main article:Gothic Line

The Italian campaign had always been a secondary theatre, and this became much more obvious after the capture of Rome and the Normandy Invasion. Many experienced units such as the US 3rd, 36th, and 45th Infantry Divisions were pulled out of Italy to participate in Operation Dragoon. In the period from May to September the Allies advanced beyond Rome taking Florence and closing up on the Gothic Line. This last defensive line, just south of Bologna, was not broken until April 1945. In the winter and spring of 1944-45, extensive partisan activity in northern Italy took place. Because there were two Italian governments during this period, one on each side of the war, the struggle took on some characteristics of a civil war.

Bibliography

  • Gerhard Muhm : German Tactics in the Italian Campaign , http://www.larchivio.org/xoom/gerhardmuhm2.htm
  • Gerhard Muhm : La Tattica tedesca nella Campagna d'Italia, in Linea Gotica avanposto dei Balcani, (Hrsg.) Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993

External links

Italian Campaign | Contemporary Italian history

Italské tažení | Campagna d'Italia (seconda guerra mondiale) | Italiaanse campagne | イタリア戦線

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Italian Campaign (World War II)".

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