Partisans
First groups of partisans were formed in Boves (Piedmont) and Bosco Martese (Abruzzo). Other groups -made mainly by Slavic and communist elements- born or grew strong in Venezia Giulia. Others grew up around the Allied soldiers, Yugoslav and Russian prisoners of war, released or escaped from captivity following the events of September, 8. These first organized units dissolved in a short time because of the rapid German reaction. In particular, in the village of Boves - during one of these counterinsurgency operations - the Nazis committed their first massacre on Italian territory.
Since the evening of September 8, just hours after the radio communication of the armistice, several notable antifascist (emerged from hiding after the collapse of the fascist regime on July 25) converged to Rome: Ivanoe Bonomi (PDL), Scoccimarro and Amendola (PCI), De Gasperi (DC), La Malfa and Fenoaltea (PDA), Nenni and Romita (PSI), Ruini (DL), Casati (PLI). They formed the first Committee of National Liberation (CLN) and Bonomi took over the presidency.
In particular, Italian Communist Party was quivering on the initiative without waiting for the Allies:
(Italian) «...è necessario agire subito ed il più ampiamente e decisamente possibile perché solo nella misura in cui il popolo italiano concorrerà attivamente alla cacciata dei tedeschi dall'Italia, alla sconfitta del nazismo e del fascismo, potrà veramente conquistarsi l'indipendenza e la libertà. Noi non possiamo e non dobbiamo attenderci passivamente la libertà dagli angloamericani. - »
(English) «... It's necessary to act immediately and as widely and decisively as possible, because only if the Italian People actively contribute to push out Germans from Italy and to defeat Nazism and Fascism, it will be really able to get independence and freedom. We can not and must not passively expect freedom from the British and the Americans. »
Besides, the Allies did not believe in the possibilities of success of a local guerrilla, so that initially the nuclei consisting of General Alexander invited to postpone the attacks against the Nazis. On 16 October the CLN branched out a press release, the first important political and operational – which rejected the calls for reconciliation launched by Republican leaders. The CLN Milan echoed by an order of the day when called to arms, "the Italian people to fight against the German invaders and against the fascists that they are servants".
In late November, the Communists decided the establishment of task forces called "distaccamenti d'assalto Garibaldi", which later would become "brigades" and "divisions", whose leadership was entrusted to Luigi Longo, under the political direction of Pietro Secchia, with Giancarlo Pajetta Chief of Staff. The first operational order - dated 25 November - read:
- to attack and annihilate in every way officers, soldiers, material, deposits of Hitler's armed forces;
- to attack and annihilate in every way people, places, properties of fascists and traitors who collaborate with the occupying Germans;
- to attack and annihilate in every way war industries, communication sistems and everithing that might help to war plans of Nazi occupants.
Since shortly after the Armistice arose, on the initiative of the Italian Communist Party, the Gruppi di Azione Patriottica ("Patriotic Action Groups") or simply "GAP", consisting of small groups of cellular structure, designed not to affect the mutual existence in case of arrest or betrayal of individual elements, whose main purpose was to unleash the terror urban trough bomb attacks against fascists, Germans, and their supporters. The ability of GAP in performing the tasks was such that German and Italian police initially thought they were composed of foreign intelligence agents. In this regard it is significant what is written on the public announcement of the PCI in September 1943:
To the tyranny of Nazism, that claims to reduce to slavery through violence and terror, we must respond with violence and terror.
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Part of journalism has justified the action of GAP's mission of "justice" against the Nazi tyranny and terror, with emphasis on how the selection of targets to be hit would give preference, "the official, hierarchical collaborators, agents hired to denounce men of the Resistance and Jews, the Nazi police informants and law enforcement organizations of CSR ", thus claiming a substantial difference with the Nazi terror, but that would have been indiscriminate in the eyes of the population. The partisan memoirs in particular insists on the "elimination of enemies especially heinous", such as torturers, spies, provocateurs. Some orders from branched commands partisans insist on the need to avoid hitting the innocent, instead of providing lists of categories to be hit as individuals deserving of punishment ".
Par of Italian press during the war period agrees that, in addition to these actions, were planned and carried murders of most moderate Republican fascist, willing to compromise and negotiation, such as Aldo Resega (it), Igino Ghisellini (it), Eugenio Facchini (it) and the philosopher Giovanni Gentile.
Also participated in the resistance, mainly due to activities of procurement of supplies, clothing and medicines, anti-fascist propaganda, fundraising, maintenance of communications in the role of partisan relays, relief and assistance, several women, variously organized, and some participated actively in the conflict as combatants: the first detachment of guerrilla fighters rose up in Piedmont in the mid-1944 at the Garibaldi Brigade "Eusebio Giambone" . Women participated in strikes and demonstrations against fascism. Consistence of partisan forces was incostant, depending by seasons, German and fascist repression and also by orography of Italian territory, but never exceeded 200.000 men actively involved, with an important support by residents of occupied territories. Nonetheless it was an important factor that concurred in immobilizing a conspicuous part of German forces in Italy, and to keep German communication lines insecure, with an advantage for Allied forces operating in Italy.
Read more about this topic: Italian Civil War, Factions