History

Partisan Brigades

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The Armistice between Italy and the allies was signed on September 3rd, but the Italian government delayed the announcement until the 8th, and then only after the Allies and General Eisenhower threatened widespread bombing of Italy. Badoglio made the announcement by radio but, rather than declaring Germany a hostile country, he vaguely said that the Italian Army “will react against attacks from any other origin,” and he failed to organize any military action as the Germans began to occupy Italy, from the north to Naples. He and the king, along with the ministers and the court subsequently fled to Brindisi, a city already liberated by the Allies in the southeast of Italy.  This was considered by many Italians to be an unforgivable act of betrayal.