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Valtellina Redoubt
The Valtellina Redoubt or, officially, in () or ''RAR'', was the intended final stronghold or redoubt of the Italian fascist regime of Benito Mussolini at the end of World War II in Europe. It was to be based in the Valtellina, a valley in the Italian Alps, which had the natural protection afforded by the surrounding mountains as well as the possibility of re-using fortifications built in the area for World War I. The idea was initially proposed in September 1944 by Alessandro Pavolini, one of the fascist leaders, who saw it as the place for the regime to make a "heroic" last stand which would inspire a future fascist revolution. Although Pavolini's idea was supported by Mussolini, the fascist leadership as a whole was divided over it. Only minimal preparatory work was carried out to establish the area as a stronghold and, as a result, when the Allied victory in Italy approached in April 1945, the Valtellina was not ready to be used by the fascists as a redoubt. At the end of ...
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Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; (); or ; ; ) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its ski centre, hot spring spas, bresaola, cheeses (in particular Bitto, named after the river Bitto) and wines. In past centuries it was a key Alps, Alpine pass between northern Italy and Germany. The control of the Valtellina was much sought after, particularly during the Thirty Years' War as it was an important part of the Spanish Road. Geography The most important comune of the valley is Sondrio; the others major centres are Aprica, Morbegno, Tirano, Bormio and Livigno. Although Livigno is on the northern side of the alpine water divide, watershed, it is considered part of Valtellina as it falls within the province of Sondrio. History Antiquity and the middle ages The region was conquered in 16 BC by the Roman Empire, Romans. By the 5th century, it was Christianization, ...
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Gran Sasso Raid
During World War II, the Gran Sasso raid (codenamed ''Unternehmen Eiche'', , literally "Operation Oak", by the German military) on 12 September 1943 was a successful operation by Fallschirmjäger, German paratroopers and ''Waffen-SS'' commandos to help the deposed Fascism, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini escape from custody in the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif. The airborne operation was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler, approved by General Kurt Student and planned and executed by Major Harald Mors. Background On the night between 24 and 25 July 1943, a few weeks after the Allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome in World War II, bombing of Rome, the Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence against prime minister Benito Mussolini. On the same day, King Victor Emmanuel III replaced him with Marshal Pietro Badoglio and had Mussolini arrested. This is commonly known as the Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy (or ''25 Luglio'' in Italian); Badoglio I Cabinet, ...
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Republican Fascist Party
The Republican Fascist Party (, PFR) was a political party in Italy led by Benito Mussolini and the sole representative party of the Italian Social Republic during the German occupation of Italy. The PFR was the successor to the National Fascist Party but was more influenced by pre-1922 early radical fascism and anti-monarchism, as its members considered King Victor Emmanuel III to be a traitor after his agreement of the signing of the surrender to the Allies. History After the Nazi-engineered Gran Sasso raid liberated Mussolini, the National Fascist Party (PNF) was revived on 13 September 1943 as the Republican Fascist Party (PFR) and as the single party of the Northern and Nazi-protected Italian Social Republic, informally known as the Salò Republic. Its secretary was Alessandro Pavolini. Due to the strong control of the Germans, the party's power in the context of the Republic of Salò was always very limited. To obviate this inherent weakness, the party tried to obta ...
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Valtellina Mappa
Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; (); or ; ; ) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its ski centre, hot spring spas, bresaola, cheeses (in particular Bitto, named after the river Bitto) and wines. In past centuries it was a key Alps, Alpine pass between northern Italy and Germany. The control of the Valtellina was much sought after, particularly during the Thirty Years' War as it was an important part of the Spanish Road. Geography The most important comune of the valley is Sondrio; the others major centres are Aprica, Morbegno, Tirano, Bormio and Livigno. Although Livigno is on the northern side of the alpine water divide, watershed, it is considered part of Valtellina as it falls within the province of Sondrio. History Antiquity and the middle ages The region was conquered in 16 BC by the Roman Empire, Romans. By the 5th century, it was Christianization, ...
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Gothic Line
The Gothic Line (; ) was a German and Italian defensive line of the Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of the Apennine Mountains during the fighting retreat of the Axis forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy, commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander. Adolf Hitler had concerns about the state of preparation of the Gothic Line: he feared the Allies would use amphibious landings to outflank its defences. To downgrade its importance in the eyes of both friend and foe, he ordered the name, with its historic connotations, changed, reasoning that if the Allies managed to break through they would not be able to use the more impressive name to magnify their victory claims. In response to this order, Kesselring renamed it the "Green Line" (''Grüne Linie'') in June 1944. Using more than 15,000 slave labourers, the Germans created more than 2,000 well-fortified ...
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Spring 1945 Offensive In Italy
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allies of World War II, Allied attack during the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack in the Lombardy, Lombard Plain by the 15th Army Group, 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the Surrender of Caserta, surrender of all Axis forces in Italy. Background The Allies of World War II, Allies had launched their last major offensive on the Gothic Line in August 1944, with the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese) attacking up the coastal plain of the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and the U.S. United States Army North, Fifth Army (Lieutenant general (United States), Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, Mark Clark) attacking through the central Apennine Mountains. Although they managed to breach the formidable Gothic Line defenses, the ...
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Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of Middle Ages, medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, becoming a major artistic, cultural, commercial, political, economic and financial center. During this time, Florence rose to a position of enormous influence in Italy, Europe, and beyond. Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful House of Medici, Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The Florentine dialect forms the base of Italian language, standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to ...
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Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2,746,984 residents in , Rome is the list of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, with a population of 4,223,885 residents, is the most populous metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in Italy. Rome metropolitan area, Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber Valley. Vatican City (the smallest country in the world and headquarters of the worldwide Catholic Church under the governance of the Holy See) is an independent country inside the city boun ...
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Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War (, ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during the Liberation of Italy, Italian campaign of World War II between Italian fascists and Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically organized in the National Liberation Committee) and, to a lesser extent, the Italian Co-belligerent Army. Many Italian fascists were soldiers or supporters of the Italian Social Republic, a Wartime collaborationism, collaborationist puppet state created under the direction of Nazi Germany during its occupation of Italy. The Italian Civil War lasted from around 8 September 1943 (the date of the Armistice of Cassibile, between Italy and the Allies of World War II, Allies) to 2 May 1945 (date of the Surrender at Caserta). The Italian partisans and the Italian Co-belligerent Army of the Kingdom of Italy, sometimes materially supported by the Allies, simultaneously fought against the occupying Nazi German armed forces. Armed clashes between the fascist N ...
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Italian Resistance Movement
The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy from 1943 to 1945. As a diverse anti-fascist and anti-Nazist movement and organisation, the opposed Nazi Germany and its Fascist puppet state regime, the Italian Social Republic, which the Germans created following the Nazi German invasion and military occupation of Italy by the and the from 8 September 1943 until 25 April 1945. General underground Italian opposition to the Fascist Italian government existed even before World War II, but open and armed resistance followed the German invasion of Italy on 8 September 1943: in Nazi-occupied Italy, the Italian Resistance fighters, known as the ( partisans), fought a ('national liberation war') against the invading German forces; in this context, the anti-fascist of the Italian Resistan ...
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Lake Garda
Lake Garda (, , or , ; ; ) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, between Brescia and Milan to the west, and Verona and Venice to the east. The lake cuts into the edge of the Eastern Alps, Italian Alps, particularly the Alpine List of mountain groups in the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps, sub-ranges of the Garda Mountains and the Brenta group, Brenta Group. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the Last Glacial Period, last ice age. The lake and its shoreline are divided between the provinces of Province of Brescia, Brescia (to the south-west), Province of Verona, Verona (south-east) and Trentino (north). Etymology In Roman times the lake was known as ''Benacus'' and by some it was revered as god Benacus, the personification of the lake, sometimes associated with the cult of Neptune (mythology), Neptune. Today it is better known as Lake Garda, a toponym of Germanic origin attested since the Middle Ages and de ...
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