The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

and the main representative of the

Italian resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Socia ...

fighting against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

’s forces during the German occupation of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the aftermath of the

armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Bri ...

, while simultaneously fighting against Italian Fascists during the

Italian Civil War The Italian Civil War ( Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian partisans (mostly politically organized in the National Liberation Committ ...

. It was a multi-party entity, whose members were united by their

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

. The CLN coordinated and directed the Italian resistance and was subdivided into the Central Committee for National Liberation (CCLN) based in Rome and the later National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy (CLNAI) based in Milan.

History

The CLN was formed on 9 September 1943, following Italy's armistice and Germany's invasion of the country. The member parties were the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

, the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 189 ...

, the Action Party, the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

, the Labour Democratic Party, and the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor part ...

. With the backing of the Royal government and the Allied powers, CLN gained official recognition as the representative of the Italian resistance movement, and had several leaders operating underground in German-occupied Italy. The partisan formations controlled by the CLN were primarily divided between three main groups,

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Garibaldi Brigades The ''Brigate Garibaldi'' or Garibaldi Brigades were partisan units aligned with the Italian Communist Party active in the armed resistance against both German and Italian fascist forces during World War II. The Brigades were mostly made up of ...

, the Action Party's Justice and Freedom Brigades, and

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

" Matteotti" Brigades. Smaller groups included

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalis ...

partisans. There were partisan units not represented in the CLN, including the ''Brigata Maiella'' and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

, republican and

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

formations.Il Cln, spiegato bene: che cosa era il Comitato di Liberazione nazionale
/ref> The CLN led the governments of Italy from the liberation of Rome in June 1944 until the first post-war general election in 1946.

Composition

Seats

References

{{Authority control * Anti-fascism in Italy Anti-fascist organisations in Italy World War II resistance movements 1943 establishments in Italy 1944 in Italy 1945 in Italy Defunct political party alliances in Italy

History

Composition

Seats

See also

References