The Republic of Alba was a short-lived state that existed from 10 October to 2 November 1944 in

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

, northern Italy, as a local resistance against

Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and which was part of the so-called Italian Partisan Republics, the first of which was the Republic of Corniolo. It was named after the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...

Republic of Alba The Republic of Alba () was a revolutionary municipality proclaimed on 26 April 1796, in Alba, Piedmont, when the town was taken by the French army. The municipality had a very short life of only 2 days because, with the Armistice of Cherasco ...

that existed in 1796 in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Occupation of Alba

On 10 October 1944, partisans occupied the city almost without conflict since the fascist contingents under had abandoned the city following negotiations with the partisans mediated by the

Curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

. The partisans were mostly from

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operati ...

divisions led by

Enrico Martini Enrico Martini (''nom de guerre'' "Mauri") Mondovì, 29 January 1911 – Turkey, 19 September 1976) was an Italian soldier and partisan, an Alpini ''Major'', founder of the ''1 Group Alpine Divisions'' in the Italian Resistance, and a recipient ...

The partisan government

Command of the city was assumed by Carletto Morelli, while the civil administration continued under chosen local officials.

The fascist counterattack

Fascist troops gathered at Bra and Pollenzo with reinforcements from Turin. They attempted to ford the

Tanaro The Tanaro (; ; ; ) is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of drainage basin (partly Alpi ...

after 24 October but were repulsed, suffering 11 casualties including their commanding officer.L.M. Grassi, "La Tortura di Alba e dell'albese", ed. Paoline, 1973

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alba, Republic of, (1944) 1944 in Italy Republic of Alba (1944) Modern history of Italy Italian states States and territories established in 1944 States and territories disestablished in 1944 Military history of Piedmont 1944 establishments in Italy 1944 disestablishments in Europe Italian resistance movement Italian partisan republics

Occupation of Alba

The partisan government

The fascist counterattack

Quotes

See also

References