Italian participation on the Eastern Front
The Italian participation on the Eastern Front represented the military intervention of the Kingdom of Italy in the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in 1941. The commitment to actively take part in the German offensive was decided by Benito Mussolini a few months before the beginning of the operation, when he became aware of Adolf Hitler's intention to invade, but it was confirmed only in the morning of 22 June 1941, as soon as the Italian dictator was informed that same day the German armies had invaded the Soviet Union.
An expeditionary force quickly became operational, with three divisions, previously put on alert: called the "Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia" (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, CSIR), it arrived on the eastern front in mid-July 1941. Initially integrated into the 11th German Army and then in the 1st Panzer Army, the CSIR participated in the campaign until April 1942, when the needs of the front required the sending of two other Italian corps which together with the CSIR were reunited into the 8th Italian Army or "Italian Army in Russia" (Armata Italiana in Russia, ARMIR). Deployed to the south, in the Don river sector, the 8th Italian Army together with the 2nd Hungarian Army and the 3rd Romanian Army were assigned to cover the left flank of the German forces that were advancing towards Stalingrad at the time.
Rapid reversals at the front changed the course of the battle; after the encirclement of the German forces in Stalingrad, the subsequent Soviet offensive that began on 16 December 1942 overwhelmed the 2nd and 35th Italian Army Corps (former CSIR), which were part of the southern deployment of the 8th Army, and six Italian divisions together with German and Romanian forces were forced to a hasty retreat. On 13 January 1943, a second major Soviet offensive north of the Don overwhelmed the Alpini troops still in line, poorly equipped and short of supplies, who retreated along the steppes. The retreat cost the Italian forces tens of thousands of men and ended on 31 January, when the 2nd Alpine Division Tridentina reached the first German outposts in Shebekino. The repatriating operations lasted from 6 to 15 March and ended on 24 March, putting an end to the Italian military operations in the Soviet Union.[3]
Aftermath[edit]
Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Russia, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 would die in captivity. By the end of February 1943, the rout of the ARMIR was complete. Mussolini then withdrew what remained of his 8th Army from Russian soil. The Italian forces in Russia had been reduced to less than 150,000 men, and 34,000 of these were wounded. The disaster in Russia was a fierce blow to the power and popularity of the dictator when the gloomy news soon reached the public in Italy. Survivors blamed the Fascist political elite and the army generals. The survivors said they both had acted irresponsibly by sending a poorly prepared, ill-equipped, and inadequately armed military force to the Russian Front. According to veterans, weapons in Italian service were awful: hand grenades rarely went off and rifles and machine guns had to be warmed for a long time over a fire to work properly in the extreme cold, thus often being incapable of firing in the midst of battle. The German commanders were accused of sacrificing the Italian divisions, whose withdrawal was supposedly delayed after the Soviet breakthrough, in order to rescue their own troops.[28]
Throughout 1943, Italy's fortunes worsened. On 25 July 1943, Benito Mussolini and his Fascist government were removed from power by King Victor Emmanuel III. On 8 September, the new Italian government led by the King and Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice with the Allies.
Soon, competing Italian armed forces were being raised to fight for both the Allies and the Axis. Forces of the Royalist Co-Belligerent Army (Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano, or ECI) were formed in southern Italy, while those of the Fascist National Republican Army (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, or ENR) formed in northern Italy. The ECI was the army of what was known as "Badoglio's government." The ENR was the army of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI).
Even after the evacuation of the Italian troops from Russia and even after the armistice in 1943, some ENR units remained on the Eastern Front fighting for the Axis. There were five specialized 'smoke cover' battalions defending the Baltic ports of Swinemünde, Gotenhafen, Pillau and Stettin, plus one at the Grossborn proving ground.[29] In addition, the 834th Field Hospital continued to operate in Russia, as well as the battalion "IX Settembre"; a small unit that fought alongside the Brandenburgers in East Prussia for a brief period.[30]