240 ENDGAME AND AFTERMATH 1944–1955
Gulf of
Venice
A d r i a t i c S e a
Lig
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S
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Lake
Garda
Lake
Como
Po
Arno
C
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s
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A
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SWITZ s
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AND
A p
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LIECHTENSTEIN
I
T
A
L
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G
R E A T E R
G
E R M A N Y Y U G O S
L A
V I
A
Civitavecchia
San
Marino
Villach
Innsbruck
Salzburg
Florence
Pistoia
Ravenna
Imola Lugo
Argenta
Forlì
Modena
San Remo
Bologna
Marzabotto
Brenner
Pass
Bregenz
Kempten
Terni
Fermo
Fano
Pesaro
Rimini
Grosseto
Viterbo
Zürich
Gaeta
Cassino
Terracina
Livorno
Geneva
Ancona
Novara
Mondovì
Pescara
Treviso
Ferrara
Mezzegra
Perugia
Verona
Brescia
Salò
Arezzo
Trieste
Trento
Genoa
Pavia
Venice
Ostiglia
Como
Parma
Piacenza
Alessandria
Vercelli
Vaduz
Rome
Anzio
Udine
Fiume
Bastia
Milan
Turin
Siena
Volterra
Cecina
Pula
Pisa
Carrara
Barga
Sant’Anna
di Stazzema
Piombino
La Spezia
Padua
Rovigo
Argenta
Gap
British 8th Army
Sep 13–24, 1944
Dec 5, 1944
Aug 4,
1944
15th Army
Group
US 5th
Army
T
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FINAL STRUGGLES
IN ITALY
In 1944, the Allies pushed northward through Italy, eventually
forcing the Germans behind the Gothic Line—a formidable
defensive line that ran the width of the country. Following a winter
of military stalemate, the Allies achieved a decisive breakthrough
in spring 1945 that finally brought the war in Italy to an end.
German field marshal Albert Kesselring
continued to frustrate the pursuing
Allies by conducting a skillful defensive
retreat. Under his orders, 15,000 slave
laborers built the Gothic Line (also
known as the Green Line)—a series of
bunkers, anti-tank ditches, machine-
gun posts, minefields, and other
defenses. The location of the Gothic
Line in the Apennine Mountains meant
that the most viable places for the Allies
to attack were along both coasts and
at a few mountain passes—points that
the Germans heavily defended. In
September 1944, some Allied divisions
broke through at the eastern end of the
line, but otherwise the barrier held out
“A soldier’s first duty is to obey, otherwise you might
as well do away with soldiering.”
FIELD MARSHAL ALBERT KESSELRING, 1946
until the following spring, when the
Allies launched a decisive offensive. The
battle for the Gothic Line was one of the
largest fought in the war, involving
more than 1.2 million men.
As the Allies turned their focus to
the Western Front after D-Day (see
pp.186–187), the Italian campaign came
to be seen as something of a sideshow.
But for those involved, it was a long,
punishing struggle that claimed the
lives of around 250,000 soldiers and
150,000 noncombatants. Under
Kesselring’s orders, German troops
responded brutally to any opposition,
killing thousands of civilians in reprisal
for partisan attacks or disobedience.
LAST STAND IN ITALY
The Germans pinned their last
hopes of halting the Allied advance
in Italy on their fortified Gothic Line.
However, they could not contain the
sustained attacks and were forced
to capitulate in May 1945.
Allied forces
KEY
TIMELINE
JUL 1944 SEP NOV JAN 1945 MAR MAY JUL
2
3
1
4
5
Massacres Areas of Italian
partisan activity
ITALIAN PARTISANS
After the fall of Rome in June 1944
(see pp.166–167), some pro-Fascist
Italian forces continued to fight
alongside German troops. However,
they were matched by the number of
partisans fighting against the occupiers
and against Mussolini’s Italian Social
Republic (the Republic of Salò: see
Box 5). Italian partisans liberated
many cities before the arrival of the
Allies, including Milan, Genoa, and
Turin. After the German forces were
expelled, partisan groups executed
thousands of collaborators.
Partisans enter the freed city
of Milan on April 25, 1945
WINTER STALEMATE
DECEMBER 1944–APRIL 9, 1945
The winter of 1944–1945 was harsh, and neither side
made much progress. The inactivity enabled both
sides to move forces to areas where they were
needed more urgently. In March, the Allies bombed
Axis-held Venice; the same month, Hitler promoted
Kesselring to Commander-in-Chief on the Western
Front. Morale dropped on both sides, as troops
realized that the conflict in western Europe was
taking priority over Italy.
3
Allied territory Allied air attack
by Apr 9, 1945
RETREAT TO THE GOTHIC LINE
AUGUST 1944
By early August, Allied forces had pushed the Germans
as far north as the Arno River and had taken the city
of Florence. The Germans withdrew behind the
Gothic Line, a defensive line that stretched 200 miles
(320 km) between Italy’s east and west coasts. The
fortifications, which were 10 miles (16 km) deep in
some places, would be the last major line of defense
for the Germans in Italy.
1
Gothic Line
Battle
Allied advance
Allied territory
by Aug 25, 1944
ALLIES BREACH THE GOTHIC LINE
AUGUST–DECEMBER 1944
The Allies gave the Germans every indication that they
would assault the Gothic Line on the west coast, but
the move was a feint to allow the British 8th Army to
break through in the east, taking the port of Rimini.
US forces made progress in the Apennine Mountains.
The last Allied victory of 1944 came on December 5
with the capture of the east-coast city of Ravenna.
2
Allied advance
Battles
Allied territory
by Dec 31, 1944
US_240-241_Finale_of_war_in_Italy.indd 240 22/03/19 12:14 PM