DK - World War II Map by Map

240 ENDGAME AND AFTERMATH 1944–1955

Gulf of

Venice

A d r i a t i c S e a

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Lake

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Lake

Como

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Arno

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LIECHTENSTEIN

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R E A T E R

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E R M A N Y Y U G O S

L A

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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

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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