Why do Italians say they were "liberated" by the allies when the allies say they won the war against Germany

Question

and Italy? Question, Part 2, Was Mussolini as evil as Hitler? Italians say he did some great things for Italy before he went crazy.

Answer 1

Italy was a kind of "junior partner" to Germany those days. Before winning the war against Germany, the allies first gained land in France as well as Italy. So town by town was liberated of facism.

Answer 2

They probably say that they were liberated by the allies because they were under Mussolini, who was a fascist dictator, since the early 20's and it wasn't until the Allies won the war against Germany that Italy gained it's independance from fascism.

During the war, the Allied powers fought the Axis powers, which consisted of Germany, Italy and Japan. Germany and Italy were "Axis powers" in the mid 30's. During the war, the Axis powers controlled all of Europe and North Africa. With the fall of North Africa in 1943 and with defeats on the Eastern Front, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies. The Allies say that they won the war against Germany as Germany was the driving force of the Axis powers. When Germany was defeated, it ended the war in Europe.

As for Mussolini doing great things for Italy, well if you consider that he was a dictator and started Fascism in Italy "great", then I guess he did.

That in a brief nutshell is the answer to your question. For more information, check out this site:

http://www.historychannel.com/worldwartwo/?page=home

Answer 3

Actually Mussolini did a few good things in Italy before beeing allied to Hitler. But even if he after did many bad things, it was nothing compared to the Nazi government.
Finally, Italians say that they were liberated by the allies as many of them were not pleased at all with the german alliance and the side of the war in which they were involved. That's why, many Italians, civilians and soldiers joined the allied as soon as they could! They were called "partigiani" (partisans). Even regular Italian troops gathered after the liberation of Italia participated in the end of the war on the allied troops side.

Answer 4

Most of the Italians...including many in the military...were totally against Hitler and Mussolini. They fought a very half-arsed war...in fact Hitler had to keep sending German troops into Italy to do their fighting. Most Italians were very happy when ol' Benny got strung up in a gas station.

Mussolini was not a nice guy...but nowhere near as bad as Hitler.

Yes, Mussolini did some good things for Italy...the standard line is "At least he got the trains to run on time." But Hitler did some good things for Germany, too.

But it's like an alcoholic who only commits murder when he's drunk. His good deeds during his short times of sobriety can never atone for his evil deeds committed when drunk.

Answer 5

After Mussolini was killed, the Nazi's took over Italy. The allies liberated Italy by removing the Nazi's.

As for Mussolini being evil.. I think thats a matter of perspective. Is evil, evil? Or are there different levels of evil? I personally just think that evil is evil. You cannot be a little bit evil in the same way that you cannot be a little bit pregnant.

Answer 6

Keep in mind that the majority of Italians didn't mind Mussolini too much-that is until he started losing. Actually, he was very popular: put people back to work, expanded the industrial base, and greatly curtailed the overwhelming influence of the Mafia in Calabria and Sicily. Mussolini was not anti-Semitic per se, his security police fully cooperated with the SD in round-ups of Jews etc. Also, he was guilty of what we would now call genocide, in Libya and Abyssinia where he used poison gas on civilians. Once he was overthrown, and King Emmanuel wanted to cut a deal with Allies, the Germans occupied Italy, and disarmed much of the Italian armed forces. This occupation is what many Italians refer to when they talk of "occupation". What most popular histories don't discuss is that Italian air, armored and parachute units kept fighting in Northern Italy (the so-called "Salo Republic"), and Russia until the end of the war. The popular idea that everyone immediately starting attacking the Germans once the Allies landed at Salerno/Anzio, is frankly a myth. Perpetuated partly by the Allies themselves: it avoided the messiness of War Crimes Trials of people who allied themselves to US/Britain/USSR. In the novel, "Catch 22" a local Italian is talking with the main character (I'm paraphrasing) "When Mussolini was in power, I gave the Fascist salute. When the Germans came, I gave the Hitler salute. Now that the Americans are here, I salute you."

Answer 7

Because Italy was liberated from unwillingly being under the fascist dictator Mussolini. While not being as bad as Hitler, he still kept Italy under a iron grip for over 20 years.

Answer 8

It's bull. If Germany would have won the war the Italians would still be in love with Mussolini.

Answer 9

Most of the Italian army was made up from conscripts , who would surrender to the allies with very little fighting . In north africa , Germany had to use force to make the Italian army fight . Much like the russians did to their own men at the invasion of stalingrad . If they retreated they would be shot . Hitler was not evil he was just mis-understood .

Answer 10

The Allies liberated most all of mainland Europe. That's how they won the war.

Mussolini was a third rate bully compared to Hitler.