Military history of Italy

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The military history of Italy chronicles a vast time period, lasting from

The Etruscans (Etrusci or Tusci in Latin) were settled north of Rome in Etruria (modern northern Lazio, Tuscany and part of Umbria). They founded cities like Tarquinia, Veii and Volterra and deeply influenced Roman culture, as clearly shown by the Etruscan origin of some of the mythical Roman kings. The origins of the Etruscans are lost in prehistory. Historians have no literature, no texts of religion or philosophy; therefore much of what is known about this civilization is derived from grave goods and tomb findings.^[1]

The Italics were war-like as the Etruscans (the

The Greeks had founded many colonies in Southern Italy (that the Romans later called Magna Graecia), such as Cumae, Naples and Taranto, as well as in the eastern two-thirds of Sicily, between 750 and 550 BCE.^[2][3]

After 650 BCE, the

The northern part of Italy was called Cisalpine Gaul because of the presence of Celtic tribes and the strong influence they had on the region. Non-Celtic people like Ligurians in the western part, and Adriatic Veneti in the eastern, also existed and were the majority of population of Cisalpine Gaul, although they were very influenced by Celts in their culture, and warfare was no exception. The Ligurians practised warfare mainly by ambush and their weaponry was very similar to the Celtic one, Greek, and illirian ones (e.g. with hoplites and phalanx), but later emerges use of typical Celtic weapons and tactics.

These many tribes were not united and often disagreed or even conflicted with each other. Tribal warfare was a regular feature of Celtic societies, using war to exercise political control and harass rivals, for economic advantage, and in some cases to conquer territory. An example in this area was the fight between the Celtic Insubres and the Taurini (Ligurian) that Hannibal intervened at, when he went to Italy just after crossing the Alps. The Cisalpine Celtic and Ligurian populations were sought after as mercenaries in the wars of the ancient world, until they were subjected to Rome between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE.

Rome

The early Roman army (c. 500 BCE) was, like those of other contemporary city-states influenced by Greek civilization, a citizen militia which practiced hoplite tactics. It was small (the population of free males of military age was then about 9,000) and organized in five classes (in parallel to the comitia centuriata, the body of citizens organized politically), with three providing hoplites and two providing light infantry. The early Roman army was tactically limited and its stance during this period was essentially defensive.^[6] By the 3rd century BCE, the Romans abandoned the hoplite formation in favor of a more flexible system in which smaller groups of 120 (or in some cases 60) men called maniples could maneuver more independently on the battlefield. Thirty maniples arranged in three lines with supporting troops constituted a legion, totaling between 4,000 and 5,000 men. The early Republican legion consisted of five sections, each of which was equipped differently and had different places in formation: the three lines of manipular heavy infantry (hastati, principes and triarii), a force of light infantry (velites), and the cavalry (equites). With the new organization came a new orientation toward the offensive and a much more aggressive posture toward adjoining city-states.^[7]

At nominal full strength, an early Republican legion would have included 3,600 to 4,800 heavy infantry, several hundred light infantry and several hundred cavalrymen, for a total of 4,000 to 5,000 men.^[8] Legions were often significantly understrength from recruitment failures or following periods of active service due to accidents, battle casualties, disease and desertion. During the Civil War, Pompey's legions in the east were at full strength because recently recruited, while Caesar's legions were in many cases well below nominal strength after long active service in Gaul. This pattern also held true for auxiliary forces.^[9]

Until the late Republican period, the typical legionary was a property-owning citizen farmer from a rural area (an adsiduus) who served for particular (often annual) campaigns,^[10] and who supplied his own equipment and, in the case of equites, his own mount. Harris suggests that down to 200 BCE, the average rural farmer (who survived) might participate in six or seven campaigns. Freedmen and slaves (wherever resident) and urban citizens did not serve except in rare emergencies.^[11] After 200 BCE, economic conditions in rural areas deteriorated as manpower needs increased, so that the property qualifications for service were gradually reduced. Beginning with Gaius Marius in 107 BCE, citizens without property and some urban-dwelling citizens (proletarii) were enlisted and provided with equipment, although most legionaries continued to come from rural areas. Terms of service became continuous and long—up to twenty years if emergencies required it although Brunt argues that six or seven years was more typical.^[12] Beginning in the 3rd century BCE, legionaries were paid stipendium (amounts are disputed but Caesar famously "doubled" payments to his troops to 225 denarii a year), could anticipate booty and donatives (distributions of plunder by commanders) from successful campaigns and, beginning at the time of Marius, often were granted allotments of land upon retirement.^[13] Cavalry and light infantry attached to a legion (the auxilia) were often recruited in the areas where the legion served. Caesar formed a legion, the Fifth Alaudae, from non-citizens in Transalpine Gaul to serve in his campaigns in Gaul.^[14] By the time of Caesar Augustus, the ideal of the citizen-soldier had been abandoned and the legions had become fully professional. Legionaries were paid 900 sesterces a year and could expect a payment of 12,000 sesterces on retirement.^[15]

At the end of the

The Emperor Gallienus (253–268 CE) began a reorganization that created the final military structure of the late Empire. Withdrawing some legionaries from the fixed bases on the border, Gallienus created mobile forces (the Comitatenses or field armies) and stationed them behind and at some distance from the borders as a strategic reserve. The border troops (limitanei) stationed at fixed bases continued to be the first line of defense. The basic unit of the field army was the "regiment", legiones or auxilia for infantry and vexillationes for cavalry. Evidence suggests that nominal strengths may have been 1,200 men for infantry regiments and 600 for cavalry, although many records show lower actual troop levels (800 and 400). Many infantry and cavalry regiments operated in pairs under the command of a comes. In addition to Roman troops, the field armies included regiments of "barbarians" recruited from allied tribes and known as foederati. By 400 CE, foederati regiments had become permanently established units of the Roman army, paid and equipped by the Empire, led by a Roman tribune and used just as Roman units were used. In addition to the foederati, the Empire also used groups of barbarians to fight along with the legions as "allies" without integration into the field armies. Under the command of the senior Roman general present, they were led at lower levels by their own officers.^[18]

Military leadership evolved greatly over the course of the history of Rome. Under the monarchy, the hoplite armies would have been led by the kings of Rome. During the early and middle Roman Republic, military forces were under the command of one of the two elected

Available information suggests that by the time of the late Empire (350 CE), the Roman navy comprised a number of fleets including both warships and merchant vessels for transportation and supply. Warships were oared sailing galleys with three to five banks of oarsmen. Fleet bases included such ports as Ravenna, Arles, Aquilea, Misenum and the mouth of the Somme River in the West and Alexandria and Rhodes in the East. Flotillas of small river craft (classes) were part of the limitanei (border troops) during this period, based at fortified river harbors along the Rhine and the Danube. The fact that prominent generals commanded both armies and fleets suggests that naval forces were treated as auxiliaries to the army and not as an independent service. The details of command structure and fleet strengths during this period are not well known although it is known that fleets were commanded by prefects.[23]

Middle Ages

Throughout the

The second half of the Middle Ages in Italy was marked by frequent conflict between the

The victory of the Guelph party meant the end of Imperial overlordship over northern Italy, and the formation of city-states such as Florence, Venice, Milan, Genoa or Siena. While Venice was turning to the seas, supporting, and acquiring large loot from, the 1204 Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople, the other city-states were struggling for control of mainland, Florence being the rising power of the time (annexation of Pisa in 1406).

Sicily was invaded in 1266 by

The relative peace that had prevailed in Italy following the

In 1508, Pope Julius II formed the League of Cambrai, in which France, the Papacy, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire agreed to attack the Republic of Venice and partition her mainland territories.^[24] The resulting War of the League of Cambrai was a kaleidoscope of shifting alliances. The French defeated the Venetian army at the Battle of Agnadello, capturing extensive territories; but Julius, now regarding France as a greater threat, left the League and allied himself with Venice.^[25] After a year of fighting over the Romagna, he proclaimed a Holy League against the French; this rapidly grew to include England, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire.^[26] The French were driven from Italy in late 1512, despite their victory at the Battle of Ravenna earlier that year, leaving Milan in the hands of Maximilian Sforza and his Swiss mercenaries; but the Holy League fell apart over the subject of dividing the spoils, and in 1513 Venice allied with France, agreeing to partition Lombardy between them.^[27] The French invasion of Milan in 1513 was defeated at the Battle of Novara, which was followed by a series of defeats for the French alliance; but Francis I of France defeated the Swiss at the Battle of Marignano in 1515, and the treaties of Noyon and Brussels left France and Venice in control of northern Italy.^[28]

The election of

The remainder of the Italian Wars—which flared up again in 1535—was primarily a struggle between the

By the end of the wars in 1559, Habsburg Spain had been established as the premier power of Europe, to the detriment of France. The states of Italy, which had wielded power disproportionate to their size during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, were reduced to second-rate powers or destroyed entirely.

The Italian Wars had a number of consequences for the work and workplace of

In France, Henry II was fatally wounded in a joust held during the celebrations of the peace. His death led to the accession of his 15-year-old son Francis II, who in turn soon died. The French monarchy was thrown into turmoil, which increased further with the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in 1562.

Early modern period

Government-funded encyclopedias produced in Italy the 1930s listed notable Italian officers of the early modern period, over 4,100 names from 1560 to 1710. Of the 3,462 individuals for which place of origin is known, 20 percent came from the Venetian Republic (half from the capital city itself), 14.4 percent from the Papal States, 13.7 percent from Tuscany, 11.5 percent from Piedmont-Savoy, 10 percent from Naples (almost all from Campania, especially the capital city), 9.5 percent from Lombardy, 8.3 percent from Emilia, 7.3 percent from Liguria and Corsica (the Republic of Genoa), 2.7 percent from Sicily (almost all from the cities of Palermo and Messina), 2.3 percent from the Friulan marches and Trentino, and 0.3 percent from Sardinia.^[30]

Partial foreign domination

Following the Italian Wars (1494 to 1559), Italy saw a long period of relative peace, however, Southern Italy (

18th century

Piedmont

In 1700 the army was the main instrument used by the Savoy sovereigns (such as Victor Amedeus II and his successor Charles Emanuel III), who assured Piedmont its territorial expansion and the rise to European power, participating in the main wars that broke out in the period (wars of succession of Spain, Poland and Austria ). It is no coincidence that in this period Piedmont was called "the Italian Prussia".^[32] During the whole century there was a general tendency to enlarge the army, in 1774 the total number of Savoyan troops reached 100.000 units and it was in that occasion that the regulation concerning the duration of the permanent military service was introduced.

Naples

In 1734 there was the passage of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily from Habsburg to Bourbon rule as a result of the war of Polish succession. In the two previous centuries southern Italy and Sicily were part of the Spanish Empire as viceroys; later, in 1707, the Kingdom of Naples passed to Austria as part of the war of Spanish succession, while the Kingdom of Sicily was given to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy in 1713 with the peace of Utrecht.

The official date of birth of the Neapolitan army is however linked to the law of 25 November 1743, by which King Charles ordered the constitution of 12 provincial regiments, all composed of citizens of the Kingdom.^[33] In the spring of the following year the newborn army underwent its first test against the Austria at the Battle of Velletri. It marked its first great victory, in which entirely Neapolitan regiments took part, such as the "Terra di Lavoro" (which after the battle could boast the title of "Real", reserved only for veteran regiments).

Venice

On April 26, 1729 the Senate approved the military reform proposed by Marshal Count Schulenburg. On the basis of this reform, the land army was in peacetime composed of 20460 men.^[34]

Venice fought the Turkish in seventh Ottoman–Venetian War, one particular episode of this conflict was the battle of Corfu in 1716-1717 where 70,000 Turks tried to conquer the island then garrisoned by about 5,000 Venetian infantrymen, here at the end of the siege the Ottomans left on the field over 5,000 dead and 20 banners against just 400 dead Venetians, in 1784 there was an expedition led by Admiral Angelo Emo against the barbary pirate concluded with the bombing of the fort of Susa.

The republic in 1788 had an army of about 30,000 units with the possibility to increase the number through the use of local militias also called cernide. At the end of the Republic the Venetian military instrument was remarkable for the Italian averages (probably the third largest army in Italy).

Italian Unification and colonial period

The

The First (1848–1849), Second (1859) and Third Italian War of Independence (1866) were fought against the Austrian Empire as part of the process to unify the Italian peninsula. The kingdom of Italy did not participate in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, but the defeat of France and the abdication of French emperor Napoleon III enabled Italy to capture Rome (the city was de jure declared the capital of Italy in 1861^[35]), the last remnant of the Papal States (ruled by the Catholic church). The military and political protection provided to the Papal States by Napoleon III had until then prevented this.

Italian conquest of Eritrea and Somalia

Italy took part in the

Italian warships and infantry took part in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China (1900).

The conquest of Libya

During the

In spite of its official status as member of the

A few days after the outbreak of the conflict, on 3 August 1914, the government, led by the conservative Antonio Salandra, declared that Italy would not commit its troops, maintaining that the Triple Alliance had only a defensive stance, whereas Austria-Hungary had been the aggressor. In reality, both Salandra and the minister of Foreign Affairs, Sidney Sonnino, started diplomatic activities to probe which side was ready to grant the best reward for Italy's entrance in the war. Although the majority of the cabinet (including former Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti) was firmly contrary to the intervention, numerous intellectuals, including socialists such as Ivanoe Bonomi, Leonida Bissolati and Benito Mussolini, declared in favour of the intervention, which was then mostly supported by the Nationalist and the Liberal parties.

The diplomatic moves led to the

In April 1915 Italy joined the Entente and on 3 May 1915 officially rejected the Triple Alliance. In the following days Giolitti and the neutralist majority of the Parliament fought to keep Italy out of the conflict, while the nationalists demonstrated in the squares in favour of entrance into the war (the nationalist poet Gabriele D'Annunzio defined them le radiose giornate di Maggio - "the sunny days of May"). On 13 May Salandra presented his resignation to King Victor Emmanuel III. Giolitti, fearful of a further blow to governing institutions, declined to succeed as prime minister and also resigned. Italy thenceforth entered the war under the impetus of a relative minority of its population and politicians.

Interwar period

In 1922, Benito Mussolini brought the fascist party to power in Italy with his March on Rome on 28 October. Mussolini repeatedly stated his dream of the Mediterranean Sea becoming an "Italian lake" (Mare Nostrum, "our sea") and valued war, saying "Though words are beautiful things, rifles, machine guns, planes, and cannon are still more beautiful".^[36]

Corfu incident (1923)

In the Corfu incident Italy forced Greece to pay reparations and apologize for the murder of an Italian general by bombarding and temporarily occupying the Greek island of Corfu. This incident was indicative of the aggressive posture of the new Fascist regime.

Conquest of Ethiopia (1935–1936)

The

On May 22, 1939, the Pact of Steel was signed by Galeazzo Ciano and German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, effectively allying the two powers. Despite the fairly good relations the two states had had, many Italians were against this alliance, thinking of it as more of a submission to Germany, knowing that Italian interests were likely not to be favored in the relationship. The alliance also technically forced Italy to join in any war that Germany had entered, so that Germany could at any time present the treaty and force Mussolini to enter, though they did not end up using this right.

World War II

Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, but Italy remained neutral for the following ten months even though it was one of the Axis powers.

Italian dictator

Yet whilst equipment was lacking and outdated, Italian authorities were acutely aware of the need to maintain a modern army

AB 41 and the Camionetta AS 42 which were regarded as excellent vehicles of their type. None of these developments precluded the fact that the bulk of the equipment was obsolescent and poor. However, it was this relatively weak economy, lack of suitable raw materials and inability to produce suitable quantities of armaments and supplies which was predominant reason for Italian military failure.^[63]

On paper, Italy had one of the largest armies,[64] but this was far from reality. According to the estimates of Bierman and Smith, the Italian regular army could field only about 200,000 troops at the start of World War II.^[48] Irrespective of the attempts to modernize, the majority of Italian army personnel were lightly armed infantry lacking sufficient motor transport.^{[nb 6]} There was insufficient budget to train the men in the services such that in World War II the bulk of the personnel received much of their training at the front, when it was too late to be of use.^[65] Air units had not been trained to operate with the naval fleet and the majority of ships had been built for fleet actions, not the convoy protection duties which they were mostly employed for during the war.^[66] Regardless, a critical lack of fuel kept naval activities to a minimum.^[67]

Senior leadership was also an issue. Mussolini personally assumed control of all three individual military service ministries with the intention of influencing detailed planning.^[68] Comando Supremo (the Italian High Command) consisted of only a small complement of staff that could do little more than inform the individual service commands of Mussolini's intentions, after which it was up to the individual service commands to develop these into proper plans and execute.^[69] The result was that there was no central direction for operations and the three military services tended to work independently, focusing only on their fields, with little inter-service cooperation.^[69][70]

Following the German conquest of Poland, Mussolini would change his mind repeatedly as to whether he would enter the war. The

Archibald Wavell, correctly predicted that Mussolini's pride would ultimately cause him to enter the war. Wavell would compare Mussolini's situation to that of someone at the top of a diving board: "I think he must do something. If he cannot make a graceful dive, he will at least have to jump in somehow; he can hardly put on his dressing-gown and walk down the stairs again."^[71]

Some historians believe that Italian leader Benito Mussolini was induced to enter the war against the Allies by secret negotiations with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, with whom he had an active mail correspondence between September 1939 and June 1940.^[72] The journalist Luciano Garibaldi wrote that "in those letters (which disappeared at Lake Como in 1945) Churchill may have extorted Mussolini to enter the war to mitigate Hitler's demands and dissuade him from continuing hostilities against Great Britain as France was inexorably moving toward defeat. In light of this, Mussolini could urge Hitler turn against the USSR, the common enemy of both Churchill and Mussolini".

Initially, the entry into the war was clearly political opportunism, which led to a lack of consistency in planning, with principal objectives and enemies being changed with little regard for the consequences.^[73] Mussolini was well aware of the military and material deficiencies but thought the war would be over soon and did not expect to do much fighting. This led to confusion amongst ordinary Italians and soldiers who had little idea of what they were fighting for and, hence, had little conviction and saw little justification for it. As the war progressed and one disaster followed another, Comando Supremo were forced to take more serious steps in their planning.

France

As the war looked increasingly bad for the allies, with the impending German conquest of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, Mussolini could no longer hold himself back and declared war on the allies on 10 June 1940. To Mussolini it seemed that the war was already nearly over, and he wanted to make sure that Italy at least got a position at the peace tables at the end and obtained such lands as Corsica, Nice, and more North African territory. The Italian offensive against France did not actually begin until ten days after the declaration of war, and Italian troops (fighting against a numerically inferior French force, which was however well-entrenched in the Alpine Line) were very slow to capture territory, while Germany had already taken hold of Paris. The Italians made little progress into French territory at the cost of heavy casualties. On 24 June, France agreed to an armistice. The Italian occupation zone consisted of 832 square kilometers.

Africa

Further information: North African campaign

Mussolini's entry into the war was at least bad news for the United Kingdom, as the Regia Marina would now oppose them in Mediterranean waters. Italian armies in Libya and East Africa could also potentially have knocked British troops completely out of Egypt, having half a million men in Africa compared to the United Kingdom's fifty thousand.^[74] However, British troops took the initiative in Africa while Italy was still having trouble pacifying Ethiopia and General Wavell kept up a constantly moving front of raids on Italian positions that proved to be successful. On 14 June a successful surprise attack was made on Fort Capuzzo by the British, though it was not meant as a permanent gain as the British were using far more mobile tactics at the time. By mid-September, casualty listings indicate that Italy had lost 3,000 troops where the United Kingdom had only lost slightly over 490, despite Italy's land numbers and air superiority at the time.

On 13 September 1940, Italy began a very slow

advance eastward into Egypt. The Italians advanced with six divisions. After three days, they stopped and set up a chain of fortified camps near Sidi Barrani. However, the chain of camps were too far apart from one another. This allowed Wavell make a crippling blow to the Italian forces around Sidi Barrani right at the start of what was to become Operation Compass. Richard O'Connor led the initial attack against the Italian camps. O'Connor moved between the camps and around to the Italian rear. This greatly surprised the Italians and the British were able to immediately capture four thousand prisoners. This attack alone could have effectively annihilated the Italian army in North Africa. But the British commanders did not foresee such a large victory. Instead, the initial attack was thought of as a large-scale raid. For this reason, no infantry division was available to press home the British opportunity at Sidi Barrani. So the remaining Italian troops managed to escape safely to Bardia. However, Bardia

was captured by the British within three weeks.

The

Italian campaign in East Africa was initially more successful, as the Italians captured British Somaliland and small parts of Sudan and Kenya, but lack of fuel and resources then forced them to abandon any further intent of advance and take up a defensive posture against an expected counterattack. This counterattack came from two Indian divisions from Sudan, three divisions from Kenya and an amphibious attack from Aden, in co-operation with Ethiopian Arbegnoch rebels. The Allied forces captured Somalia in February, Eritrea in March–April (after the decisive Battle of Keren), and Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, in April.^[75] The Duke of Aosta, viceroy of Italian East Africa, surrendered at Amba Alagi in May. Forces in Italian East Africa were somewhat cut short by the Regia Aeronautica's forced presence in the Battle of Britain at the time, leaving only 150 planes in Ethiopia, as well by the impossibility of receiving supplies from Italy. Some Italian garrisons, such as Gondar and Culqualber, held out till November 1941, and a small number of Italians waged a guerrilla war for some more time, some continuing till 1943

.

Campaigning in North Africa then fell to

Tunisian Campaign

and finally surrendered on 13 May 1943.

Greece

With very little preparation after this disaster in Africa and the ensuing retirement of

Greco-Italian War

. Hitler was against Mussolini's invasion (as it would require German troops' help later on), but Mussolini continued without German knowledge, as he felt that the Nazis had invaded countries too many times without telling Mussolini beforehand.

Mussolini was very unsure of what date to invade, as he changed his mind many times, even five times in one segment of fifteen minutes.[76] Eventually he decided on 28 October, the anniversary of the March on Rome. In about two weeks, the Italian army was already retreating back into Albania, for conditions at this time of year were very detrimental to mountain warfare and general organization problems continued throughout the military. Franco of the recently victorious Fascist side in the Spanish Civil War was pondering entrance into World War II, but Italy's failure in Greece put him off of the idea. Hitler then came in to rescue Mussolini's troops, gaining him the upper hand in all politics and military operations for the rest of the war.

Soviet Union

Main article:

Italian participation in the Eastern Front

Mussolini was actually in the middle of negotiating a commercial treaty with the Soviet Union when Hitler invaded his former ally in fighting Poland 22 June 1941. However, Mussolini was taken once again by Hitler's promise of quick victory and would eventually send a total of 200,000 troops to the Eastern front, initially organized as the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia. To begin with, three divisions were sent, though only one division was at all motorized, but that division had no tanks.

After some large initial losses in the "Celere" Division, Mussolini sent four new infantry divisions and three

2nd "Tridentina" Alpine division

escaping annihilation. By the end of February 1943, the few remaining Italian troops were being withdrawn, a huge blow to public opinion of the Fascist government in Italy. The remnants of the Italian Army in Russia was still in Italy at the time of the Italian Armistice in September 1943 that led to it being officially disbanded.

Sicily and armistice

On 10 July 1943, a combined force of American and British Commonwealth troops invaded

forced labor

, the Germans re-designated their Italian prisoners as "military internees" and shipped them to Germany as slave labor.

The Germans freed Mussolini in the Gran Sasso raid (12 September 1943) and set him up as the leader of the Italian Social Republic (RSI) puppet state that kept fighting the Allies until it collapsed when the German forces in Italy surrendered in the spring of 1945.

The Allies were of two minds on how to treat the Kingdom of Italy after the armistice. The US wanted to treat the Kingdom of Italy as an equal member of the Allies, while the British wanted to treat the Kingdom like a defeated enemy. The armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy did therefore not enter the war against Germany in full force, although "

Italian Co-Belligerent Navy) were eventually set up and fought with the Allies. The post-armistice period also saw the rise of a large Italian resistance movement

that fought the Germans and the RSI in the north.

Aftermath of World War II

Defeat in World War II led to the loss of the entire

Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947

.

Post World War II

• 
  Attack helicopter Agusta A129 Mangusta.
• 
  Aircraft carrier

  MM Cavour

  .
• 
  B1 Centauro
• 
  Battle tanks Ariete
• 
  A Eurofighter Typhoon operated by the Italian Air Force.
• 
  Submarine Salvatore Todaro.

Post-war Italy adopted a republican constitution and became one of the founding members of the Western Bloc military alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) that was formed 4 April 1949 and remains a member as of 2019.

Multinational Force in Lebanon (1982–1984)

In 1982 Italian forces were deployed to Lebanon (then racked by the Lebanese Civil War) together with American and French troops as the Multinational Force in Lebanon. The stated aim of the Multinational Force was to oversee the withdrawal of the PLO from Lebanon but the deployment lasted beyond that point.

The Italian contingent of around 3,000 troops was led by then Brigadier General Angioni, that in the end was the most successful of the three deployed forces, raising the confidence of Italian leadership and people in the Armed Forces, recovering the low esteem in the public opinion caused by the defeat in World War II and paving the way to the subsequent increase in overseas missions for the Italian military.

The Multinational Force was withdrawn following the deadly

1983 Beirut barracks bombing

that simultaneously struck the French and American forces. The Italian contingent was not targeted in this attack. The Italian force was withdrawn on 20 February 1984 (the US followed on 26 February and the last French troops left on 31 March). Two Italian military personnel died while serving in the Multinational Force in Lebanon.

Gulf War (1990–1991)

Italy contributed 4 warships (plus one support ship) and Panavia Tornado IDS Interdictor/Strike aircraft to the Coalition of the Gulf War.

NATO intervention in the Bosnian War (1992–1995)

Under the auspices of NATO, Italy participated in interventions in the

1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina

against Bosnian Serb targets.

Unified Task Force and United Nations Operation in Somalia II (1992–1995)

Italian forces were part of the Unified Task Force and its successor United Nations Operation in Somalia II a United Nations peacekeeping force whose intervention in the Somali Civil War ultimately proved unsuccessful, ending in withdrawal in 1995.

Operation Alba (1997)

1997 rebellion in Albania.^[77]

The Italian

3rd Army Corps assumed responsibility for the 'Alba' Mission, the first multinational Italian-led mission. Fifteen contributing nations brought humanitarian aid to crisis-struck Albania.^[78]

Kosovo War (1999)

Italy took part in the

Giuseppe Garibaldi

, a frigate (Maestrale) and a submarine (Sauro class), that operated with other NATO ships in the Adriatic sea.

Italian troops are part of the Kosovo Force, a NATO-led peacekeeping force that deployed to Kosovo after the end of the war in 1999.

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

4th Alpini Regiment

in Afghanistan

As part of

Provincial reconstruction team

in the country.

Italy initially sent 411 troops, based on one infantry company from the

2nd Alpini Regiment tasked to protect the ISAF HQ, one engineer company, one NBC platoon, one logistic unit, as well as liaison and staff elements integrated into the operation chain of command. Italian forces also command a multinational engineer task force and have deployed a platoon of Italian military police. Three AB 212 helicopters were also deployed to Kabul and four Panavia Tornado

aircraft.

47 Italian military personnel have died while serving with ISAF.

Multi-National Force – Iraq (2003–2006)

The Multi-National Force – Iraq consisted of the nations whose governments had military personnel stationed in Iraq. The Italian Army did not take part in initial combat operations of the 2003 Iraq War, dispatching troops after May 1, 2003 – when major combat operations were declared over by the U.S. President George W. Bush. Subsequently, Italian troops arrived in the late summer of 2003, and began patrolling Nasiriyah and the surrounding area. On 26 May 2006, Italian foreign minister Massimo D'Alema announced that the Italian forces would be reduced to 1,600 by June. The last Italian troops were withdrawn from Iraq in September 2006.

33 Italian military personnel died while serving in Iraq. The greatest single loss of life was on November 12, 2003 when a suicide car bombing struck the Italian Carabinieri Corps HQ in Nasiriyah and killed a dozen Carabinieri, five Army soldiers, two Italian civilians, and eight Iraqi civilians.

Multi-National Force – Lebanon (2006–present)

UNIFIL

, Italy sent naval units and 3,000 troops to control the southern Lebanon border.

2011 military intervention in Libya

Italy was part of the initial coalition (later expanded to nineteen states) of states that

Libyan Civil War

.

Deployments to Niger

In December 2017, Prime Minister

European migrant crisis.^[79][80]

Notes

1. ^ Larissa Bonfante:Etruscan Inscriptions and Etruscan Religion in The Religion of the Etruscans - University of Texas Press 2006, page 9
2. ^ Guerber, H. A. (2011). "Heritage History eBook Reader". heritage-history.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011.
3. ^ Roman-Empire.net (2009). "Religion". roman-empire.net. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
4. ISBN 978-1-4051-2153-8
   . Plate 12.2 on p. 204.
5. ^ Coarelli, Filippo (1987), I Santuari del Lazio in età repubblicana. NIS, Rome, pp. 35-84.
6. ISBN 0-394-57188-6
   .
7. ^ Keegan, p. 264; Potter, pp. 69-70.
8. ISBN 0-19-508974-X
   , pp. 245-249.
9. ISBN 978-0-300-12048-6
   ], pp. 384, 410-411, 425-427. Another important factor discussed by Goldsworthy was absence of legionaries on detached duty.
10. ISBN 0-521-00390-3
    , p. 27.
11. ISBN 0-19-814866-6
    , p. 44.
12. ^ Keegan, pp. 273-274; Brunt, pp. 253-259; Harris, pp. 44-50.
13. ^ Keegan, p. 264; Brunt, pp. 259-265; Potter, pp. 80-83.
14. ^ Goldsworthy, Caesar, p. 391.
15. ISBN 0-520-04566-1
    , pp. 74-76.
16. ^ Christopher S. Mackay, Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History, Cambridge University Press, (Cambridge, U.K. 2004), pp. 249-250. Mackay points out that the number of legions (not necessarily the number of legionaries) grew to 30 by 125 AD and 33 during the Severan period (200–235 AD).
17. ^ Goldsworthy, ‘’The Roman Army’’, pp. 36-37.
18. ISBN 0-19-815241-8
    pp. 89-96.
19. ISBN 0-521-00390-3, Chapter 2; Potter, pp. 66-88; Goldsworthy, The Roman Army, pp. 121-125. Julius Caesar's most talented, effective and reliable subordinate in Gaul, Titus Labienus, was recommended to him by Pompey
    . Goldsworthy, The Roman Army, p. 124.
20. ^ Mackay, pp. 245-252.
21. ^ MacKay, pp. 295-296 and Chapters 23-24.
22. ^ This paragraph is based upon Potter, pp. 76-78.
23. ^ This discussion is based upon Elton, pp. 97-99 and 100-101.
24. ^ Guicciardini, History of Italy, 196–197; Norwich, History of Venice, 394–395.
25. ^ Norwich, History of Venice, 399–415; Taylor, Art of War, 119.
26. ^ Guicciardini, History of Italy, 216–227; Norwich, History of Venice, 417.
27. ^ Norwich, History of Venice, 422–425; Oman, Art of War, 152.
28. ^ Guicciardini, History of Italy, 280–290; Norwich, History of Venice, 429–432; Oman, Art of War, 153–154; Taylor, Art of War, 67, 123.
29. ^ Arfaioli, Black Bands, 10–11; Guicciardini, History of Italy, 335; Norwich, History of Venice, 439; Oman, Art of War, 176–186; Taylor, Art of War, 51.
30. ^ Gregory Hanlon. "The Twilight Of A Military Tradition: Italian Aristocrats And European Conflicts, 1560-1800." Routledge: 1997. Page 221-222.
31. ^ Galasso, Giuseppe. Il Regno di Napoli (in Italian). Neri Pozza.
32. ^ "La Rivoluzione di Sanremo, la storia della città matuziana raccontata da Pierluigi Casalino" (in Italian). February 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
33. ^ "Il soldato napolitano" (in Italian). Retrieved 2 October 2023.
34. ^ Dandolo, Girolamo: La caduta della Repubblica di Venezia ed i suoi ultimi cinquant'anni, Pietro Naratovich tipografo editore, Venezia, 1855.
35. ^ Nel 1861 Roma fu proclamata capitale d'Italia - La Provincia (laprovincia.it)
36. ^ Smith, Italy: A Modern History, 447.
37. ^
    ISBN 978-0190874308
    .
38. ^ Smith, Italy: A Modern History, 466.
39. ^ Walker (2003), p. 19
40. ^ Steinberg (1990), pp. 189, 191
41. ^ Walker (2003), p. 12
42. ^ Bauer (2000), p. 231
43. ^ Walker (2003), p. 26
44. ^ Beevor (2006), pp. 45, 47, 88–89, 148, 152, 167, 222–24, 247, 322–26, 360, 405–06, 415
45. ^ ^{a b} Walker (2003), p. 17
46. ^ Bonner and Wiggin (2006), p. 84
47. ^ Eden & Moeng (Eds.) (2002), pp. 680–681
48. ^ ^{a b} Bierman & Smith (2002), pp. 13–14
49. ^ Walker (2003), p. 22
50. ^ Sadkovich (1991), pp. 290–91; and references therein
51. ^ Walker (2003), pp. 30–53
52. ^ ^{a b} Sadkovich (1991), pp. 287–291
53. ^ Steinberg (1990), p. 189
54. ^ ^{a b} Bauer (2000), p. 146
55. ^ Eden & Moeng (Eds.) (2002), pp. 684-685, 930, 1061
56. ^ Arena 1994, p. 23.
57. ^ Bishop (1998), p. 18
58. ^ Bishop (1998), pp. 17–18
59. ^ Walker (2003), p. 48
60. ^ ^{a b} Sadkovich (1991), p. 290
61. ^ Walker (2003), p. 109
62. ^ Bishop (1998), pp. 149, 164
63. ^ "European history". 26 September 2023.
64. ISBN 0-415-24989-9
65. ^ ^{a b} Walker (2003), p. 23
66. ^ Walker (2003), p. 21
67. ^ Bauer (2000), pp. 96, 493
68. ^ Walker (2003), p. 11
69. ^ ^{a b} Walker (2003), p. 20
70. ^ Bauer (2000), pp. 90–95
71. ISBN 978-1-4027-4090-9
72. ^ Garibaldi (2001), p. 142
73. ^ Walker (2003), p. 25
74. ^ Hart, History of the Second World War, 109.
75. ^ Smith, Italy: A Modern History, 476.
76. ^ Smith, Italy: A Modern History, 477.
77. ^ Operation Alba Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine on the UN website, accessed 2012 November
78. ^ NATO, NRDC-IT Emblem, accessed November 2011
79. ^ Agence France-Presse (December 28, 2017). "Italy to send almost 500 troops to Niger to stem migrant flow: PM". The Local. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
80. ^ Reuters (December 28, 2017). "Italy Aims to Send Up to 470 Troops to Niger to Curb People-smuggling". Voice of America. Retrieved December 29, 2017. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Sunday some of the 1,400 Italian troops now stationed in Iraq could be transferred to the Sahel region in West Africa — which includes Niger — after victories against Islamist militants in Iraq. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)

1. ^ The decision to continue with a frontline biplane fighter, due to the success of the highly maneuverable Fiat CR.32 during the Spanish Civil war was probably one of the most glaring strategic oversights. Another was the mistaken belief that fast bombers need no fighter escort, particularly modern aircraft with radar support.^[49]
2. L tanks. These were to be combined with fast (celere) infantry divisions and forward anti-tank weapons. The Italians were never able to build the armoured divisions described in their manuals – although they often attempted to mass what they had to make up for the poor performance of some pieces.^[50]
3. Reggiane Re.2001 fighters. The decision to build carries came late. The Aquila was virtually ready by the time of armistice with the Allies in 1943. She was captured by the Germans, who scuttled her in 1945.^[54]
4. Reggiane Re.2005; Italian fighters build around the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine.^[54]
5. M14/41s were not (initially) obsolete when they entered service in late 1940/1941. Their operators (in the form of the Ariete and Littoro divisions) met with much unaccredited success. Yet they became obsolescent as the war progressed. It was necessary to maintain production and they suffered unduly as a result of the Italian's inability to produce a suitable successor in time and in numbers.^[58][59][60]
6. ^ In light of the economic difficulties it was proposed, in 1933, by Marshal Italo Balbo to limit the number of divisions to 20 and ensure that each was fully mobile for ready response, equipped with the latest weaponry and trained for amphibious warfare. The proposal was rejected by Mussolini (and senior figures) who wanted large numbers of divisions to intimidate opponents.^[65] To maintain the number of divisions, each became binary, consisting of only 2 regiments, and therefore equating to a British brigade in size. Even then, they would often be thrown into battle with an under strength complement.

References and further reading

• Arena, Nino. I Caccia Della Serie 5, Re2005, Mc205, Fiat G.G5 (in Italian). Modena, Italy: STEM-Mucchi, 1976.
  ISBN 90-70310-11-2
  .
• Arfaioli, Maurizio. The Black Bands of Giovanni: Infantry and Diplomacy During the Italian Wars (1526–1528). Pisa: Pisa University Press, Edizioni Plus, 2005.
  ISBN 88-8492-231-3
  .
• Baumgartner, Frederic J. Louis XII. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
  ISBN 0-312-12072-9
  .
• Beales, Derek & Eugenio Biagini. The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy. Second Edition. London: Longman, 2002.
  ISBN 0-582-36958-4
• ISSN 1040-5992
  .
• ISBN 0-340-73110-9. online
• ISBN 0-691-00800-0
  .
• Hackett, Francis. Francis the First. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1937.
• Hall, Bert. Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
  ISBN 0-8018-5531-4
  .
• Hart, B. H. Liddell
  . History of the Second World War. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1970.
• Kertzer, David. Prisoner of the Vatican. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
• Konstam, Angus. Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996.
  ISBN 1-85532-504-7
  .
• ISBN 0-679-72197-5
  .
• Oman, Charles. A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century. London: Methuen & Co., 1937.
• Paoletti, Ciro et al. "Current Situation of Italian Military Historiography." International Bibliography of Military History 29.1 (2008): 244-251.
• Phillips, Charles and Alan Axelrod. Encyclopedia of Wars. 3 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2005.
  ISBN 0-8160-2851-6
  .
• Smith, Denis Mack. Italy: A Modern History. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1959. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 5962503 online
• Taylor, Frederick Lewis. The Art of War in Italy, 1494–1529. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1973.
  ISBN 0-8371-5025-6
  .

External links

• Timeline of Italian history