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Armistice of Cassibile

Armistice of Cassibile
The armistice of the Italian state to the conditions provided by the Allies
Brig. Gen. Giuseppe Castellano signing the armistice on behalf of Badoglio, with British Maj. Gen. Kenneth Strong, Franco Montanari, and U.S. General Walter Bedell Smith looking on at Fairfield military camp in Cassibile.
TypeArmistice
Signed3 September 1943
LocationFairfield Camp, Cassibile, Italy
Effective8 September 1943
ConditionPublic announcement on 8 September
AmendmentSupplemented by memorandum of agreement of September 23, 1943
Replaced byInstrument of surrender on September 29, 1943
Signatories
Parties
Full text
Armistice of Cassibile at Wikisource

The Armistice of Cassibile[1] (Italian: Armistizio di Cassibile) was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public five days later.

It was signed on September 3rd by Major-General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigade-General Giuseppe Castellano for Italy. The armistice's signing took place at a summit in an Allied military camp at Cassibile, Sicily, which had recently been occupied by the Allies. The armistice was approved by both Victor Emmanuel III and Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who was serving as Prime Minister of Italy at the time. The signing of the armistice was kept secret on that day, and was announced to the media on September 8th.

Nazi Germany responded by attacking Italian forces in Italy, southern France and the Balkans, and freeing Benito Mussolini on 12 September. The Italian forces were forcefully disbanded in the north and centre of the country, with most of Italy being occupied by the Germans, who established a puppet state, the Italian Social Republic led by Mussolini. The king, the Italian government and most of the Navy fled to southern Italy under the protection of the Allies. An Italian resistance movement emerged in German-occupied Italy.

  1. ^ Howard McGaw Smyth, "The Armistice of Cassibile", Military Affairs 12:1 (1948), 12–35.

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