Mussolini's army in the French Riviera : Italy's occupation of France / Emanuele Sica.
2016
D802.F8 S483 2016eb
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Details
Title
Mussolini's army in the French Riviera : Italy's occupation of France / Emanuele Sica.
ISBN
9780252039850
9780252097966 (electronic book)
9780252097966 (electronic book)
Published
Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2016]
Copyright
©2016
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (313 pages) : illustrations.
Call Number
D802.F8 S483 2016eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
944.9/40816
Summary
"Following the conquest of Europe during the WWII, the Axis powers implemented occupation policies, often savage and brutal, to consolidate their European empire. After the war, a myth of Italiani Brava Gente (Italians, good fellows) perpetuated the belief that Italian soldiers were essentially good-natured and, unlike the German forces, incapable of perpetrating massacres against local civilians. In this study, Emanuele Sica examines the Italian military occupation of the French Riviera and Alpine region from June 1940 to September 1943, with particular attention to the relationship between Italian soldiers and the local population. The Italian occupation policy in France, unlike the one in the Balkans, was moderate and low in casualties. This mild approach to occupation of foreign soil was due in part to pragmatic reasons. Italian local commanders understood that softening their occupation policy was the best means of preventing the formation of partisan groups in the area. In fact, the Italians' strategic nightmare would have been an Allied seaborne invasion from the Mediterranean while concurrently fighting a Resistance uprising in France. Confronted with overstretched lines, pervasively poor morale within the ranks of the Italian occupation army in France and outdated materiel, the local command avoided harsh measures that could drive the French population towards resistance. However, Sica also asserts that the cultural proximity between the soldiers and the local population, 1/4 of which was Italian, played an important role in positively shaping the relationships between occupiers and occupied, smoothing the sharp angles of miscommunication and minimizing inevitable cultural faux-pas at a time of great uncertainty and tension"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Series
History of military occupation.
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Mussolini's army in the French Riviera : Italy's occupation of France.
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Table of Contents
Chronology of the Italian Occupation of Southeastern France
Part I. The Latin Sisters and the Coming of the Second World War
Introduction
Countdown to War
Part II. The Armistice Period : June 1940-November 1942
The Italian Armistice Commission with France (CIAF)
Italian Irredentism and French Patriotism in the Cote d'Azur
A Prelude to Full Occupation
Part III. The Italian Occupation of Southeastern France : November 1942-September 1943
The November 1942 Invasion
The Italians Settle In
Life under the Occupation
Military Repression, Civilian Resistance
Collaboration and Accommodation
The Italian Jewish Policy in France
Drawing the Curtain on the Occupation
Conclusion.
Part I. The Latin Sisters and the Coming of the Second World War
Introduction
Countdown to War
Part II. The Armistice Period : June 1940-November 1942
The Italian Armistice Commission with France (CIAF)
Italian Irredentism and French Patriotism in the Cote d'Azur
A Prelude to Full Occupation
Part III. The Italian Occupation of Southeastern France : November 1942-September 1943
The November 1942 Invasion
The Italians Settle In
Life under the Occupation
Military Repression, Civilian Resistance
Collaboration and Accommodation
The Italian Jewish Policy in France
Drawing the Curtain on the Occupation
Conclusion.