The Italian resistance movement was a partisan force during World War II.

Origins of the movement
In 1944, with the Allied forces nearby, the partisan resistance in Italy staged an uprising behind German lines, led by the Committee of National Liberation of Upper Italy (CLNAI). This rebellion led to the establishment of a number of provisional partisan governments throughout the mountainous regions of northern Italy, of which Ossola was the most important and received recognition from Switzerland and from Allied consulates in Switzerland. By the end of 1944, German reinforcements and Benito Mussolini's remaining forces had crushed the uprising, and the area's liberation had to wait until the final offensives of 1945.

New territorial structures

Alto Monferrato (Sep-2 Dec)
Alto Tortonese (Sep-Dec)
Bobbio (7 Jul - 27 Aug)
Cansiglio (Jul-Sep)
Carnia (Jul-Oct)
Friuli Orientale (30 Jun - Sep)
Imperia (Aug-Oct)
Langhe (Sep-Nov)
Montefiorino (17 Jun - 1 Aug)
Ossola (10 Sep - 23 Oct)
Val Ceno (10 Jun - 11 Jul)
Val d'Enza e Val Parma (Jun-Jul)
Val Maira e Val Varaita (Jun - 21 Aug)
Val Taro (15 Jun - 24 Jul)
Valli di Lanzo (25 Jun - Sep)
Valsesia (11 Jun - 10 Jul)
Varzi (19/24 Sep - 29 Nov) April 25
The April uprising showed to the world that not all Italians agreed with the Fascist rule. Furthermore, it proved that Italians were even prepared to fight against Fascist rule at great cost to themselves. Casualties from the uprising amounted to:
During the war, German and Italian Fascist soldiers committed a number of other war crimes including:
Most of these were common practices.
Some of the most notorious events were the Ardeatine massacre, the Marzabotto massacre, and the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre. Captured partisans or civilians were often tortured. The Decima Flottiglia MAS, an Italian unit under German command, is now remembered as one of the most ruthless military corps of the war.
The Germans profited greatly from the weakness of the Fascist puppet state in Northern Italy. The Germans determined that they would "annex" Italian territories into the Third Reich. Two new German regions were to be established. One was the Alpenvorland and it was to comprise the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and the Province of Belluno. The other was Adriatisches Kustenland and it was to comprise Istria, Quarnero, and most of today's region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In the valley of Carnia, anti-Communist forces from the Soviet Union under the command of ataman Timofey Ivanovich Domanov were used; they were promised the establishment of a Cossack republic in Northeastern Italy, to be called Kosakenland.[2]

Approximately 44,700 Italian partisans killed
Approximately 21,200 Italian partisans wounded or disabled
Approximately 15,000 Italian civilians killed in retaliations
Approximately 40,000 former Italian soldiers died in concentration camps
Summary Executions
Ransacking
Retaliations against civilians Capture and execution of Mussolini

Arditi del Popolo