Italian Social Republic

The Italian Social Republic was a German puppet state created in northern Italy in September 1943, after the Allied invasion of Sicily and the fall of Mussolini's government led Germany to occupy the peninsula. It was proclaimed on 23 September 1943, initially under the name National Republican State of Italy, and is popularly known as the Republic of Salò. Mussolini, rescued by German paratroopers, led the regime and its reformed Republican Fascist Party. Rome was declared the capital, but the government sat at Salò on Lake Garda, where the Foreign Ministry and Mussolini's headquarters were established. The republic claimed sovereignty over northern and central Italy, but its authority depended on German troops and it was never able to operate as an independent state. Its armed forces fought alongside Germany and against Italian partisans, and the regime was responsible for deportations and reprisals. It collapsed in April 1945, when the Allied spring offensive and a general insurrection swept away the German occupation; Mussolini was captured and killed by partisans on 28 April 1945.