8 sept. 1943 - Italy Surrenders to Allied Forces

Description:

The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 by Walter Bedell Smith and Giuseppe Castellano, and made public on 8 September, between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed at a conference of generals from both sides in an Allied military camp at Cassibile in Sicily, which had recently been occupied by the Allies. The armistice was approved by both King Victor Emmanuel III and Italian Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio. The armistice stipulated the surrender of Italy to the Allies.

Germany moved rapidly, freeing Benito Mussolini and attacking Italian forces in Italy, the South of France and the Balkans. Italian forces were quickly defeated and most of Italy was occupied by German troops, establishing a puppet state, the Italian Social Republic. Meanwhile the King, the government and most of the navy reached territories occupied by the Allies.