Abstract
The rise of Benito Mussolini’s Fascist party and its disastrous alliance with Nazi
Germany remains one of the most well-known parts of Italy’s Second World War
experience, at least in English historical literature. The war did not end when the Italians
surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. Military histories of what followed focus on
the bitter campaign waged between the Germans and the Allies on the Italian peninsula.
Much less is known about the impact of war on the Italian nation and its civilians.
From the Italian perspective, the war was a defining yet difficult period that
remains controversial seventy years on. The war ripped the country and its people apart -
both figuratively and literally.
This dissertation examines the 1943-45 war and its impact by comparing two Italian regions, Cassino and Monte Sole. Both Cassino and Monte Sole were unfortunate enough to be the sites of the major clashes and protracted battles of the Italian campaign.
