The Italian anti-partisan warfare in the Soviet Union, 1941―43: ideology, occupation routine, professionalism

The Italian Army’s involvement in anti-partisan warfare on the Eastern Front during the Second World War remains understudied, overshadowed by the far greater role of the Germans. Yet Italian units deployed against Soviet partisans fought their own ‘micro-war’ within the larger conflict. Some troops had already experienced guerrilla warfare in Eastern Africa (1935–38) or in Yugoslavia (1941–42), while certain officers had previously confronted the partisan threat with harsh methods. Dehumanizing politico-military propaganda reinforced this approach. The Italian command in the field could rely on its Intelligence Service, military police forces such as the ‘Carabinieri’, and commandos often composed of volunteers. These men were expressly trained to hunt partisans and dismantle their networks, becoming the ‘professionals’ of anti-partisan warfare. Italian soldiers carried out round-ups of civilians, conducted interrogations, engaged irregular bands in combat, and at times executed captured ‘bandits’ on the spot. The forms of resistance faced by the Italian Army abroad were comparable to those the Germans repressed in Italy after the new government broke with Nazi Germany and joined the Allies (1943–45). Consequently, Italian anti-partisan warfare soon became an uncomfortable subject and was largely erased from national collective memory.