Italian war crimes
Encyclopedia
Italian war crimes are a well documented but poorly publicized aspect of the history
of Italy
during the 20th century.
was involved in several colonial
wars, notably against the then only independent African states, Ethiopia
(the Abyssinian war
), and in World War II
, up to September 1943 as one of the Axis Powers
and later assisting to some extent the Allies
, except for the Italian Social Republic
of Salò that continued the allegiance to the Axis Powers, i.e. Germany
. The military campaigns, except the actions of the Italian partisans
, were led by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini
.
It was thanks to the complicity of the British Colonial authorities that Italian war criminals did not face Nuremberg-style prosecution for their crimes. The British may have been unhappy about the stifling of their Colonial plans to link their East African Colonial Empire by Emperor Haile Selassie's refusal to allow his country to be part of it. The Italians for their part went from being criminals who had lost any of their rights to making claims on the territories they bombed and poisoned. In the strangest vagaries of war, the Ethiopians had to argue with the British standing as observers as to why they "deserved" to get the territories seized from them returned to them. The Italians fielded their former soldiers in influence peddling campaigns in protests demanding the return of their Italian "liberators".
Though neither the Italian government nor the Vatican have forwarded any admission(and therefore defense) of either the use of weapons of mass destruction or the sanctioning of the war, Italian scholars agree that the evidence for the use of WMD is overwhelming. Victims of the attacks survived until very recently in Ethiopia, and the areas still bear evidence in deposits that can be found in the soil and water.
Contrary to Italian claims that the use of WMD munitions was limited and due to isolated decisions by battlefield commanders, the munitions were shipped with the troops and the 300 aircraft that were used to deliver them. The wholesale massacre of people both civilian and military was premeditated. The release of WMD weapons, though nominally approved late in the war, was predated by their employment by Badoglio. The scholars lines themselves seem to have actually been the agreed cover.
During the military campaigns numerous cases of violations of the Laws of War
were reported and documented.
and subsequent general abolition. It is also important to note that, before and during World War II, the only laws of war were those established in the Geneva conventions
and in the Kellogg-Briand Pact
(signed by Italy), and that many acts of the Italian troops can be considered war crimes only under the later United Nations Charter
(1945).
and subsequent general abolition.
The criterion for inclusion in the list is existence of reliable documented sources.
, France
, the Balkans
and on the Eastern Front
, though more than 1,200 Italian officials were indicted by the relevant authorities.
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
during the 20th century.
War crimes
During the first half of the 20th century, ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was involved in several colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
wars, notably against the then only independent African states, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
(the Abyssinian war
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
), and in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, up to September 1943 as one of the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
and later assisting to some extent the Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
, except for the Italian Social Republic
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
of Salò that continued the allegiance to the Axis Powers, i.e. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The military campaigns, except the actions of the Italian partisans
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
, were led by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
It was thanks to the complicity of the British Colonial authorities that Italian war criminals did not face Nuremberg-style prosecution for their crimes. The British may have been unhappy about the stifling of their Colonial plans to link their East African Colonial Empire by Emperor Haile Selassie's refusal to allow his country to be part of it. The Italians for their part went from being criminals who had lost any of their rights to making claims on the territories they bombed and poisoned. In the strangest vagaries of war, the Ethiopians had to argue with the British standing as observers as to why they "deserved" to get the territories seized from them returned to them. The Italians fielded their former soldiers in influence peddling campaigns in protests demanding the return of their Italian "liberators".
Though neither the Italian government nor the Vatican have forwarded any admission(and therefore defense) of either the use of weapons of mass destruction or the sanctioning of the war, Italian scholars agree that the evidence for the use of WMD is overwhelming. Victims of the attacks survived until very recently in Ethiopia, and the areas still bear evidence in deposits that can be found in the soil and water.
Contrary to Italian claims that the use of WMD munitions was limited and due to isolated decisions by battlefield commanders, the munitions were shipped with the troops and the 300 aircraft that were used to deliver them. The wholesale massacre of people both civilian and military was premeditated. The release of WMD weapons, though nominally approved late in the war, was predated by their employment by Badoglio. The scholars lines themselves seem to have actually been the agreed cover.
During the military campaigns numerous cases of violations of the Laws of War
Laws of war
The law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
were reported and documented.
List of Italian war crimes
This is a working list of violations of the Laws of War by Italian military personnel or other officials involved in acts of war. Inclusion of an event does not imply that the event was qualified as a War crime by a Court of Justice. As noted in the relevant section very few cases have been brought to court due to diplomatic activities of, notably the Government of the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and subsequent general abolition. It is also important to note that, before and during World War II, the only laws of war were those established in the Geneva conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
and in the Kellogg-Briand Pact
Kellogg-Briand Pact
The Kellogg–Briand Pact was an agreement signed on August 27, 1928, by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Weimar Germany and a number of other countries.The pact renounced war , prohibiting the use of war...
(signed by Italy), and that many acts of the Italian troops can be considered war crimes only under the later United Nations Charter
United Nations Charter
The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries...
(1945).
- Domenikon MassacreDomenikon MassacreThe Domenikon Massacre was a violent reprisal by the Italian Royal Army on February 16-17, 1943 during Italy's occupation of Greece following the Greco-Italian War, in which about 150 civilians were killed. The incident represents one of the worst Italian war crimes during World War...
- Rab concentration campRab concentration campThe Rab concentration camp was an Italian concentration and internment camp on the Adriatic island of Rab, now part of the Republic of Croatia, during World War II. The camp was located at...
- concentration camp on the island of Rab, cca 2000 people died there - Gonars concentration campGonars concentration campOn February 23, 1942 the Italian fascist regime established a concentration camp in Gonars, a town with approx. 4,600 inhabitants near Palmanova in the Province of Udine in northeastern Italy.Most of the prisoners were from present day Slovenia and Croatia...
- concentration camp in the city of Gonars, near Trieste, cca 500 victims, not known in Italy - Mustard Gas on Ethiopia - used on enemy military and civilian.
- Aerial bombardment of civilian population
- Aerial bombardment and machine gun attack on red cross sites, identified by the Italians as reporting on their use of Mustard Gas(Yiperite) and Phosgene(Poison Gas).
- Machine gun massacre of civilian populations accused of aiding Ethiopian Patriots
- Machine Gas and Poison Gas attacks on Markets.
- Yiperite and Phosegene attack on Amba Aradom against Military Forces.
- Concentrated 4 day attack employing Phosgene Mustard Gas and Fire Bombs on Lake Ashange resulting in a total annihilation of the human and animal inhabitants of the area.
- Debre Libanos 800 Year old monastery - When the populace and Monks of the monastery retreated into the nearby caverns the Italians lowered several barrels of Phosegene gas and exploded them with bullets. Those that then tried to escape and surrender were machine gunned to death. The caves, the remains of the victims were still there as late as 1983.
List of Italian war criminals
This is a working list of Italian high ranking military personnel or other officials involved in acts of war. It includes also such personnel of lower rank that were accused of grave breaches of Laws of war. Inclusion of a person does not imply that the person was qualified as a War crime by a Court of Justice. As noted in the relevant section, very few cases have been brought to court due to diplomatic activities of notably the Government of the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and subsequent general abolition.
The criterion for inclusion in the list is existence of reliable documented sources.
- Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
: In 1936, during the Second Italo-Abyssinian WarSecond Italo-Abyssinian WarThe Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
, Mussolini ordered the manufacturing/purchase of hundreds of tons of Yiperite, Phosgene and Fire Munitions in the form of Aerial Bombs and Artillery and Mortar shells.
- Pietro BadoglioPietro BadoglioPietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino was an Italian soldier and politician...
: In 1936, during the Second Italo-Abyssinian WarSecond Italo-Abyssinian WarThe Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
, Badoglio approved, as commander in chief of the Italian army, the use of poisonous gas against enemy troops.
- Rodolfo GrazianiRodolfo GrazianiRodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli , was an officer in the Italian Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II.-Rise to prominence:...
: In 1950, a military tribunal sentenced Graziani to prison for a term of 19 years as punishment for his collaboration with the NazisNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, when he was Minister of Defense of the Italian Social RepublicItalian Social RepublicThe Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
.
- Mario RoattaMario RoattaMario Roatta was an Italian general, Mussolini's Chief-of-Staff, and head of the military secret service.-SIM:From 1934 to 1936, Roatta headed up the Italian Military Intelligence Service .-Spain:...
: (from J. Burgwyn, abstract) "On 1 March 1942, he (Roatta) circulated a pamphlet entitled '3C' among his commanders that spelled out military reform and draconian measures to intimidate the Slav populations into silence by means of summary executions, hostage-taking, reprisals, internments and the burning of houses and villages. By his reckoning, military necessity knew no choice, and law required only lip service. Roatta's merciless suppression of partisan insurgency was not mitigated by his having saved the lives of both Serbs and Jews from the persecution of Italy's allies Germany and Croatia. Under his watch, the 2nd Army's record of violence against the Yugoslav population easily matched the German. Tantamount to a declaration of war on civilians, Roatta's '3C' pamphlet involved him in war crimes."
Aftermath of Italian war crimes
No Italian war criminal was brought to court for crimes in AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
, though more than 1,200 Italian officials were indicted by the relevant authorities.