Milutin Živković

Institut za savremenu istoriju, Beograd

mzivkovickv@gmail.com

From occupiers to allies. Transfer of the “Venice” and “Taurinense” Divisions to the side of the JVUO and NOVJ after the capitulation of Italy

Abstract: The paper discusses the fate of two Italian divisions that decided to join the Yugoslav resistance movements after Italy’s withdrawal from the war. Emphasis was placed on their military capacity, political and ideological challenges of the new alliances, the one with the Chetniks and the one with the Partisans, and general guidelines that will mark the cooperation of former opponents to the end. The article is written on archival material kept in the Archives of the Military Department of the General Staff of the Italian Republic in Rome, Military Archives, Archives of Serbia and Yugoslavia, all in Belgrade, as well as domestic and foreign scholarly literature

Keywords: Italians, “Venice”, “Taurinense”, partisans, Chetniks, Oksilia, Vivalda, Dapčević, Mihailović

Summary: After the capitulation of Italy, its army in the Balkans began to disintegrate under German blows, losing control of large territories of “spazio vitale” in the European southeast. One part of the troops chose to “deserve” the return to their homeland by fighting against its former allies, side by side with former enemies. The largest unit of this character outside Italy after September 8, was the “Garibaldi” Division, formed mostly by soldiers of the “Taurinense” and “Venice” divisions. Beside fighters, they provided the NOVJ and JVuO forces with large portion of weapons and equipment, as well as the necessary personnel for their growth into a more serious armed force. Both the Italian-Chetnik and especially the Italian-Partisan alliance, however, were burdened by events during the occupation, since the members of the “Taurinense” and “Venice” had numerous arms conflicts with the guerrillas, carried out arrests and internments of communists and royalist, and committed numerous war crimes against civilians.