Black Brigades
Encyclopedia
Black Brigades were one of the Fascist paramilitary
groups operating in the Italian Social Republic
(in northern Italy
), during the final years of World War II
, and after the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943. They were officially led by Alessandro Pavolini
, former Minister of Culture (MINCULPOP) of the fascist era during the last years of the Reign of Italy.
was arrested after the Italian Grand Council of Fascism
(Gran Consiglio del Fascismo), with the support of King Vittorio Emanuele III, overthrew him and began negotiations with the Allies for Italy's withdrawal from the war. Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers led by Otto Skorzeny
. He was then installed by the Germans as the President of the Italian Social Republic
(RSI). The RSI was to be an Italian regime which was to nominally administer the German-occupied northern Italy.
As the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN
, also known as "Black Shirts") was disbanded by the terms of the armistice, the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana
was formed on 24 November 1943. The "Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana" was formed out of local police
, ex-army, and others still loyal to the fascist cause.
The Black Brigades were formed from members of the Fascist Republican Party. Formation of the Black Brigades was sanctioned by a Fascist Republican Party law dated 30 June 1944. The brigade members not only fought the Allies
and the Italian partisans
, but they also fought against political opponents and other Black Brigade members whose support of "the cause" was deemed less than exuberant. Many Black Brigade members were killed in this type of in-fighting.
-sized units. The Italian word brigata has a looser meaning as a synonym of "group" or "assembly". The Black Brigades were typically weak battalions or strong companies
, each comprising 200 to 300 men. There were 41 territorial brigades. The territorial brigades were numbered 1 through 41. There were also seven "independent" and eight "mobile" brigades. The mobile brigades were numbered 1 through 7, plus the Second Arditi
Brigade.
, or one of assorted Italian versions. The majority of Black Brigade members wore Italian army ski caps or berets dyed black. Some photos show members also wearing black German-style caps. Some were Italian made, some were supplied by Germany.
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
groups operating in 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...
(in northern 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 final years of 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...
, and after the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943. They were officially led by Alessandro Pavolini
Alessandro Pavolini
Alessandro Pavolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and essayist, notable for his involvement in the Fascist government during World War II and also for his cruelty against the opponents of fascism....
, former Minister of Culture (MINCULPOP) of the fascist era during the last years of the Reign of Italy.
History
Italian dictator Benito MussoliniBenito 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....
was arrested after the Italian Grand Council of Fascism
Grand Council of Fascism
The Grand Council of Fascism was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy. A body which held and applied great power to control the institutions of government, it was created as a party body in 1923 and became a state body on 9 December 1928....
(Gran Consiglio del Fascismo), with the support of King Vittorio Emanuele III, overthrew him and began negotiations with the Allies for Italy's withdrawal from the war. Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers led by Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
. He was then installed by the Germans as the President of 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...
(RSI). The RSI was to be an Italian regime which was to nominally administer the German-occupied northern Italy.
As the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN
MVSN
MVSN can refer to:* The Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale of the Italian Fascist movement.* The Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale better known as the Tonton Macoutes....
, also known as "Black Shirts") was disbanded by the terms of the armistice, the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana
MVSN
MVSN can refer to:* The Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale of the Italian Fascist movement.* The Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale better known as the Tonton Macoutes....
was formed on 24 November 1943. The "Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana" was formed out of local police
Local police
Local police may refer to:*The Spanish Police Force, Policia Local*Police in general...
, ex-army, and others still loyal to the fascist cause.
The Black Brigades were formed from members of the Fascist Republican Party. Formation of the Black Brigades was sanctioned by a Fascist Republican Party law dated 30 June 1944. The brigade members not only fought 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...
and 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...
, but they also fought against political opponents and other Black Brigade members whose support of "the cause" was deemed less than exuberant. Many Black Brigade members were killed in this type of in-fighting.
Organization
The Black Brigades were not actually brigadeBrigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
-sized units. The Italian word brigata has a looser meaning as a synonym of "group" or "assembly". The Black Brigades were typically weak battalions or strong companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
, each comprising 200 to 300 men. There were 41 territorial brigades. The territorial brigades were numbered 1 through 41. There were also seven "independent" and eight "mobile" brigades. The mobile brigades were numbered 1 through 7, plus the Second Arditi
Arditi
Arditi was the name adopted by Italian Army elite storm troops of World War I. The name derives from the Italian verb Ardire and translates as "The Daring Ones"....
Brigade.
- Piedmont Regional Inspectorate
- I Brigata Nera "Ather Capelli" TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
- II Brigata Nera "Attilio Prato" AlessandriaAlessandria-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
- III Brigata Nera "Emilio Picot" AostaAostaAosta is the principal city of the bilingual Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes...
- IV Brigata Nera "Luigi VIale" AstiAstiAsti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
- V Brigata Nera "Carlo Lidonnici" CuneoCuneoCuneo is a city and comune in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the third largest of Italy’s provinces by area...
- VI Brigata Nera "Augusto Cristina" NovaraNovaraNovara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...
- VII Brigata Nera "Bruno Ponzecchi" VercelliVercelliVercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...
- I Brigata Nera "Ather Capelli" Turin
- Lombardy Regional Inspectorate
- VIII Brigata Nera "Aldo Resega" MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
- IX Brigata Nera "Giuseppe Cortesi" BergamoBergamoBergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
- X Brigata Nera "Enrico Tognu" BresciaBresciaBrescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
- XI Brigata Nera "Cesare Rodini" ComoComoComo is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
- XII Brigata Nera "Augusto Felisari" CremonaCremonaCremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
- XIII Brigata Nera "Marcello Turchetti" MantuaMantuaMantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
- XIV Brigata Nera "Alberto Alfieri" PaviaPaviaPavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
- XV Brigata Nera "Sergio Gatti" SondrioSondrioSondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. Sondrio counts approximately 22,000 inhabitants and it is the administrative centre for the Lombard Province of Sondrio.- History :...
- XVI Brigata Nera "Dante Gervasini" VareseVareseVarese is a town and comune in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 55 km north of Milan.It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or urban part of the city is called Varesotto.- Geography :...
- VIII Brigata Nera "Aldo Resega" Milan
- Veneto regional Inspectorate
- XVII Brigata Nera "Bartolomeo Asara" VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
- XVIII Brigata Nera "Luigi Begon" Padua
- XIX Brigata Nera "Romolo Gori" RovigoRovigoRovigo is a town and comune in the Veneto region of North-Eastern Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. -Geography:...
- XX Brigata Nera "Francesco Cappellini" TrevisoTrevisoTreviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
- XXI Brigata Nera "Stefano Rizzardi" VeronaVeronaVerona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
- XXII Brigata Nera "Antonio Faggion" VicenzaVicenzaVicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
- XVII Brigata Nera "Bartolomeo Asara" Venice
- Emilia Regional Inspectorate
- XXIII Brigata Nera "Eugenio Facchini" BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
- XXIV Brigata Nera "Igino Ghisellini" FerraraFerraraFerrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
- XXV Brigata Nera "Arturo Capanni" ForlìForlìForlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
- XXVI Brigata Nera "Mirko Pistoni" ModenaModenaModena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
- XXVII Brigata Nera "Virginio Gavazzoli" ParmaParmaParma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
- XXVIII Brigata Nera "Pippo Astorri" PiacenzaPiacenzaPiacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
- XXIX Brigata Nera "Ettore MutiEttore MutiEttore Muti was an Italian aviator and Fascist politician. He was Party Secretary of the National Fascist Party from October 1939 until shortly after the entry of Italy into World War II on June 10, 1940.-World War I and Fiume:Born in Ravenna, Romagna, Muti was banned from any school in the...
" RavennaRavennaRavenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome... - XXX Brigata Nera "Umberto Rosi" Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaReggio Emilia is an affluent city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 170,000 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
- XXIII Brigata Nera "Eugenio Facchini" Bologna
- Liguria Regional Inspectorate
- XXXI Brigata Nera "Generale Silvio Parodi" GenoaGenoaGenoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
- XXXII Brigata Nera "Antonio Padoan" ImperiaImperiaImperia may be:* Imperia , an Italian city* Province of Imperia, the Italian province of the above city of Imperia* IMPERIA, a vodka produced by Russian Standard* Imperia , a statue in Constance, Germany...
- XXXIII Brigata Nera "Tullio Bertoni" La SpeziaLa SpeziaLa Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...
- XXXIV Brigata Nera "Giovanni Briatore" SavonaSavonaSavona is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea....
- XXXI Brigata Nera "Generale Silvio Parodi" Genoa
- Tuscany Black Brigades
- XXXV Brigata Nera "Don Emilio Spinelli" ArezzoArezzoArezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
- XXXVI Brigata Nera "Benito Mussolini" LuccaLuccaLucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
- XXXVII Brigata Nera "Emilio Tanzi" PisaPisaPisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
- XXXVIII Brigata Nera "Ruy Blas Biagi" PistoiaPistoiaPistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
- IXL Brigata Nera SienaSienaSiena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
- XL Brigata Nera "Vittorio Ricciarelli" Apuania
- XLI Brigata Nera "Raffaele Manganiello" FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
- XXXV Brigata Nera "Don Emilio Spinelli" Arezzo
- Mobile Black Brigades Grouping
- I Brigata Nera Mobile "Vittorio Ricciarelli" MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
- II Brigata Nera Mobile "Danilo Mercuri" PaduaPaduaPadua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
- III Brigata Nera Mobile "Attilio Pappalardo" BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
- IV Brigata Nera Mobile "Aldo Resega" DroneroDroneroDronero is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km southwest of Turin and about 15 km northwest of Cuneo at the entrance of the Valle Maira.-Main sights:...
-CuneoCuneoCuneo is a city and comune in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the third largest of Italy’s provinces by area... - V Brigata Nera Mobile "Enrico Quagliata" Val CamonicaVal CamonicaVal Camonica is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, about 90 km long. It starts from the Tonale Pass, at 1883 metres above sea level and ends at Corna Trentapassi, in the comune of Pisogne, near Lake Iseo...
- VI Brigata Nera Mobile "Dalmazia" Milan
- VII Brigata Nera Mobile "Tevere" Milan
- II Brigata Nera Mobile Arditi Milan
- I Brigata Nera Mobile "Vittorio Ricciarelli" Milan
- Autonomous Black Brigades
- Brigata Nera Autonoma "Giovanni Gentile"
- Brigata Nera Autonoma Operativa "Giuseppe Garibaldi"
- Brigata Nera Autonoma Ministeriale
- Brigata Nera Autonoma - MarcheMarcheThe population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...
- Brigata Nera Autonoma - GoriziaGoriziaGorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
- Brigata Nera Autonoma - UdineUdineUdine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
- Brigata Nera Autonoma "Tullio Cividino" - TriesteTriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
- Outremer Autonomous Black Brigades
- Compagnia Complementare Fascisti - RhodesRhodesRhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
- Compagnia Complementare Fascisti - Rhodes
Uniforms
Members of Black Brigades were issued standard Italian army uniforms, and they tended to wear them with a black turtleneck sweater, which had replaced the original black shirt as the symbol of loyalty to Mussolini. They sometimes wore this uniform with a windproof jacket in solid or camouflage colors. Members of Black Brigades tended to wear the grey-green uniform pants. The badge or insignia of the Black Brigades was the jawless death's headTotenkopf
The Totenkopf is the German word for the death's head and an old symbol for death or the dead. It consists usually of the skull and the mandible of the human skeleton...
, or one of assorted Italian versions. The majority of Black Brigade members wore Italian army ski caps or berets dyed black. Some photos show members also wearing black German-style caps. Some were Italian made, some were supplied by Germany.
Sources
- Le Forze Armate della RSI - Pier Paolo Battistelli, Andrea Molinari, p.123
- Le Forze Armate della RSI - Pier Paolo Battistelli, Andrea Molinari, p.125 Brianzapopolare.it
- Mario Pellegrinetti. Giugno 1944 - I sabotaggi. La guerra civile in Garfagnana. URL consultato il 9-1-2008.