The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as 25 Luglio (Italian: Venticinque Luglio, pronounced [ˌventiˈtʃiŋkwe ˈluʎʎo]; lit. '25 July'), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and summer of 1943, culminating with a successful vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Benito Mussolini at the meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism on 24–25 July 1943. The vote, although significant, had no de jure value, since by law in the Italian constitutional monarchy the prime minister was responsible for his actions only to the king, who was the only one who could dismiss him. Nevertheless, a new government was established as a result, putting an end to the almost 21 years of Fascist rule in the Kingdom of Italy, and Mussolini was placed under arrest.
Background
At the beginning of 1943, Italy was facing defeat. The collapse of the African front on 4 November 1942 and the Allied landings in North Africa on 8–12 November exposed Italy to an invasion by the Allied forces. The defeat of the Italian expeditionary force (ARMIR) in the Eastern Front, the heavy aerial bombings of the cities, and the lack of food and fuel demoralized the population, the majority of whom wanted to end the war and denounce the alliance with Nazi Germany. Italy needed German aid in order to maintain control of Tunisia, the last stronghold of the Axis powers in Africa. Italy's dictator, Benito Mussolini, was convinced that the war could be decided in the Mediterranean theater. On 29 April 1943, at the meeting in Klessheim, Adolf Hitler rejected Mussolini's proposition to seek a separate peace with Russia and move the bulk of the German Army south. The request for reinforcements to defend the Axis bridgehead in Tunisia was refused by the Wehrmacht, which no longer trusted the Italian will to maintain resistance. Mussolini's health was another major factor of uncertainty. He was depressed and sick after being diagnosed with gastritis and duodenitis of a nervous origin. Because of his illness, the Duce was often forced to stay at home, depriving Italy of effective government.
In this situation, several groups belonging to four different circles (the Royal Court, the anti-Fascist parties, the Fascists and the General Staff) began to look for a way out. Aristocrats, such as Crown Princess Marie-José, members of the upper class, and politicians belonging to the pre-Fascist elite, independently started plots to establish contact with the Allies. Following the declaration of Casablanca, the Allies would only accept unconditional surrender. Despite the Crown Princess' involvement, the Anglo-Americans expected a move from higher-placed personalities, like the King, and disregarded contact with these groups.
The anti-Fascist parties, weakened by 20 years of dictatorship, were still in an embryonic state. All except the Italian Communist Party and the republicans of the Partito d'Azione waited for a signal from King Victor Emmanuel III, whose inaction was prompted by his character, his fears and constitutional scruples, and the fact that the monarchy was likely to be doomed regardless of how the war turned out. The King felt considerable contempt for the pre-Fascist politicians, whom he ironically called "revenants" (i.e., "ghosts" or "zombies"). He was also distrustful of those who claimed that the Anglo-Americans would not seek revenge on Italy.
Victor Emmanuel III did retain his trust in Mussolini, and he hoped that the Duce could save the situation. The King kept his own counsel and isolated himself from anyone who tried to learn his intentions. General Vittorio Ambrosio, who was devoted to the King and hostile to the Germans, became the new Chief of the General Staff. Ambrosio was persuaded that the war was lost for Italy, but he never took personal initiative to change the situation without first consulting the King. Ambrosio, with the help of Giuseppe Castellano and Giacomo Carboni (both of whom would play an important part in the events leading to the Armistice of Cassibile of 8 September 1943), slowly proceeded to occupy several key positions in the armed forces with officials devoted to the King. He also tried to bring back from abroad as many as possible of Italy's forces, but it was difficult to do so without arousing suspicion in Germany.
On 6 February 1943, Mussolini carried out the most wide-ranging government reshuffle in 21 years of Fascist power. Almost all of the ministers were changed, including the Duce's son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano, and Dino Grandi, Giuseppe Bottai, Guido Buffarini Guidi and Alessandro Pavolini. The situation was compromised and the primary goal of the operation, to placate public opinion about the Fascist Party, failed. Among the new appointments, the new Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs (the Duce took over the department himself) Giuseppe Bastianini, was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Bastianini's strategy was twofold: like Mussolini, he tried to argue in favor of a peace between Germany and the USSR. He also aimed to create a block of Balkan countries (the junior Axis partners Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria) led by Italy, which could act as a counterbalance to the excessive power of the German Reich in Europe. On 14 April, the Duce substituted the chief of police, Carmine Senise (a man of the King), with Lorenzo Chierici. Five days later Mussolini replaced the young and inexperienced secretary of the Party, Aldo Vidussoni, with Carlo Scorza, in an attempt to galvanize the Party.
In March 1943 a wave of strikes that began at the Fiat Mirafiori plant in Turin — the first mass strikes since the consolidation of the dictatorship — spread through the industrial cities of northern Italy. The regime proved able neither to suppress the movement quickly nor to satisfy its demands, and the episode demonstrated that it had lost the acquiescence of the industrial working class.
Loss of Tunis
The fall of Tunis on 13 May 1943 radically changed the strategic situation. It was important for Germany to control Italy, which had turned into an external stronghold of the Reich, because they were susceptible to invasion. The Germans developed plans for operations "Alarich" and "Konstantin", devoted respectively to the occupation of Italy and of the Balkan areas occupied by the Italian Army, in order to take control of Italy and disarm the Italian forces after their expected armistice with the Allies. In preparation, the Germans wanted to increase their land forces in Italy. Ambrosio and Mussolini refused and asked only for more airplanes, because they wanted to preserve Italian independence. On 11 June 1943, the Allies captured the island of Pantelleria, the first part of metropolitan Italy to be lost. Pantelleria had been turned into a citadel by Mussolini, but it fell to the Allies without much resistance after a week-long heavy bombardment. It was now apparent that the next Allied move would be the invasion of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica or Greece.
In mid-May, the King started to consider exiting the war after being persuaded by Duke Pietro d'Acquarone, Minister of the Royal House, who was worried about the future of the monarchy. Italian public opinion was starting to turn against the monarchy after the King's inaction. At the end of May, two high-ranking politicians of the pre-Fascist age, Ivanoe Bonomi and Marcello Soleri, were received by d'Acquarone and the King's aide-de-camp, Gen. Paolo Puntoni. On 2 and 8 June, they were received in audience by the King, where they pressed for the arrest of Mussolini and the nomination of a military government, but they were left frustrated by the monarchical inaction. On 30 June, Bonomi met Crown Prince Umberto and proposed three generals (Ambrosio, Marshal Pietro Badoglio and Enrico Caviglia) as Mussolini's potential successors. On 4 July, Badoglio was received by Umberto, who implied that the Crown was no longer opposed to a change in government. The following day, Ambrosio proposed that the King appoint Badoglio or Caviglia to head any government that replaced Mussolini. Caviglia, a high-ranking freemason, was considered too old for such a difficult task despite his anti-Fascist stance. Badoglio, who had resigned as Chief of the General Staff after the debacle of the invasion of Greece in 1941, had become a bitter enemy of Mussolini and wanted revenge. He was a personal friend of Duke d'Acquarone, who had been his aide-de-camp, and both – like Caviglia – were freemasons. A collaboration between the two Marshals was inconceivable because Caviglia hated Badoglio.
On 4 June, the King received Dino Grandi, who was still president of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, despite being dropped from the cabinet. Grandi was one of the Fascist Party's top leaders, the gerarchi. Despite being a close colleague of Mussolini for over 20 years, he was more of a right-wing conservative than a Fascist. He viewed Fascism as an ephemeral phenomenon confined to the lifespan of Mussolini. Grandi had often been considered the most likely successor to the Duce because of his diplomatic experience as the former foreign minister and ambassador in the UK and his position as a staunch enemy of Germany with an extensive circle of friends in the British establishment. Regardless of his personal devotion to Mussolini, Grandi believed that the most effective way to serve him was to occasionally counteract his orders and give him the credit of any success. On 25 March 1943, Victor Emmanuel awarded him the highest royal honor, the collare dell'Annunziata, which gave him unrestricted access to the Royal House. During his last meeting with the King before 25 July, Grandi described his bold plan to eliminate Mussolini and attack the Germans. Grandi compared Victor Emmanuel to the 18th-century Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, who switched from the French to the Imperial alliance, rescuing the dynasty. All that the King needed was another Pietro Micca (the Savoyard soldier who became a national hero for his sacrifice in the defense of Turin in 1706 against the French), and Grandi proposed himself for this role. Victor Emmanuel countered that he was a constitutional monarch, so he could only move after a vote of the parliament or the Grand Council of Fascism. The King was opposed to making a sudden move that could be considered a betrayal. The King asked Grandi to ease his action by activating the parliament and the Grand Council and keeping his trust in him. Grandi returned to his hometown, Bologna, to await developments with the knowledge that the King was finally aware of the situation, while also anticipating his potential inaction.
On 19 June 1943, the last cabinet meeting of the Fascist age took place. The Minister of Communication, Senator Vittorio Cini, a powerful Italian industrialist, confronted Mussolini about finding a time and way to exit the war. Cini resigned after the meeting, which signaled the faltering of Mussolini's charisma even among his own entourage. People devoted to him, including OVRA agents and the Germans, consistently told him that several plots were going on. The Duce never reacted, telling each one that they were reading too many crime novels or were affected by persecution mania. On 24 June, Mussolini gave his last important speech as prime minister, known as the "boot topping" (bagnasciuga) speech. The Duce promised that the only part of Italy that the Anglo-Americans would be able to occupy was the shore-line. He was misspoken in his effort to say they would only occupy Italy as corpses, and he used incorrect vocabulary. For many Italians, his confused and incoherent speech was the final proof that something was wrong with Mussolini.
Landing in Sicily
On the night of 10 July the Allies landed in Sicily. Despite expecting the invasion, the Italian forces were overwhelmed after initial resistance, and like Augusta (the island's most fortified stronghold), they collapsed without fighting. Within days, it became apparent that Sicily was going to be lost. On 16 July, Bastianini went to Palazzo Venezia (the Duce's seat) to show Mussolini a telegram to be sent to Hitler where he reproached the Germans for not sending reinforcements. After the Duce's approval, the undersecretary asked for authorization to establish contacts with the Allies. Mussolini agreed, under the condition of not being directly involved. The secret emissary was the Vatican banker, Giovanni Fummi, who was supposed to reach London via Madrid or Lisbon. On the same evening, Bastianini crossed the Tiber to meet Cardinal Maglione, Vatican Secretary of State, who received a document explaining the Italian position about a possible unilateral exit from the war.