Which side did Italy take during the war?

Answer 1

Italy was actually on multiple sides during the war. I'll explain:

Italy was a founding member of the Rome-Berlin Axis alliance along with Hitler's Nazi Germany. Later, Japan also joined the alliance, and it became known as the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. This is often just called the Axis for short. A few other smaller countries joined too, like Hungary and Bulgaria. So when the war started in 1939, Italy was on the Axis side with Germany.

In summer 1943, Italy was invaded by the Allies, led by the UK and USA. Benito Mussolini, the dictator ruling Italy at the time, became wildly unpopular, and the King of Italy had him removed from power and arrested. In early September 1943, the new prime minister of Italy surrendered, and Italy switched sides to join the Allies.

However, Mussolini was rescued from prison by elite German paratroopers and brought to Germany. The German military controlled most of northern Italy at the time; so with Italy having joined the Allies, Germany announced that northern Italy would be a new country called the "Italian Social Republic" (ISR) and Mussolini was its leader (although Germany was actually in charge). This began a civil war in Italy between the old government and Mussolini's ISR.

The Allies could not be stopped, and with the civil war continuing, the ISR did not last long. In April 1945, the ISR collapsed and surrendered. Then Mussolini tried to escape to Switzerland, but Italian rebels captured and executed him near the border.