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The Italian government secretly agrees to surrender to the Allied forces. This was done secretly so nobody else knew what was going on. This was known as the Operation Baytown in Calabria. This in turn, led to the invasion of Italy.
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The Nazi's occupy Rome and this leads to their take over of Italy. The Italian defense was led and commanded by General Albert Kesselring.
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The Nazi's rescue Benito Mussolini from prision. The rescue was led by Major Otto-Harald Mors and Waffen-SS commandos. Adolf HItler personally ordered the rescue and it was approved by General Kurt Student. Il Duce is placed as the leader of an Italian puppet state in the north while Mussolini was in prision.
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The Allied forces take Naples and the Germans retreated north. The Germans blew up bridges, mountain passes and anything that was an enterance into the city. This caused the Germans to establish the Gustav Line south of Rome. The Gustav Line was near the city of Cassino.
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Land amphibious forces were put behind the Gustav Line to allow a break through the line and run to Rome. The U.S. forces were trapped on the beaches of Anzio until late May of 1944. The Allied forces suffered 7,000 killed and 36,000 wounded. The U.S. army and the British 8th army and push toward to Rome.
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The Gustav Line reamined for over 4 months and withstood 3 Allied attacks. The aides of the Gustav Line strated to break from the Battle of Monte Cassino. The Allied forces started attacking the line and until it eventually broke.
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The Gothic Line was established and this operation included plans to attack it. The British 8th Army attacked on the east side of the line and this caught the Germans off guard and soon the Gothic Line was broken.
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There was a secret meeting held between world leaders in Switzerland. This was done in secret to not rasie suspicions of the meeting. At the meeting, there was a rumor going around that there would be a possible surrender of German troops in Italy.
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The German army surrenders in Italy. This was memorable because it was one step closer to Italy being a free country. This was also one step closer to Italy being a part of the Allied forces.
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Over 1 million Axis soldiers in Italy and Austria officially surrender to the Allies. This finally declared Italy as a free country and it was now a part of the Allied forces.
