Kingdom of the South

  • Kingdom of Italy
Regno d'Italia (Italian)
1943–1944
Motto: FERT
(Motto for the House of Savoy)
Anthem: 
(1943–1944)
La Leggenda del Piave
("The Legend of Piave")

(1944–1946)
Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza
("Royal March of Ordinance")
  Territory controlled by the Kingdom of Italy
  Territory administered by the Italian Social Republic and Nazi Germany
CapitalRome (de jure)
  • Brindisi (de facto from September 1943 to February 1944)
  • Salerno (de facto from February 1944 to June 1944)
Common languagesItalian
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)Italian
GovernmentUnitary constitutional monarchy under Allied military administration
King 
 1900 - 1946
Victor Emmanuel III
Prime Minister 
 1943 - 1944
Pietro Badoglio
 1944
Ivanoe Bonomi
Historical era
8 September 1943
29 September 1943
4 June 1944
18 June 1944
CurrencyAM-Lira
ISO 3166 codeIT
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy
Today part ofItaly

    The Kingdom of the South (Italian: Regno del Sud) is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy (initially Pietro Badoglio and later Ivanoe Bonomi as prime ministers) under the control of the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories in southern Italy in the latter of World War II from 1943 to 1944, as opposed to the German occupation of northern and central Italy, where the Italian Social Republic was established.

    Strictly speaking, the term is used with reference to the period between September 1943, when King Victor Emmanuel III and the government fled Rome to Brindisi in the aftermath of the Armistice of Cassibile until Rome was liberated by the Allies on June 1944 and resumed its function as capital of Italy. However, its use is often extended to cover the period up to 1945 and the end of the war, that is, the entire period that Italy remained divided, during which time the Italian government, although it had re-established itself in Rome, still did not have full control of its nominal territory or local, police and military bodies. Administrative, military and political activities, and their documentation, were split between those managed by the government of Rome, by the Italian Social Republic, by the partisan forces and by the armies in the field.

    Regno del Sud was never an official designation. All documents and acts continued to refer to the Kingdom of Italy, and it was recognized internationally (other than by the Axis powers) as the legitimate state for the whole of Italy, including the German-occupied north.