Benito Mussolini’s Final Months Mark the End of Italian Fascism

Benito Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator, was deposed in July 1943 and briefly imprisoned before German forces rescued him and installed him as the head of the Italian Social Republic, commonly known as the Republic of Salò. In this Nazi‑backed puppet state he presided over renewed repression and atrocities against Jews, partisans and civilians.

Mussolini’s rule collapsed when Italian partisans captured him in April 1945; he was executed on 28 April 1945, bringing an end to his regime and to fascist domination in Italy. Recent French and German publications revisit this period, offering graphic‑novel and novelized accounts of his downfall and the violent final two years of the war.