 Naples in 1944 was described as a city without cats or dogs which had all been eaten by the Neapolitans while much of the female population of Naples turned to prostitution in order to survive.As dire as the economic situation was in southern Italy, food shortages and inflation were even worse in northern Italy as the Germans carried out a policy of ruthless economic exploitation.Since the war in which Mussolini had involved Italy in 1940 had become such an utter catastrophe for the Italian people by 1943, it had the effect of discrediting all those associated with the Fascist system.