<P> The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology , politics , and diplomacy , while its military actions were often heavily influenced by external factors . The imperial ambitions of the Fascist regime , which aspired to restore the Roman Empire in North Africa and the Mediterranean ( the Mare Nostrum , or the Italian Empire ) , were partially met with the annexation of Albania and the Province of Ljubljana , and the occupation of British Somaliland and other territories , but ultimately collapsed after defeats in the East and North African campaigns . In July 1943 , following the Allied invasion of Sicily , Benito Mussolini was arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III , provoking a civil war . Italy surrendered to the Allies at the end of the Italian Campaign . The northern half of the country was occupied by Germans with the fascists help and made a collaborationist puppet state ( with more than 600,000 soldiers ) , while the south was governed by monarchist and liberal forces , which fought for the Allied cause as the Italian Co-Belligerent Army ( at its height numbering more than 50,000 men ) , helped by circa 350,000 partisans of disparate political ideologies that operated all over Italy . </P>
<P> The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology , politics , and diplomacy , while its military actions were often heavily influenced by external factors . The imperial ambitions of the Fascist regime , which aspired to restore the Roman Empire in North Africa and the Mediterranean ( the Mare Nostrum , or the Italian Empire ) , were partially met with the annexation of Albania and the Province of Ljubljana , and the occupation of British Somaliland and other territories , but ultimately collapsed after defeats in the East and North African campaigns . In July 1943 , following the Allied invasion of Sicily , Benito Mussolini was arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III , provoking a civil war . Italy surrendered to the Allies at the end of the Italian Campaign . The northern half of the country was occupied by Germans with the fascists help and made a collaborationist puppet state ( with more than 600,000 soldiers ) , while the south was governed by monarchist and liberal forces , which fought for the Allied cause as the Italian Co-Belligerent Army ( at its height numbering more than 50,000 men ) , helped by circa 350,000 partisans of disparate political ideologies that operated all over Italy . </P>
when did italy become an ally in ww2
when did italy become an ally in ww2
July 1943
July 1943