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– 313,495 casualties 8,011 aircraft〔 Total: 327,000-335,495 | casualties2 = Sicily: 165,000 casualties (of whom 30,000 were Germans)〔Hosch 2009, (page 122 ).〕 Italian mainland: 336,650 casualties–580,630 Surrender of Caserta: 1,000,000 captured〔Daily Telegraph Story of the War fifth volume page 153〕 Total: 1,501,650-1,745,630 |casualties3= ~152,940 civilians dead | campaignbox = }} The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed shortly thereafter in September by the invasion of the Italian mainland and the campaign on Italian soil until the surrender of the German Armed Forces in Italy in May 1945. It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, some 60,000 Allied and 50,000 German soldiers died in Italy. Overall Allied casualties during the campaign totaled about 320,000 and the corresponding Axis figure (excluding those involved in the final surrender) was about 336,650.〔Jackson, p. 400〕 In the West, no other campaign cost more than Italy in terms of lives lost and wounds suffered by infantry forces of both sides, during bitter small-scale fighting around strongpoints at Winter positions, Anzio girth and Gothic Line.〔Keegan, John "The Second World War" Penguin Books 2005 ISBN 0143035738 p.368〕 The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican, both surrounded by Italian territory, also suffered damage during the campaign. ==Strategic background== Even prior to victory in the North African Campaign in May 1943, there was disagreement between the Allies on the best strategy to defeat the Axis. The British, especially the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, advocated their traditional naval-based peripheral strategy. Even with a large army, but greater naval power, the traditional British answer against a continental enemy was to fight as part of a coalition and mount small peripheral operations designed to gradually weaken the enemy. The United States, with an even larger army, favoured a more direct method of fighting the main force of the German Army in Northern Europe. The ability to launch such a campaign depended on first winning the Battle of the Atlantic. The strategic disagreement was fierce, with the U.S. service chiefs arguing for an invasion of France as early as possible, while their British counterparts advocated a policy centred on operations in the Mediterranean. There was even pressure from some Latin American countries to stage an invasion of Spain, which under Francisco Franco was friendly to the Axis nations, although not a participant in the war.〔("Batista's Boost" ), ''TIME'', January 18, 1943, Retrieved March 2, 2010〕 The American staff believed that a full-scale invasion of France at the earliest possible time was required to end the war in Europe, and that no operations should be undertaken that might delay that effort. The British argued that the presence of large numbers of troops trained for amphibious landings in the Mediterranean made a limited-scale invasion possible and useful. Eventually the U.S. and British political leadership reached a compromise in which both would commit most of their forces to an invasion of France in early 1944, but also launch a relatively small scale Italian campaign. A contributing factor was Franklin D. Roosevelt's desire to keep US troops active in the European theatre during 1943 and his attraction to the idea of eliminating Italy from the war.〔Carver, pp4 & 59〕 It was hoped that an invasion might knock Italy out of the conflict,〔Blumenson 1969, p. 7.〕 or at least increase the pressure on them and weaken them further.〔Weinberg 1994, pp. 588 & 591.〕〔Liddell Hart 1970, p. 457.〕 The elimination of Italy would enable Allied naval forces, principally the Royal Navy, to dominate the Mediterranean Sea, securing the lines of communications with Egypt, the Far East, the Middle East and India.〔〔Keegan 2005, p. 287.〕 Italian divisions on occupation and coastal defence duties in the Balkans and France would be withdrawn to defend Italy, while the Germans would have to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to defend Italy and the entire southern coast of France, thus aiding the Soviets.〔Weinberg 1994, p. 591.〕〔Churchill 1959, p. 669.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Italian Campaign (World War II)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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