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{{short description|Uprising against German forces in 1943}}
{{no footnotes|date=June 2022}}
{{About|the 1943 uprising|the film set during this event|The Four Days of Naples (film)}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Four Days of Naples ''Quattro giornate di Napoli''
| partof = the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] of [[World War II]]
| image = Quattrogiornate.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Italian partisans celebrating the liberation of Naples
| date = 27–30 September 1943
| place = [[Naples]], [[Italy]]
| casus =
| territory =
| result = Resistance victory
* Liberation of Naples from German occupation
| combatant1 = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} [[Kingdom of Italy]] {{*}}[[File:CoA Città di Napoli.svg|20px]] [[Naples|People of Naples]] '''Supported by:''' {{flag|United States|1912}}
| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] {{flag|Italian Social Republic|war}}
| commander1 = • Antonio Tarsia in Curia ([[Vomero]]) • Giovanni Abbate ([[Vomero]]) • Ermete Bonomi (Materdei) • Carmine Musella (Avvocata) • Carlo Bianco • Aurelio Spoto (Capodimonte) • Stefano Fadda ([[Chiaia]]) • Francesco Cibarelli • Amedeo Manzo • Francesco Bilardo (Via Duomo) • Gennaro Zengo (Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi) • Francesco Amicarelli (Piazza Mazzini) • Mario Orbitello ([[Montecalvario]]) • Salvatore Amato ([[National Archaeological Museum, Naples|Museo]]) <nowiki>• Alberto Agresti]]</nowiki> (Via Caracciolo, [[Posillipo]]) • Raffaele Viglione (Piazza Carlo III) • Tito Murolo (Vasto)<ref>[[Corrado Barbagallo]], ''"Napoli contro il terrore nazista"'', [[Casa editrice Maone]], [[Napoli]], [[1944]].</ref>
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Walter Scholl (Commander of the Military Area of [[Naples]]) {{flagicon|Italian Social Republic}} Domenico Tilena (Provincial Federal fascist leader of [[Naples]])
| strength1 = 1,589<ref>{{cite news |title=Iniziano le 4 giornate di Napoli il 27 settembre 1943 |url=http://www.me-dia-re.it/iniziano-le-4-giornate-napoli/ |access-date=13 April 2021 |publisher=Me.Dia.Re. |date=27 September 2022}}</ref>
| strength2 = 20,000
| casualties1 = 168 killed 162 wounded
| casualties2 = 54-96 killed
| casualties3 = 159 unarmed civilians
'''Total'''= 562 killed
| notes =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Italy}}
}}

The '''Four Days of Naples''' (Italian: ''Quattro giornate di Napoli'') was an uprising in [[Naples]], [[Italy]], against [[Nazi German]] occupation forces from September 27 to September 30, 1943, immediately prior to the arrival of [[Allied invasion of Italy#Further Allied advances|Allied forces]] in Naples on October 1 during [[World War II]].

The spontaneous uprising of [[Italian Resistance|Neapolitan and Italian Resistance]] against German occupying forces, despite limited armament, organisation or planning, nevertheless successfully disrupted German plans to deport Neapolitans en masse, destroy the city and prevent Allied forces from gaining a strategic foothold.

The city was subsequently awarded the [[Gold Medal of Military Valor]]. The four days are celebrated annually and were the subject of the 1962 film ''[[The Four Days of Naples (film)|The Four Days of Naples]]''.

==Prelude==
===Historical background===
From 1940 to 1943, [[Bombing of Naples in World War II|Naples suffered heavy Allied bombing raids]] causing severe damage and heavy civilian population loss. It has been calculated that 20,000 civilian Neapolitans died in the indiscriminate attacks. Over 3,000 died in the raid of 4 August 1943 alone, and around 600 were killed and 3,000 injured by the explosion of the ship {{ship||Caterina Costa}} in port on 28 March. The city's artistic and cultural heritage also suffered damage, including the partial destruction of the [[Santa Chiara (Naples)|Chiesa di Santa Chiara]] on 4 December 1942. With the Allied advance in southern Italy, antifascists in the Naples area (including [[Fausto Nicolini]], [[Claudio Ferri]] and [[Adolfo Omodeo]]) began establishing closer contacts with the Allied commanders and requested Naples's liberation.

From 8 September 1943, the day in which the [[armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces|Cassibile Armistice]] came into force, the [[Italian Army]] forces in the area (without orders, as were most of the units at the time) drifted toward Naples. There, the situation was already difficult thanks to the unceasing bombing raids and the imbalance in forces, with 20,000 Germans opposed to 5,000 Italians in the whole of [[Campania]]. The situation in Naples soon devolved into chaos, with many higher officials, either unable to take the initiative or even directly collaborating with the Nazis, deserting the city, followed by the Italian troops. Those escaping included [[Riccardo Pentimalli]] and [[Ettore Deltetto|Ettore Del Tetto]], the generals entrusted with military responsibility for Naples, who fled in civilian clothing. Del Tetto's last actions before he fled had been to hand the city over to the German army and to publish a decree banning assemblies and authorising the military to fire on those disregarding the ban. Even so, sporadic but bloody attempts at resistance arose throughout the Zanzur Barracks, as far as the [[Carabinieri]] barracks at Pastrengo and at the 21st "''Centro di Avvistamento''" (Early Detection Post) of Castel dell'Ovo.

===Turmoil===
[[File:NapoliPalazzoReale.jpg|thumb|right|The '''Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III''' in Naples where clashes took place.]]
In the days following the armistice, episodes of intolerance and armed resistance against Naples's German occupiers intensified and were more or less organized, including on September 1, a student demonstration in [[Piazza del Plebiscito]] and the first meeting of the ''[[Liceo Sannazaro]]'' in [[Vomero]].

On September 9, a group of citizens encountered German troops at Palazzo dei Telefoni and managed to escape to Via Santa Brigida. The latter episode involved a member of the [[Carabiniere]], who opened fire to defend a shop from German soldiers attempting to loot it.

On 10 September, between Piazza del Plebiscito and the gardens below, the first bloody clash occurred, with the Neapolitans successfully blocking several German motor vehicles. In the fights, three German sailors and three German soldiers died. The occupiers managed to free some of those imprisoned by the rioters thanks to an injunction by an Italian official, who summoned his countrymen to surrender some of their hostages and all of their weapons. The retaliation for the Piazza del Plebiscito clashes came quickly, and the Germans set fire to the [[Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III|National Library]] and opened fire on the crowd that had gathered there.

On 12 September, numerous soldiers were killed on the streets of Naples, and about 4,000 Italian soldiers and civilians were deported for forced labor. An announcement on 22 September decreed [[forced labor in Germany during World War II|compulsory labor]] for all men from 18 to 33 and set their forced deportation to work camps in northern Italy and Germany.<ref>de Blasio Wilhelm, Maria (1988). ''The Other Italy - The Italian Resistance in World War II''. New York: Norton, p. 45.</ref> Neapolitans refused, and, as men were rounded up and brought to the stadium in the Vomero, a civilian uprising ensued.

===State of siege===
The same day, Colonel Walter Schöll assumed command of the military occupiers in the city and declared a curfew and a state of siege, with orders to execute all those responsible for hostile actions against German troops and up to 100 Neapolitans for every German killed.

The following proclamations appeared on the walls of the city on 13 September:

{{quote|With immediate action from today, I assume the absolute control with full powers of the city of Naples and the surrounding areas.
# Every single citizen who behaves calmly will enjoy my protection. On the other hand, anyone who openly or surreptitiously acts against the German armed forces will be executed. Moreover, the home of the miscreant and its immediate surroundings will be destroyed and reduced to ruins. Every German soldier wounded or murdered will be avenged a hundred times.
# I order a curfew from 8 pm to 6 am. Only in case of alarm will it be allowed to use the road in order to reach the nearest shelter.
# A state of siege is proclaimed.
# Within 24 hours all weapons and ammunition of any kind, including shotguns, hand grenades, etc., must be surrendered. Anyone who, after that period, is found in possession of a weapon will be immediately executed. The delivery of weapons and ammunition shall be made to the German military patrols.
# People must keep calm and act reasonably.}}

The orders were followed by the shooting of eight prisoners of war in via Cesario Console, and a tank opened fire against students who were beginning to gather in the nearby university and several Italian sailors in front of the stock market.

A young sailor was executed on the stairs of the headquarters, and thousands of people were forced to attend by German troops. On the same day, 500 people were also forcibly deported to [[Teverola]], near [[Caserta]] and forced to watch the execution of 14 policemen, who had offered armed resistance to the occupying forces.

==Seeds of rebellion==
Together, the war's indiscriminate executions, looting, control of the civilian population, increasing poverty and destruction, spurred a completely spontaneous rebellion in the city, without external organization.

===22 September===
On 22 September, inhabitants of the [[Vomero]] quarter were able to steal ammunition from an Italian artillery battery; on 25 September 250 rifles were stolen from a school; and on 27 September Neapolitan insurgents captured additional weapons and ammunition.

===23 September===
In the meantime, Colonel Schöll on 23 September ordered additional measures to suppress the population, including the evacuation (within 20 hours that same day) of the entire coastal area up {{convert|300|m|yd|sp=us|0}} from the waterfront. Approximately 240,000 people would be forced to abandon their homes to allow the creation of a "military security zone", potentially a prelude to the port's destruction. Almost simultaneously, a ''manifesto '' from the city's prefect called for compulsory work for all males between the ages of 18 and 30, in effect a forced deportation to labour camps in Germany. Only 150 Neapolitans out of the planned 30,000 responded to the call, which led Schöll to send soldiers into Naples to round up and immediately execute resisters.

===26 September===
In response, on September 26, an unarmed crowd poured into the streets, opposed the Nazi roundups and freed the resisters from deportation. The rioters were joined by former Italian soldiers who had thus far remained hidden.

==Four days==
===27 September===
[[File:Italy September 1943.png|thumb|300px|Italian military situation in September 1943]]
On September 27, large numbers of German troops captured about 8,000 Neapolitans, and 400-500 armed rioters responded in attack.

One of the first outbreaks of fighting occurred in [[Vomero]], where a group of armed men stopped a German car and killed the German NCO driver. The same day, fierce fighting followed in different areas of the city between the insurgents and German soldiers. The Germans began evacuating, spurred by news, later proved to be false, of an imminent Allied landing at [[Bagnoli]].

An Italian lieutenant, Enzo Stimolo, led a group of 200 insurgents against a weapons depot at [[Castel Sant'Elmo]], which was captured that evening, not without bloodshed, after German reinforcements arrived from the [[Villa Floridiana]] and the [[Stadio Arturo Collana|Campo Sportivo del Littorio]] areas.

Meanwhile, a group of citizens moved on the [[Parco di Capodimonte]] (the Capodimonte Park) in response to rumours that Germans were executing prisoners there. An insurgent plan to prevent German engineers from destroying the [[Ponte della Sanità]] (the [[Maddalena Cerasuolo]] bridge) and thereby isolating the city center was devised and carried out the following day.

That evening, insurgents attacked and plundered weapons armories in the barracks at Via Foria and Via [[San Giovanni a Carbonara]].

===28 September===
On September 28, fighting increased with further Neapolitan citizens joining the riot. In [[Materdei]], a German patrol, which had taken shelter in a civil building, was surrounded and kept under siege for hours until the arrival of reinforcements. In the end, three Neapolitans had died in the battle.

At [[Porta Capuana]], a group of 40 men, armed with rifles and machine guns, set up a roadblock, killing six enemy soldiers and capturing four. Other fighting broke out in [[Maschio Angioino]], Vasto and Monteoliveto.

Germans launched raids in [[Vomero]] and took prisoners inside the Campo Sportivo del Littorio, which prompted an assault on the sports field by a party led by Enzo Stimolo, which liberated prisoners the following day.

===29 September===
On the third day of the riot, the streets of Naples witnessed fierce clashes. As no connection could be established with national antifascist organizations such as the ''Fronte Nazionale'' (an offshoot of the [[Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale]]), the insurrection was still without central direction, operations being in the hands of local leaders.

In Giuseppe Mazzini Square, a substantial German party reinforced by tanks attacked 50 rebels, killing 12 and injuring more than 15 of them. The workers' quarter of [[Ponticelli]] suffered a heavy artillery bombardment after which German units committed several indiscriminate massacres among the population. Other fighting took place near the [[Capodichino Airport]] and Piazza Ottocalli, in which three Italian airmen were killed.

In the same hours, at the German headquarters at Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which was repeatedly attacked by insurgents, negotiations were started between Schöll and Stimolo for the return of the Campo Sportivo prisoners in exchange for the free retreat of the Germans from Naples.

===30 September===
While the German troops had already begun the evacuation of the city before the arrival of Anglo-American forces from [[Nocera Inferiore]], Antonio Tarsia in Curia, a high school teacher, proclaimed himself as head of the rebels and assumed full civil and military powers. Among other things, he issued provisions regarding the precise opening hours for shops and citizens' discipline.

The fighting did not cease, and the German guns in the Capodimonte heights shelled the area between Port'Alba and Piazza Mazzini for the whole day. Other fighting occurred in the area of [[Porta Capuana]].

The fleeing Germans left behind them fires and massacres, including the burning of the [[State Archives of Naples]], which caused great loss of historical information and documents. A few days later there [[1943 Naples post-office bombing|was an explosion]] at the [[Palazzo delle Poste, Naples]], which was attributed to German explosives.

==Liberation of Naples==
[[File:The British Army in Italy 1943 NA7433.jpg|thumb|[[Daimler Dingo|Daimler scout car]] of [[1st King's Dragoon Guards]] at the town hall in Naples, 1 October 1943]]
At 09:30 on 1 October, armoured patrols of the [[1st King's Dragoon Guards|King's Dragoon Guards]] was the first allied unit to reach Naples, followed by the [[Royal Scots Greys]] reinforced by troops of the [[82nd Airborne Division]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Fifth Army History, Volume 1|year=1945|publisher=Historical Section, Headquarters Fifth Army|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfBmAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> At the end of the day, the German commander-in-chief in Italy—[[Field Marshal (Germany)|''Generalfeldmarschall'']] [[Albert Kesselring]]—considered the retreat successfully concluded.

Statistics for the four days of Naples vary: according to some authors, 168 rioters and 159 unarmed citizens were killed according to the postwar ministerial commission for the recognition of partisan victims, casualties amounted to 155, but the registers of the [[Poggioreale cemetery]] listed 562 deaths.

In contrast to other resistance episodes in Italy after the 8 September armistice, which also involved Italian fascists,<ref>The [[Italian Social Republic|Repubblica Sociale Italiana]], a German-supported puppet state, was declared on 23 September 1943.</ref> most of the fighting occurred between Italians and Germans. The revolt prevented Germans from organizing resistance in Naples against an Allied offensive and/or destroying the city before a German retreat, as [[Adolf Hitler]] had ordered.

On 22 December, Generals [[Riccardo Pentimalli]] and [[Ettore Deltetto]], who had abandoned Naples to the Germans after September 8, were sentenced by the High Court of Justice to 20 years in military prison, <ref>Their conviction was later reduced.</ref> for active collaboration with Germans. [[Domenico Tilena]], the head of the fascist provincial section during the riots, was sentenced to six years and eight months.

==In popular culture==
The historical episode of the Naples rebellion was recalled in [[Nanni Loy]]'s 1962 film ''[[The Four Days of Naples (film)|The Four Days of Naples]]'', nominated for Oscars for best foreign film and best screenplay.{{cn|date=June 2022}}. The final scenes of the film "Tutti a casa" starring [[Alberto Sordi]] (1960) also depicted the events, specifically those of September 28.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|first=Nino|last=Aversa|title=Napoli sotto il terrore tedesco|location=Naples|year= 1943}}
* {{cite book|first=Corrado|last=Barbagallo|title=Napoli contro il terrore nazista|publisher= Maone|location= Naples}}
* {{cite book|first=Corrado|last=Barbagallo|title=Napoli contro il terrore nazista|publisher=Maone| location=Naples|year=1954}}
* {{cite book|first= Roberto|last=Battaglia|title=Storia della Resistenza italiana: (8 settembre 1943 - 25 aprile 1945)}}
* {{cite book|first=Renato|last=Caserta|title=Ai due lati della Barricata. La Resistenza a Napoli e le Quattro Giornate|publisher=Arte Tipografica, 2022}}
* {{cite book|first=Aldo|last=De Jaco|authorlink=Aldo De Jaco|title=La città insorge: le quattro giornate di Napoli|publisher=[[Editori Riuniti]]|location=Rome|year=1946}}
* {{cite book|first=Luigi|last=Longo|authorlink=Luigi Longo|title=Un popolo alla macchia|publisher=[[Arnoldo Mondadori Editore]]|location=Milan|year=1947}}
* {{cite book|first=Antonino|last=Tarsia In Curia|title=La verità sulle quattro giornate di Napoli| publisher=Genovese|location=Naples|year=1950|isbn=88-7104-735-4}}
* {{cite book|first=Antonino|last=Tarsia In Curia|title=Napoli negli anni di guerra|agency= Istituto della Stampa, Naples|publisher=[[Giulio Einaudi Editore|Einaudi]]|location=Turin|year=1954}}
* {{cite book|editor=Giovanni Artieri|title=Le Quattro giornate. Scritti e testimonianze| publisher=Marotta|location=Naples|year=1963}}
* {{cite journal|journal=Il Mattino|date=14 January 1973|first=Franco|last=Grassi}}
* {{cite journal|journal=Storia Illustrata|title=Napoli: 4 giorni sulle barricate|issue=311|date=4 October 1983}}
* {{cite book|first=Vittorio|last=Gleijeses|title=La Storia di Napoli|publisher=Edizioni del Giglio| location=Naples|year=1987}}
* {{cite book|first=Giorgio|last=Bocca|authorlink=Giorgio Bocca|title=Il Provinciale|publisher= Mondadori|location=Milan|year=1993|isbn=88-04-37419-5}}
* {{cite book|first=Enzo|last=Erra|title=Napoli 1943. Le Quattro Giornate che non ci furono| publisher=[[Longanesi]]|location=Milan|year=1993|isbn=88-304-1163-9}}
* {{cite book|first=Ermes|last=Ferraro|chapter=La resistenza napoletana e le 'quattro giornate'| title=Una strategia di pace: la Difesa Popolare Nonviolenta|editor=Antonino Drago and Gino Stefani|location=Bologna|publisher=fuoriTHEMA|year=1993|pages=89–95}}
* {{cite book|first=Ermes|last=Ferraro|chapter=Le trenta giornate di Napoli|title=La lotta non-armata nella resistenza (atti del convegno tenuto a Roma il 25.10.1993)|location=Rome| publisher=Centro Studi Difesa Civile (quaderno n.1)|pages=52–57}}
* {{cite book|first=Giorgio|last=Bocca|title=Storia dell'Italia partigiana. Settembre 1943-Maggio 1945|publisher=Mondadori|location=Milan|year=1995|isbn=88-420-0142-2}}
* {{cite book|first=Arrigo|last=Petacco|authorlink=Arrigo Petacco|title=La nostra guerra| publisher=Mondadori|location=Milan|year=1996|isbn=88-04-41325-5}}
* {{cite book|first=Indro|last=Montanelli|authorlink=Indro Montanelli|author2=Mario Cervi|title= L'Italia della disfatta|publisher=Rizzoli|year=1996}}
* {{cite book|first=Aldo|last=De Jaco|title=Napoli, settembre 1943. Dal fascismo alla Repubblica| publisher=Vittorio Pironti Editore|location=Naples|year=1998}}
* {{cite book|first=Giovanni|last=Parisi|title=Il Muro di Napoli|publisher=Homo Scrivens| location=Naples|year=2022}}
* {{cite book|first=Anna|last=Chiapponi|title=Le quattro giornate di Napoli|publisher=Pontegobbo| location=[[Castel San Giovanni]]|year=2003|isbn=88-86754-58-2}}
* {{cite book|first=G. G.|last=Schettini|title=Le barricate di Napoli|publisher=Tipografia Artigianelli|location=Naples|year=1943}}
* {{cite book|first=Aldo|last=Secchia|title=Cronistoria del 25 aprile 1945|publisher=[[Feltrinelli (publisher)|Feltrinelli]] |location=Milan|year=1973}}
* {{cite book|first=Gabriella|last=Gribaudi|title=Guerra totale. Tra bombe alleate e violenze naziste. Napoli e il fronte meridionale 1940-1944|publisher=Bollati Boringhieri|location=Turin| year=2022}}
* {{cite book|first=Giuseppe|last=Aragno|title=Le Quattro Giornate di Napoli - Storie di Antifascisti|publisher=Edizioni Intra Moenia| location=[[Naples]]|year=2017|isbn=9788874212033}}

==External links==
* {{in lang|it}} [http://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/DettaglioDecorato.asp?idprogressivo=18845&iddecorato=18392 Official citation for the Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare awarded to Naples]
* {{in lang|it}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024521/http://www.anpi.it/patria_2005/03-05/46-48_TARSIA.pdf Article from Patria Indipendente, 31 March 2005]
* {{in lang|it}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704025919/http://www.romacivica.net/anpiroma/resistenza/resistenza4c.htm The "Quattro giornate" on the ANPI site]
* {{in lang|it}} [http://www.comune.napoli.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/1363/UT/systemPrint The Archivio Storico Municipale in memory of the Quattro Giornate di Napoli]

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{{Naples}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1943]]
[[Category:20th century in Naples]]
[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Italian Campaign]]
[[Category:Italian campaign (World War II)]]
[[Category:1943 in Italy]]
[[Category:Italian resistance movement]]
[[Category:Urban warfare]]

Four Days of Naples - Revision history

Bot at 23:32, 28 November 2022