The Republican Fascist Party was a political party in Italy led by Benito Mussolini during the German occupation of Central and Northern Italy and was the sole legal representative party of the Italian Social Republic. The PFR was the successor to the National Fascist Party but was more influenced by pre-1922 early radical fascism and anti-monarchism, as its members considered King Victor Emmanuel III to be a traitor after his signing of the surrender to the Allies.
Alessandro Pavolini (right), Secretary of the PFR and commander in chief of the Black Brigades, and Vincenzo Costa (centre), commander of "Aldo Resega" Black Brigade, during a ceremony in Milan, late 1944
The Italian Social Republic, known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy, but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò, was a Nazi-German puppet state with limited diplomatic recognition that was created during the latter part of World War II. It existed from the beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of German troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation triggered widespread national resistance against it and the Italian Social Republic, leading to the Italian Civil War.
Benito Mussolini rescued by German troops from his prison in Campo Imperatore on 12 September 1943
Mussolini inspecting fortified positions, 1944
RSI soldiers, March 1944
RSI soldiers deployed to the Battle for Anzio