Kingdom of the South

The Kingdom of the South (Italian: Regno del Sud) is the term used in Italian historiography to identify that part of southern Italy controlled by the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) in the latter part of World War II, and ruled by AMGOT in cooperation with the government of the Kingdom of Italy (initially with Pietro Badoglio and later Ivanoe Bonomi as prime ministers), as opposed to German-occupied northern and central Italy, where the Italian Social Republic had been established.

Strictly speaking, the term is used with reference to the period between September 1943, when King Victor Emmanuel III and the government fled Rome to Brindisi in the aftermath of the armistice of Cassibile, and June 1944, when Rome was liberated by the Allies and resumed its function as capital of Italy. However, its use is often extended to cover the period up to 1945 and the end of the war, that is, the entire period that Italy remained divided, during which time the Italian government, although it had re-established itself in Rome, still did not have full control of its nominal territory or local, police and military bodies. Administrative, military and political activities, and their documentation, were split between those managed by the government of Rome, by the Italian Social Republic, by the partisan forces and by the armies in the field.

At its formation in September 1943, the Kingdom of the South only controlled Apulia, Sardinia, and parts of Basilicata and Calabria. Sicily, then under the AMGOT administration following its capture during Operation Husky in the summer of 1943, was returned to the control of the Italian government in February 1944. More territories came under the control of the Kingdom of the South as the Allies advanced northwards along the Italian peninsula. The king and government initially established their seat in Brindisi, although the city was never officially designated as the capital of Italy. The de facto sovereignty of the kingdom was limited, as it was subject to the Allied Control Commission for Italy.

Regno del Sud was never an official designation. All documents and acts continued to refer to the Kingdom of Italy, and it was recognized internationally (other than by the Axis powers) as the legitimate state for the whole of Italy, including the German-occupied north.