War, Politics, Law – And Love: Italy 1943-1946

In this piece I tell my story from four perspectives, ranging from the “highest”-institutional-to the “lowest”-personal. From the first perspective I offer a glimpse of the Allied military command structure during the Italian phase of World War II. From the second perspective, I focus in some detail on Allied military bodies established under the international law of occupation of enemy territory: the Allied Control Commission for Italy (ACC)-later the Allied Commission for Italy (AC)-headquarters of the Allied Military Government (AMG) and a point of communication with the King after the Italian surrender. Italy became a “co-belligerent” of the Allies and the King escaped from German-occupied Rome to Brindisi, the first seat of the AC. The third perspective illustrates my work on the staff of the Legal Subcommission of the AC centering on the application of the Allied armistice agreements with Italy and close contacts with the Ministry of Justice. The fourth perspective-a handful of personal episodes at work and “at play”-some quite intimate. In fact, “the personal” permeates the entire piece. Only a smattering of doctrine is included; if I were to describe my methodology in general, it would be modem positivism heavily blended with policy considerations.