Controversy Project
During World War II, Italy sided with Germany and dragged Germany back. So what is the attitude of San Marino, China, Italy, towards World War II?
There are also two countries in Italy, China, one is the Vatican in Rome, and the other is San Marino.
San Marino is located in the northeastern part of the Apennine Peninsula, the country of Italy, just 23 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea, with an area of 61At 2 square kilometers, it is smaller than Futian District or Luohu District of Shenzhen, and is the third smallest country in Europe, larger than the Vatican and Monaco.
San Marino has a population of only 340,000 (2023), the multi-faith ** branch of Catholicism, the official language is Italian. San Marino is located on the east side of the Apennine Mountains, with high terrain, wide hills, undulating peaks, and the highest peak, Mount Titano, is about 755 above sea level24 meters.
San Marino has no railways, airports or ports, and has a total length of 220 kilometers of roads and no highways. This small country is dominated by tourism and has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world.
The territory surrounds San Marino in Italy, south of the Alps, and consists of the Apennine Peninsula and the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Italy covers an area of about 30It is 130,000 square kilometers, ranking 9th among China's provincial-level administrative regions, with a population of about 58.85 million (2023).
San Marino knows that it is a small country, so San Marino has never participated in the "fairy fight" in the rivers and lakes.
In the First World War, the parties fought fiercely, and San Marino remained neutral. Of course, Britain, France, Germany, ** and other big countries did not care about this small country.
Italy betrayed Germany and Austria-Hungary at the very beginning of World War I, sided with the Entente and became the victorious power.
From 1914 to 1919, the population of Italy was: 35.7 million, 36.27 million, 36.48 million, 36.34 million, 35.92 million, and 35.71 million. In the years leading up to World War I, there was a net increase in the population of Italy, because the number of births was greater than the number of deaths, and the war damage was manageable. However, by 1918, there was a negative growth, which shows that Italy still paid the price. Throughout World War I, between 1.05 million and 1.24 million Italian people died as a result of the war. At the end of World War I in 1919, Italy may still be paying for it, and its population continues to grow negatively. Over the next two decades, Italy's population grew until World War II.
San Marino was a neutral country in the early stages of World War II and became a belligerent country in the latter part of World War II. The reason for participating in the war was because of an inexplicable accidental bombing.
In World War II, Italy joined the Axis powers and became an enemy of Great Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
From 1939 to 1945, Italy's population was 44.02 million, 44.47 million, 44.83 million, 45.1 million, 44.64 million, 44.79 million, and 44.95 million. During World War II, with the exception of 1943, Italy's population grew. In fact, only 49 people died in Italy during the entire Second World War20,000 to 5140,000, far worse than the First World War. Compared to its brother Germany, which lost 6.9 million to 7.4 million people in World War II, Italy suffered little damage in the war, and compared to the 26.6 million deaths in the Soviet Union due to the war, Italy was simply drizzling.
Italy often plays Germany's "pig teammate" and adds to Germany's troubles. On July 26, 1943, Mussolini was placed under house arrest. Hitler sent men to rescue Mussolini while building a defensive line from Rimini, a city in the east of the Apennine Peninsula, to Pisa, a city in the west, to defend northern Italy. Rimini, on the other hand, is only 30 kilometres from the small mountain country of San Marino.
The British often sent bombers to drop bombs on Rimini, and the British believed that part of the German army had taken refuge in San Marino and that San Marino had to be bombed.
June 26, 1944, San Marino is considered the darkest day in the country's history. British bombers flew over San Marino and bombed the small mountain country four times, dropping a total of 243 bombs. As a result, 60 people were killed and more than 100 were injured. You must know that the total population of San Marino during World War II was about 20,000, and the first rate of this bombing hit San Marino a lot. The people of San Marino were furious and said that small countries can be bullied at will? We also have a temper!
On July 5, 1944, San Marino declared war on both the United Kingdom's Central Powers and Germany's Axis powers.
It is normal for San Marino to declare war on Great Britain, how can it also declare war on Germany? That's the secret of survival in small countries.
By the time World War II reached the second half of 1944, five-year-olds in Europe knew that the Allies had a better chance of winning World War II, and that the Axis powers would fall sooner or later. Britain is a Central Powers, and in order to preserve the dignity of San Marino, San Marino must declare war on Britain and all Allied countries, including our country. However, after the Allies won World War II, they would treat San Marino as a defeated country like Germany. San Marino knew that it was a small country and that it was not enough for the Great Powers to divide up, so it declared war on Germany and all the Axis powers at the same time.
In this way, San Marino would dissociate itself from Germany, which was on the verge of death, and the Allies would not treat themselves as German associates. San Marino's declaration of war on both camps at the same time was just a diplomatic gesture, and they did not have many soldiers.
Soon after the declaration of war in San Marino, German troops were forced in. San Marino knew that it was invincible and hurried to surrender its guns. Subsequently, the British army also entered San Marino, and the League ** team and the Axis ** team "fought with the gods" in San Marino, and the host San Marino "watched strongly".
The British army won the battle and was stationed in San Marino for two months. In November 1944, San Marino and Britain shook hands and signed a peace agreement. Britain apologized to San Marino, saying that British intelligence had "mistaken" the intelligence in the original bombing. Britain paid 80,000 pounds to San Marino out of "humanitarianism".
Although San Marino was involved in World War II, it remained generally neutral and was internationally recognized as a neutral country.