During WWII Mussolini was ousted from power by the Italian government during the Allies invasion of Sicily. He was then escorted from Rome and put under the protection of the Italian King. The Italian government then contacted the Allies in secret to negotiate a surrender. The Germans had a large army in Italy so the Italians were very worried about retaliation against Italians if they surrendered. Despite this worry the Italian surrender was revealed to the world and to the Allies who were about to invade Italy while the boats for the invasion of Italy were on their way. Instead of fighting the Italian army the Allies had to fight the German ‘occupying’ army in Italy and the Italians became part of the Allied armies. One of the big benefits was that the Italian navy was immediately sent to Allied ports and then they were used to help fight the Germans.

(Book – The Second World War – Winston S. Churchill)