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For the 1970 film see Black Brigade (film)

Black Brigades (Italian: Brigate Nere) were one of the fascist paramilitary groups operating in the Italian Social Republic (in northern Italy), during the final years of World War II, and after the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was arrested after the Italian Grand Council of Fascism (Gran Consiglio del Fascismo), with the support of King Vittorio Emanuele III, overthrew him and began negotiations with the Allies for Italy's withdrawal from the war. Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers led by Otto Skorzeny. He was then installed by the Germans as the President of the Italian Social Republic (RSI). The RSI was to be an Italian regime which was to nominally administer the German-occupied northern Italy.

A recruitment poster for the Black Brigades, urging Italians to "fight for the honour of Italy"

As the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN, also known as "Black Shirts") was disbanded by the terms of the armistice, the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana was formed on 24 November 1943. The "Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana" was formed out of carabinieri, ex-army, and others still loyal to the fascist cause.

The Black Brigades were formed from members of the Fascist Republican Party. Formation of the Black Brigades was sanctioned by a Fascist Republican Party law dated 30 June 1944. The brigade members not only fought the Allies and the Italian partisans, but they also fought against political opponents and other Black Brigade members whose support of "the cause" was deemed less than exuberant. Many Black Brigade members were killed in this type of in-fighting.

The Black Brigades were not actually brigade sized units. In reality, they were more often weak battalions or strong companies with from 200 to 300 men each. There were 41 territorial brigades. The territorial brigades were numbered one through 41. There were also eight mobile brigades. The mobile brigades were numbered one through seven plus the Second Arditi Brigade. Although members of Black Brigades were issued the standard Italian army uniform, they tended to wear a black shirt or black sweater. They sometimes wore this with a windproof jacket in solid or camouflage colors. Members of Black Brigades did tend to wear the grey-green uniform pants. The badge or insignia of the Black Brigades was the jawless death's head or one of assorted Italian versions. The majority of Black Brigade members wore Italian style black caps or berets. But some photos also show members wearing German style caps.

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