World War II - War in Italy 1943 1945 - Soldiers of RSI in camouflage uniform just before a raid against the partisans in Northern Italy. The Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI), informally known as the Republic of Sal?, was a puppet state of Nazi Germany. The Fascist Italian state (from 1943 until 1945), it was led by Duce Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The state claimed Rome as its capital, but was de facto centered around Sal?, where Mussolini's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headquartered. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy, but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht.