Mussolini's Italian Social Republic, also known as the Salò Republic, has divided Italians, including Fascist sympathisers. It was very different in many ways from the old Fascist Italy and controlled far less territory. After Mussolini was "sprung" by the Germans, they effectively treated him as a puppet ruler and Mussolini could not recruit some of the old guard Fascists for various reasons, some being reluctant to join and others trapped in the south in allied territory which officially controlled by King Victor Emmanuel. On the other hand, some Fascists saw it as a rump state or true Italy, where Mussolini was able to instigate true Fascism without being restrained by the king. Historians also debate how independent Mussolini was in this time, with some arguing he was a mere puppet and others saying that he appreciated German support to keep his program going. Either way, the Italian Social Republic was full of German troops, much more highly anti-Jewish than its predecessor, and those German troops carried out massacres against Italian civilians.
Unlike Hitler, who had no offspring (that can be proven), the Mussolini family is still going strong. His son Romano became a respected jazz musician, and married the sister of Italian film star Alessandra Mussolini. His grand daughter Alessandra Mussolini has had a varied career as an actress, pop singer and politician, and is unapologetic in her support for Benito. Her sister Rachele, named after Benito's wife, is also a minor politician. Alessandra's son is a professional footballer and plays for Lazio, one of the most successful teams in Italian soccer.
Rachele's protestations of low income were true after Benito was murdered. She didn't receive a state pension until 1975, because it turned out Benito Mussolini never took a state salary in over two decades of power. She had to run a restaurant in their native village of Predappio Alta, in Emilia-Romagna, to make ends meet in old age.
The blood thirstiness, corruption and apocalypticism of Mussolini's second reign, the Italian Social Republic has gained an infamous reputation. When Pasolini decided to adapt the Marquis de Sade's "100 Days of Sodom", he moved the action to the Italian Social Republic resulting in Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975). Pasolini being a northerner had experienced the Italian Social Republic firsthand as a boy.
Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele III) lived until 1947. He was commonly seen as a restraining hand on Mussolini until he was deposed by him in the north. The King also delayed the Italian entry into WW2, and according to many accounts opposed it, although he supported the invasion of Ethiopia. Amidst the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943, he deposed Mussolini, and signed an armistice with the Allies in September, 1943. In the face of the coming German reprisal, he and the government fled to Brindisi while the Germans established a puppet republic in Northern Italy run by Mussolini. He reluctantly switched sides and declared war on Germany in October, though he battled constantly with Allied command and, under pressure from the allies, he transferred most of his powers to his son Umberto in June 1944, effectively ending his involvement in the war and in the government of Italy. In 1946, there was a referendum on the monarchy and Italy became a republic. Monarchist votes were mostly concentrated in the south and republican votes mostly in the north.