The result was the collapse of Mussolini's government. Early in the morning of July 25, he was forced by the Great Fascist Council to resign and was arrested later that day. On July 26, Marshal Pietro Badoglio took control of the Italian government. The new government immediately entered into secret negotiations with the Allies, despite the presence of numerous German troops in Italy. On September 3, Montgomery's 8th Army began an invasion of the Italian mainland in Calabria, and the Italian government agreed to surrender to the Allies. Under the terms of the agreement, the Italians would be treated with leniency if they collaborated with the Allies in the expulsion of the Germans from Italy. Later that month, Mussolini was rescued from a prison in the mountains of Abruzzo by the Germans and was appointed leader of a Nazi "puppet" state in northern Italy.
