A climb of terror, then. In those days, "La Fabbrica" – the clandestine newspaper of the Italian Communist Party – called on the people of Milan to prepare for insurrection. These were days when it seemed that the war was coming to an end; all fronts were in motion, the Soviet army was advancing from the east, and the Anglo-American forces were pushing forward in France. It seemed that the war was approaching its conclusion, and the Nazis feared one thing above all: that in occupied Italy, the advance of the Allies would be accompanied by the insurrection of the people. They had the experience of Florence before them, where the insurrection had made the retreat of the German army heavy and difficult. The Germans wanted to have their backs covered and prevent the development of an insurrectionary movement that could jeopardize the retreat of the army pursued by the Allies.