The Italian Social Republic ( ), informally known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a puppet state of Nazi Germany during the later part of World War II (from 1943 until 1945). It was the second and last incarnation of the Fascist Italian state and it was led by Duce Benito Mussolini and his reformed Republican Fascist Party. The state declared Rome as its capital, but was de facto centered on Salò (hence its colloquial name), a small town on Lake Garda, near Brescia, where Mussolini and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headquartered. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern and central Italy, but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control.