Replication Data for: The Logic of Vulnerability and Civilian Victimization: Shifting frontlines in Italy (1943-1945)

What causes civilian victimization in conventional civil wars and in conventional wars that experience insurgencies? We argue that a key driver of civilian victimization is an incumbent’s vulnerability, specifically when the conflict’s frontline is shifting. Vulnerability is a function of informational and logistical challenges: when the frontline is shifting incumbents face increased informational uncertainty and unstable supply chains that augment the vulnerability of the incumbent. Thus, the incumbent will increase its use of civilian victimization in response to a scarcity of high-quality information on the location and identity of insurgents, in order to limit possible information leaks, and to contain supply disruption and logistics support to adversaries. We support our argument using matched difference-in-differences analyses of original subnational data on Nazi-Fascist violence in WWII Italy (1943-1945) and qualitative evidence.