On 10 December 1746 the eleven-year old Genovese boy Balilla started a revolt against the occupying Austrian forces, and together with Pittamuli, who managed to take 50 Austrian grenadiers prisoner in Sant'Agata, and Giovanni Carbone, who on 10 December 1746 distinguished himself in the reconquest of the Porta di San Tommaso, managed to throw them out of the city.
www.museidigenova.it/en/three-heroes-Genoese-people
In 1945 the German forces surrendered to the Genovese partisans and not to the Allied forces.

LA CITTA DI GENOVA
NELL AUSTERO TIMORE DI UNA PACE INGIUSTA
CELEBRANDO IL 2° CENTENARIO
DELL EROICA INSURREZIONE IN PORTORIA
CHE ACCESA DA BALILLA
SIMBOLO DI FIEREZZA E NON DI SERVAGGIO
PER EROICA VIRTÙ DI POPOLO INERME
IL 10 DICEMBRE 1746
SALVÓ DA PREPOTENTE ESERCITO INVASORE
L' INDIPENDENZA DELLA PATRIA
RICORDA
AI DIMENTICHI INTERNI ED ESTERNI CHE IN QUESTA PIAZZA DENSA DI STORIA
IL 23 APRILE 1945
I CITTADINI FUGANDO LA TIRANNIA UNA COLONNA TEUTONICA MOTORIZZATA
COSTRINSERO ALLA RESA
LA PATRIA SALVANDO DALL OBBROBRIO
ED EVOCANDO COL LORO VALORE
DALLE ANTICHE TRADIZIONI DI LIBERTÀ
LA REPUBBLICA D'ITALIA

THE CITY OF GENOA
IN THE AUSTERE FEAR OF AN UNJUST PEACE
CELEBRATING THE 2ND CENTENARY
OF THE HEROIC INSURRECTION IN PORTORIA
WHICH WAS STARTED BY BALILLA
A SYMBOL OF PRIDE AND NOT OF SERVITUDE
THROUGH THE HEROIC VIRTUE OF A DEFENDANT PEOPLE
ON DECEMBER 10, 1746
HE SAVED FROM AN ABUSIVE INVADER ARMY
THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE COUNTRY
REMINDS
THOSE FORGETFUL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL THAT IN THIS SQUARE FILLED WITH HISTORY
ON APRIL 23, 1945
THE CITIZENS FLEEING TYRANNY A MOTORIZED TEUTONIC COLUMN
FORCED TO SURRENDER
THE COUNTRY, SAVING IT FROM DISGUST
AND EVOKING WITH THEIR VALOR
FROM THE ANCIENT TRADITIONS OF FREEDOM
THE REPUBLIC OF ITALY