Victor Emmanuel III
Victor Emmanuel III was the King that ruled Italy in World War I and World War II along with Benito Mussolini.
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| “ | I do not claim to remedy the present difficulties with my own strength. But I am convinced that these difficulties have a single cause. In Italy few do their duty exactly: there is too much softness and relaxation. Everyone, without exception, must observe exactly his obligations. I will be an example, fulfilling all my duties. The Ministers will help me, not lulling anyone into vain illusions, not promising what they will be sure they can keep. | „ |
| ~ Vittorio Emmanuele III |
Biography edit
Early life edit
He was born in Neaples, Italy, on the 11th November 1869 in the italian royal family Savoia. He didn't had a happy childhood, because his parents didn't care about him and the education received was very strict. The only person he loved was his irish nurse Elizabeth Lee (called "Bessie"). Since his birth, he trained along with Egidio Oiso, an important italian general, where he he received a very strict military education. Then, at the age of nine, he returned to Neaples along with his father that had ascended to power.
Life at Neaples edit
At the age of twenty, Vittorio Emanuele leaved Colonel Osio, having now that he became mature enough and equal to his tutor, with whom he nevertheless continued to maintain an almost daily correspondence. To make him practice command, he was assigned to the 1st "Re" Infantry Regiment in Naples, where he remained for five years. In Naples he made friends with Prince Nicola Brancaccio, who managed to overcome the shyness of the young Vittorio Emanuele, routing him to the Neapolitan nightlife made up of not that much "respectable" theaters and actresses' dressing rooms.
In that period, he had known general Giuseppe Ottolenghi of Sabbioneta who was very strict with Vittorio Emanuele.This lead to Vittorio to call him "Giuseppe the Jewish" and "Poor Maccabee". Obviously, Vittorio didn't did this because he was anti-semite, but of a normal personal spite towards one's superior.
The marriage edit
The question of marriage regarding Vittorio Emmanuele was taken in a very extreme way. In fact, Vittorio did not want to get married and various attempts were made with other very important women, but they failed. Only with Princess Elena of Montenegro did he want to marry. The marriage of the two took place on the 24th October 1896. 4 years after the marriage, they gived birth to Jolanda in 1901, Mafalda in 1902, Umberto in 1904 and Giovanna in 1907.
War in Libya edit
On the 29th September 1911, he sent the Italian troops to Libya for economical motivations. The war was very short, since it lasted until the 5th November 1911. However, this war weakened Italy due to the backwardness of the army and the active resistance that the local tribes made.
Role in the Great War edit
In the first years of the Great War, he didn't wanted to partecipate in the war, but in this way he betrayed the the Triple Alliance thus he started to support the Triple Agreement. After that moment, he started to actively partecipate in the italian front (by taking the nickname "Soldier King").
The March on Rome edit
On the 28th October 1922, Benito Mussolini and his fascist comrades marched on Rome. Luigi Facta, former italian President, wanted to to put Rome under siege, but Vittorio Emmanuele refused to do so thus he facilitated the rise of Fascism in Italy.
The support to Benito Mussolini and of Fascism edit
In 1924, Italy totally became a dictatoship because of Fascism and Benito Mussolini. But the King didn't did nothing. Because the Parliament, where the PNF members were the absolute majority in the Chamber, had not provided any legal pretext to ask for the resignation of Mussolini nor developed a credible alternative government structure. Nor had the opposition's extra-parliamentary choice succeeded in mobilizing the masses. So, the King therefore remained waiting for a parliamentary initiative in compliance with the institutional rules.
But in this way, the situation keeped degenerating. In fact, Francesco Saverio Nitti, during his exile due to fascist intimidation, sent a letter to the monarch in which he accused him of idle connivance with Mussolini and urged him to take measures against the regime. Even journals had exposed the crimes of Benito Mussolini, but the King still didn't expelled Mussolini from the Parliament.
In November 1925, the King signed the "Extremely Fascist Laws" with which all political parties (except the PNF) were dissolved and censorship of the press was established. With the law of the 24th December 1925, the Albertine Statute was modified, attributing to the Head of Government, responsible only before the King, the appointment and dismissal of ministers. I 1926, the King authorized the creation of the Special Court for the defense of the State, which removed all political crimes from the ordinary judiciary, and the formation of the secret political police (OVRA). Police confinement was established for opponents.
Then, with the win of fascists in the War in Ethiopia, he received imperial title on the 9th May 1936. And he even firmed the racial laws of 1938 that discriminated Jews, violating one of the fundamental contributions of the House of Savoy: not discriminating against subjects on the basis of their religions.
Role in the World War II edit
On the 10th June 1940, Vittorio Emanuele III signed the declaration of war, strongly desired by Benito Mussolini on France and Great Britain, siding alongside the Germans in the Second World War.
Vittorio Emanuele, who escaped an attack during a visit to Albania in 1941, observed with increasing concern the evolution of the military situation and the progressive enslavement of the Italian forces to German interests, which he disliked. The defeat in the second battle of El Alamein onthe 4th November 1942, led within a few months to the total abandonment of Africa and then to the allied invasion of Sicily and the beginning of systematic Allied bombing raids on Italian cities.
These new defeats prompted the Grand Council of Fascism that on the 25th July 1943 to voted against the support for Mussolini's policy. On the same day, Vittorio Emanuele dismissed Mussolini, who, placed in custody, recognized his loyalty to the King and to the new Badoglio government. On the early days of June, Vittorio Emanuele had intensified his contacts with anti-fascist exponents, with then help of the minister of the Royal House of Acquarone. On the 22th July, the day after the Feltre summit between Mussolini and Hitler and after the first bombing of Rome, the King had discussed with Mussolini the need to get out of the conflict leaving the Germans alone and the eventuality of a change to the presidency of the Council.
The armistice of the 8th September edit
So, on the 3rd Sptember 1943, the armistice with the Allies was signed in Cassibile. But Vittorio Emmanuele didn't know this and he was surprised. Therefore, some generals who were having a meeting with the King (General Carboni and Admiral De Courten) proposed to disavow the armistice and consequently Badoglio's actions and to continue the war alongside the Germans. The proposal, initially supported by the majority, was defined "unrealistic" by General Marchesi and in this way was rejected by Vittorio Emanuele and Badoglio communicated the armistice now made public by the Allies.
However, the army was left without a clear plan of action in response to an offensive by the former German ally and found itself disoriented to face the blows of the numerous German units that had been sent to Italy after the fall of Benito Mussolini. In fact Badoglio, who believed that the Germans would be better off withdrawing from Italy, communicated that the Italian troops should not take the initiative by attacking the former ally, but limit themselves to responding.
Escape of Brindisi edit
On the dawn of the 9th September 1943, king Vittorio Emmanuele III escaped to go to the italian city called Brindisi, along with Pietro Badoglio, abbandoning the italians.
However, the flight allowed the formal continuity of the state, especially in the eyes of the Allies. In this way, the Allies saw the validity that the armistice guaranteed while the presence of a legitimate government prevented Italy from establishing a harsh regime of occupation. The seat of the government was established in Brindisi: having secured Anglo-American recognition, Vittorio Emanuele formally declared war on the Third Reich on the 13th October.
In the meantime, the King had to face the branch of reconstituted political parties, then still committees of notables, in particular those gathered in the CLN of Rome chaired by Bonomi. Requests for the abdication of the King were also raised by notables who remained loyal to the Crown, including Benedetto Croce during a speech at the Congress of Bari. But Vittorio Emanuele did not give up even in the face of strong pressure exerted by the Anglo-Americans thus intending to defend the monarchical and dynastic principle that he himself represented and attempting to reaffirm the independence of the state from external interference.
Pass of the lieutenancy to the son edit
On the 12th April 1944, a radio message broadcast the decision of the King to appoint his son Umberto as lieutenant after the liberation of the capital took place. The solution of the Lieutenancy, an institution which the House of Savoy had already resorted to several times in the past, was advocated by the monarchist Enrico De Nicola in his meeting with the Head of State. On the 5th June he entrusted the Lieutenancy of the Kingdom to the aforementioned Umberto, without however abdicating.
On the 5th June 1944, the King passes the power to his son Umberto, that exercised the prerogatives of the sovereign from the Quirinale, without however possessing the dignity of king, with Vittorio Emanuele who remained in Salerno.
Abdication edit
The King, in an extreme and desperate attempt to save the monarchy, decided to abdicated in Naples in favor of his son Umberto II of Savoy on the 9th May 1946. That same evening he embarked on the Duke of Abruzzi to reach Egypt, in voluntary exile.
Death edit
Vittorio died in Alessandria of Egypt on the 28th December 1947.
Politics edit
Political relationships with other countries edit
Relationships with France edit
Vittorio Emmanuele III did various things on the external relationships. In fact, he normalized political and economical relationships with France with the signing of the three conventions between Italy and Tunisia on the 30th September 1896 and subsequently with the Italian-French trade agreement of the 21st November 1898, which put an end to the customs war between the two powers.
In December 1900, with the Visconti Venosta-Barrère exchange of notes, the Italian government obtained a first French recognition of its interest in Tripolitania-Cyrenaica. .The agreement was reinforced in July 1902 by the exchange of Prinetti-Barrère notes (which committed the two powers to remain neutral in the event of conflict with other Powers) and had the effect of emptying the Triple Alliance of part of its content, linked to the Italian-French conflict in the Mediterranean.
The Italian-French rapprochement was sealed by the visit to Paris of Vittorio Emanuele, awarded the Legion of Honor by President Émile Loubet, in October 1903, reciprocated in Rome in 1904.
Realationships with Russia and the Balkans edit
The establishment of good relations with Russia was the necessary corollary of the lines of foreign policy in the Balkan area that the Triple was committed to maintaining, however it was threatened by the unstoppable crisis of the Ottoman Empire and by the conflicting Austrian and Russian appetites, between the which Italy intended to enter, trying to limit the attempts of the Habsburg ally aimed at changing the situation to its own advantage.
Italy looked to the Balkans as a potential area of influence for its economy.
Faced with the expansionist aims of Serbia, Vittorio Emanuele placed himself as mediator for the creation of a buffer state that would prevent Peter I from entering the Adriatic that leads to Albania. The Austrian behavior, which in 1908 had annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina without warning, arousing strong protests from the Serbian and Russian sides, as well as from Italy, led the Italian government to make agreements with the Russian.
On the 24th October 1909, it was signed between the two Powers the treaty of Racconigi, which on the Russian side put an end to the policy of exclusive agreements with Austria on the Balkans, for which the implementation of the principle of nationality and a joint diplomatic action of the two Powers in this sense were envisaged. Furthermore, Russia recognized the Italian interest in Tripolitania-Cyrenaica.
Realationships with the UK edit
The traditional good relations with the United Kingdom and the international esteem for the King of Italy were confirmed in the choice of Vittorio Emanuele as arbiter to establish the borders between Brazil and British Guyana in 1903-1904 and for the borders in Barotseland between Portugal. and Great Britain in 1905. France and Mexico also resorted to the arbitration of Vittorio Emanuele III in 1909 to define the possession of the island of Clipperton.
Foundation and support of the International Institute for Agriculture edit
In 1905, Vittorio Emanuele III personally promoted at the international level the foundation of the International Institute of Agriculture, which evolved after World War II in FAO, with the aim of breaking down the scourge of world hunger.
The organization was mainly financed through the contributions of the member states, which ranged from a minimum of 12 500 lire to a maximum of 200 000 lire. Vittorio Emanuele III, who was used to supporting the many scientific and charitable institutions he sponsored with his own possessions, participated with the annual sum of 300,000 lire, which was added to the donation of the building that was to serve as the headquarters of the Institute.
Relationship with the Church edit
In ecclesiastical politics, Vittorio Emanuele was reluctant to open up to the political claims of the Catholic Church. In this period, while with the utmost respect for the ecclesiastical institutions and the faith of his own House and of the Italians, the King wanted to maintain the system of separation between Church and State, without mending the broken relations with the taking of Rome through concordat or agreement and with the Risorgimento campaigns.
Psychology edit
Personality edit
Vittorio Emanuele III was described as shy and thoughtful to the point of cynicism due to his physical shortcomings. Because of this, he began to live a rather sedentary life. After the meeting with general Egidio Osio, that was a man very strict and cold, he became more introvert and insecure. Although this, in his role as commander he showed a rigidity that resulted in fussiness. As seen in his biography, he can be described as a very agreeable person and a coward.
Interests edit
Vittorio Emmanuele had verious interests and hobbies. In fact, he became accustomed to attend the inauguration sessions of the National Accademy of the Lincei, as well as other scientific associations. Other subjects that he liked outside of Science were Geography and History.
One of the greatest passions of Vittorio Emmanuele was to collect coins (in fact, he even wrote a book about numismatics called "Corpus Nummorum Italicorum").
He practiced reading and agriculture, studying the techniques that would lead him to found the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome.
Trivia edit
- He liked William Shakespeare.
- He spoke four languages and knew how to talk the Piedmontese dialect and Neapolitan one.
- He disliked theatres and concerts.