Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy ( 11 November, 1869 – 28 December, 1947 ), was the King of Italy ( 29 July, 1900 – 9 May, 1946 ), and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia ( 1936 - 1943 ) and King of Albania (1939 - 1943). He was also mockingly nicknamed sciaboletta, or "little saber", allegedly because his short stature required his uniform to be equipped with a saber shorter than the ordinary.

Achievements and Failures

Victor Emmanuel III remains undoubtedly Italy's most controversial monarch. His early reign showed evidence that, at least by the standards of the Savoyard monarchy, he was a man committed to a form of democracy. Yet in his decision in 1922 to appoint Benito Mussolini prime minister (having refused formal government advice to ban a fascist march on Rome, an act which provoked that government of Luigi Facta's resignation), and in particular his failure, in the face of mounting evidence, to act against Mussolini's regime's abuses of power (including as early as the 1920s, the notorious murder of Giacomo Matteotti and other opposition MPs), he lost the Italian throne the little popularity it had earned earlier in his reign.

Related Topics:
Democracy - 1922 - Benito Mussolini - Prime minister - Rome - Luigi Facta - 1920s - Giacomo Matteotti

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Defenders of Victor Emmanuel have suggested that his decision not to oppose Mussolini's rise to power was based on the consideration of the economical damages caused by the constant collapsing of earlier governments, Mussolini offering a stability that the Italian Kingdom craved. The King himself suggested that his armed forces could not have defended Rome against the fascist march on the city, though then military leaders and surviving military records challenge his claim. Mussolini's camicie nere (black shirts) were around Rome, waiting for instructions, while the Duce had already entered it and was in a hotel in via Boncompagni, making the acquaintance of Roberto Rossellini's father. The commander in chief of the defence of the Capital town, was finally ordered - it is said, directly by the king - to remove the blocks and let them pass.

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