Umberto II of Italy: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|King of Italy in 1946}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Umberto II

| image_size =

| caption = Umberto, then the [[Prince of Piedmont]], in 1944

| moretext = ([[King of Italy#Full title 2|more...]])

| predecessor = [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|Victor Emmanuel III]]

| reg-type = {{nowrap|Prime Minister}}

| regent = [[Alcide De Gasperi]]

| spouse = {{marriage|[[Marie-José of Belgium]]|1930}}

| house = [[House of Savoy|Savoy]]

| father = [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]]

| birth_place = [[Racconigi]], [[Piedmont]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|3|18|1904|9|15|df=y}}

| burial_place = [[Hautecombe Abbey]], France

| signature = Umberto II signature.svg

}}

 

 

 

In 1944, Victor Emmanuel, compromised by his association with [[Italian fascism]] and desperate to repair the monarchy's image, transferred most of his powers to Umberto. He transferred his remaining powers to Umberto later in 1944 and named him Lieutenant General (''[[Luogotenente]]'') of the Realm; while retaining the title of King. As the country prepared for the [[1946 Italian institutional referendum]] on the continuation of the [[Italian monarchy]], Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in favour of Umberto, in the hope that his exit might bolster the monarchy. The June 1946 referendum saw voters voting to abolish the monarchy, and Italy was declared a republic days later. Umberto departed the country; he and other male members of the House of Savoy were barred from returning. He lived out the rest of his life in exile in [[Cascais]], on the [[Portuguese Riviera]]. He died in [[Geneva]] Cantonal Hospital in 1983.

[[File:King Umberto II of Italy as a child.jpg|thumbnail|upright|right|Photo of Umberto, [[Prince of Piedmont]], prior to the [[First World War]]]]

 

 

During the crisis of May 1915, when Victor Emmanuel III decided to break the terms of the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] by declaring war on the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]], he found himself in a quandary as the [[Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy|Italian Parliament]] was against declaring war; several times, the king discussed abdication with the throne to pass to [[Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (1869–1931)|the 2nd Duke of Aosta]] instead of Umberto.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 210–211</ref> The British historian [[Denis Mack Smith]] wrote that it is not entirely clear why Victor Emmanuel was prepared to sacrifice his 10-year-old son's right to succeed to the throne in favour of the Duke of Aosta.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: [[Yale University Press]], p. 211</ref>

 

 

 

==Career as Prince of Piedmont==

===State visit to South America, 1924===

[[File:Príncipe Humberto de Saboya.jpg|thumb|Prince Umberto during his visit to Chile, in 1924]]

 

===Military positions and attempted assassination===

They had four children:

*[[Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma|Princess Maria Pia]] (born 1934)

*[[Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy|Princess Maria Gabriella]] (born 1940)

*[[Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy|Princess Maria Beatrice]] (born 1943)

 

===Italian expansion during the Second World War===

Umberto shared his father's fears that Mussolini's policy of alliance with [[Nazi Germany]] was reckless and dangerous, but he made no move to oppose Italy becoming one of the [[Axis powers]].<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 287</ref> When Mussolini decided to enter the [[Second World War]] in June 1940, Umberto hinted to his father that he should use the royal veto to block the Italian declarations of war on Britain and France, but was ignored.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.291">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 291</ref> After the war, Umberto criticised the decision to enter the war, saying that Victor Emmanuel was too much under "Mussolini's spell" in June 1940 to oppose it.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.291"/> Following Italy's entry into the war, Umberto ostensibly commanded ''Army Group West'', made up of the [[Italian First Army|First]], [[Italian Fourth Army|Fourth]] and the [[Italian Seventh Army|Seventh Army]] (kept in reserve), which attacked French forces during the [[Italian invasion of France]]. Umberto was appointed to this position by his father, who wanted the expected Italian victory to also be a victory for the House of Savoy, as the King feared Mussolini's ambitions.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 292</ref> A few hours after France signed an armistice with Germany on 21 June 1940, the Italians invaded France. The Italian offensive was a complete fiasco, with Umberto's reputation as a general only being saved by the fact that the already defeated French signed an armistice with Italy on 24 June 1940.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292"/> Thus, he could present the offensive as a victory.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292"/> The Italian plans called for the ''[[Regio Esercito]]'' to reach the Rhone river valley, which the Italians came nowhere close to reaching, having penetrated only a few kilometres into France.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292"/>

 

On 10 July 1943, in [[Operation Husky]], the Allies invaded [[Sicily]].<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 594</ref> Just before the invasion of Sicily, Umberto had gone on an inspection tour of the Italian forces in Sicily and reported to his father that the Italians had no hope of holding Sicily.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.303">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 303</ref> Mussolini had assured the King that the ''[[Regio Esercito]]'' could hold Sicily, and the poor performance of the Italian forces defending Sicily helped to persuade the King to finally dismiss Mussolini, as Umberto informed his father that ''Il Duce'' had lied to him.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.303"/> On 16 July 1943, the visiting Papal Assistant Secretary of State told the American diplomats in [[Madrid]] that King Victor Emmanuel III and Prince Umberto were now hated by the Italian people even more than Mussolini.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 35</ref> By this time, many Fascist ''gerarchi'' had become convinced that it was necessary to depose Mussolini to save the Fascist system, and on the night of 24–25 July 1943, at a meeting of the [[Fascist Grand Council]], a motion introduced by the ''gerarchi'' [[Dino Grandi]] to take away Mussolini's powers was approved by a vote of 19 to 8.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.597">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 597</ref> The fact that the majority of the Fascist Grand Council voted for the motion showed just how disillusioned the Fascist ''gerarchi'' had become with Mussolini by the summer of 1943.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.485"/> The intransigent and radical group of Fascists led by the ''gerarchi'' [[Roberto Farinacci]], who wanted to continue the war, were only a minority, while the majority of the ''gerarchi'' supported Grandi's call to jettison Mussolini as the best way of saving Fascism.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.597"/>

 

 

===Partition of Italy===

In September 1943, Italy was partitioned between the south of Italy, administered by the Italian government with an Allied Control Commission (ACC) having supervisory powers, while Germany occupied northern and central Italy with a puppet [[Italian Social Republic]] (popularly called the Salò Republic), headed by Mussolini holding nominal power.<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 485–486</ref> By 16 September 1943, a line had formed across Italy with everything to the north held by the Germans and to the south by the Allies.<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 601</ref> Because of what Weinberg called the "extraordinary incompetence" of Badoglio, who, like Victor Emmanuel, had not anticipated Operation Achse until it was far too late, thousands of Italian soldiers with no leadership were taken prisoner by the Germans without resisting in the Balkans, France and Italy itself, to be taken off to work as slave labour in factories in Germany, an experience that many did not survive.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.485"/> How Victor Emmanuel mishandled the armistice was to become almost as controversial in Italy as his support for Fascism.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 5</ref> Under the terms of the armistice, the ACC had the ultimate power with the Royal Italian Government in the south, being in many ways a similar position to the Italian Social Republic under the Germans. However, as the British historian [[James Holland (author)|James Holland]] noted, the crucial difference was that: "In the south, Italy was now moving closer towards democracy".<ref name="Holland, James p.250">Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 250</ref> In the part of Italy under the control of the ACC, which issued orders to the Italian civil servants, freedom of the press, association and expression were restored along with other civil rights and liberties.<ref name="Holland, James p.250"/>

 

 

In northern Italy, a guerrilla war began against the fascists, both Italian and German, with most of the guerrilla units fighting under the banner of the [[National Liberation Committee]] (''Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale''-CLN), who were very strongly left-wing and republican.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 336</ref> Of the six parties that made up the CLN, the Communists, the Socialists and the Action Party were republican; the Christian Democrats and the Labour Party were ambiguous on the "institutional question", and only the Liberal Party was committed to preserving the monarchy, though many individual Liberals were republicans.<ref>M.L.K "Republic versus Monarchy in Italy" pp. 305–313 from ''The World Today'', Vol 2, Issue 7, July 1946 p. 307</ref> Only a minority of the partisan bands fighting for the CLN were monarchists, and a prince of the House of Savoy led none.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> After the war, Umberto claimed that he wanted to join the partisans, and only his wartime duties prevented him from doing so.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> The Italian Royal Court relocated itself to [[Brindisi]] in the south of Italy after fleeing Rome.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 318–319"/> In the fall of 1943, many Italian monarchists, like [[Benedetto Croce]] and [[Count]] [[Carlo Sforza]], pressed for Victor Emmanuel III to abdicate and for Umberto to renounce his right to the succession in favour of his 6-year-old son, with a regency council to govern Italy as the best hope of saving the monarchy.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 322–323</ref> Count Sforza tried to interest the British members of the ACC in this plan, calling Victor Emmanuel a "despicable weakling" and Umberto "a pathological case", saying neither was qualified to rule Italy. However, given the unwillingness of the King to abdicate, nothing came of it.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 323</ref>

 

 

===Outing and appointment as regent===

 

In the [[Italian Social Republic|Salò Republic]], Mussolini returned to his original republicanism and, as part of his attack on the [[House of Savoy]], Fascist newspapers in the area under the control of the Italian Social Republic "outed" Umberto, calling him ''Stellassa'' ("Ugly Starlet" in the [[Piedmontese language]]).<ref name="Dall'Oroto p. 534">Dall'Oroto, Giovanni "Umberto II" from ''Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History'', London: Psychology Press, 2002 p. 534</ref> The Fascist newspapers reported in a lurid, sensationalist, and decidedly homophobic way Umberto's various relationships with men as a way of discrediting him.<ref name="Dall'Oroto p. 534"/> It was after Umberto was "outed" by the Fascist press in late 1943 that the issue of his homosexuality came to widespread public notice.<ref name="Dall'Oroto p. 534"/>

 

===Liberation and republicanism===

 

 

Unlike the conservative Badoglio, the social democrat Bonomi started to move Italian politics in an increasingly democratic direction as he argued that King Victor Emmanuel III, who had only turned against Mussolini when it was clear that the war was lost, was unfit to continue as monarch.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.727"/> On 25 June 1944, the Bonomi government, which like Badoglio's government, ruled by Royal Decree as there was no parliament in Italy, had a Royal Decree issued in Umberto's name promising a Constituent Assembly for Italy after the war.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 73</ref> As Umberto continued as regent, he surprised many, after his rocky start in the spring of 1944, with greater maturity and judgement than was expected.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.331"/> Croce advised him to make a break with his father by choosing his advisers from the democratic parties, and it was due to Croce's influence that Umberto appointed [[Falcone Lucifero]], a socialist lawyer, as Minister of the Royal House.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Lucifero suggested reforms, which were implemented, such as reducing the number of aristocrats and generals at the Royal Court, while bringing in people from all the regions of Italy instead of just Piedmont to make the Royal Court more representative of Italy.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/>

 

 

In October 1944, Umberto, in an interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'', stated that he favoured a referendum to decide whether Italy was to be a republic or a monarchy instead of having the "institutional question" decided by the national assembly that would write Italy's post-war constitution.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 333–334</ref> Umberto's interview caused controversy as the republican parties widely feared that a referendum would be rigged, especially in the south of Italy.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.335">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 335</ref> In the same interview, Umberto mentioned his belief that, after the war, monarchies all over the world would move towards the left, and stated that under his leadership Italy would go leftwards "in an ordered, liberal way" as he understood "the weight of the past is the monarchy's greatest handicap", which he would resolve by a "radical revision" of the ''[[Statuto Albertino]]''.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.333">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 333</ref> Umberto spoke favourably of Togliatti as he was "clever, agreeable, and easy to discuss problems with".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.333"/> In private, Umberto said he found Togliatti "to be a very congenial companion whose intelligence he respected, but was afraid that he suited his conversation according to his company".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.334"/>

 

 

In December 1945, Umberto appointed a new, more conservative government under [[Alcide De Gasperi]].<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 pp. 34–35</ref> One of the first acts of the new government was to announce the High Commission for Sanctions Against Fascism would cease operating as of 31 March 1946 and to start purging from the liberated areas of northern Italy civil servants appointed by the CLN, restoring the career civil servants who had served the Fascist regime back to their former posts.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 35</ref> Over the opposition of the left-wing parties who wanted the "institutional question" resolved by the Constituent Assembly, De Gasperi announced that a referendum would be held to decide the "institutional question".<ref name="Kogan, Norman p.36">Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 36</ref> At the same time, Italian women were given the right to vote and to hold official office for the first time, again over the opposition of the left-wing parties, who viewed Italian women as more conservative than their menfolk, and believed that female suffrage would benefit the monarchist side in the referendum.<ref name="Kogan, Norman p.36"/> The monarchists favoured putting off the referendum as long as possible out of the hope that a return to normalcy would cause the Italians to take a more favourable view of their monarchy, while the republicans wanted a referendum as soon as possible, hoping that wartime radicalisation would work in their favour.<ref name="Kogan, Norman p.36"/>

 

==King of Italy==

 

Umberto earned widespread praise for his role in the following three years, with the Italian historian Giuseppe Mammarella calling Umberto a man "whose Fascist past was less compromising" than that of Victor Emmanuel and who, as Lieutenant General of the Realm, showed certain "progressive" tendencies.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 112</ref> In April 1946, a public opinion poll of registered members of the conservative Christian Democratic party showed that 73% were republicans, a poll that caused immense panic in the monarchist camp.<ref name="Norman Kogan p.37">Norman Kogan ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 37</ref> The American historian Norman Kogan cautioned the poll was of Christian Democratic members, which was not the same thing as Christian Democratic voters who tended to be "...rural, female, or generally apolitical".<ref>Norman Kogan, ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 37</ref> Nonetheless, the poll led to appeals from Umberto to the ACC to postpone the referendum, leading to the reply that the De Gasperi cabinet had set the date for the referendum, not the ACC.<ref name="Norman Kogan p.37"/> The possibility of losing the referendum also led to the monarchists to appeal to Victor Emmanuel to finally abdicate.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 37</ref> De Gasperi and the other Christian Democratic leaders refused to take sides in the referendum, urging Christian Democratic voters to follow their consciences when it came time to vote.<ref name="Giuseppe Mammarealla p. 114">Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 114</ref>

 

 

In northern Italy, which had been the scene of the guerrilla struggle against the Italian Social Republic and the Germans, much of the population had been radicalised by the struggle, and feelings were very much against the monarchy.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> Kogan wrote Victor Emmanuel's flight from Rome was "bitterly remembered" in the ''Nord'' as an act of cowardice and betrayal by the King who abandoned his people to the German occupation without a fight.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 34</ref> The socialist leader [[Sandro Pertini]] warned Umberto not to campaign in Milan as otherwise he would be lynched by the Milanese working class if he should appear in that city.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> Republican cartoonists mercilessly mocked Umberto's physical quirks, as the American historian Anthony Di Renzo wrote that he was: "Tall, stiff, and balding, he had smooth, clean-shaven blue cheeks, thin lips, and a weak chin. Dressed in military uniform as [[First Marshal of the Empire]], decorated with the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, he seemed more like a majordomo than a king.<ref name="Di Renzo">{{cite web|last=Di Renzo|first=Anthony|date=14 May 2014|title=Re di Maggio: Pasquino forgives King Umberto II|url=https://italoamericano.org/story/2014-5-12/Re-Di-Maggio|access-date=2019-02-01|publisher=L'Italo-Americano|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329024024/https://italoamericano.org/story/2014-5-12/Re-Di-Maggio|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the campaign trail, Umberto was received with much more friendliness in the south of Italy than in the north.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.338"/> People in the ''[[Mezzogiorno]]'' loved their King, who on the campaign trail in Sicily showed an encyclopedic knowledge of Sicilian villages which greatly endeared him to the Sicilians.<ref name="Di Renzo"/> Umberto's principal arguments for retaining the monarchy were it was the best way to revive Italy as a great power; it was the only institution capable of holding Italy together by checking regional separatism; and it would uphold Catholicism against anti-clericalism.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 338–339</ref> The republicans charged that Umberto had done nothing to oppose Fascism, with his major interest being his "glittering social life" in the high society of Rome and Turin, and that as a general knew that Italy was unready for war in 1940, but did not warn Mussolini against entering the war.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 62</ref>

 

==In exile==

 

At the time when Umberto was dying, in 1983, [[President of the Italian Republic|President]] [[Sandro Pertini]] wanted the [[Italian Parliament]] to allow Umberto to return to his native country. Umberto II died in [[Geneva]] and was interred in [[Hautecombe Abbey]], which for centuries was the burial place of the members of the [[House of Savoy]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Roy Palmer |last1=Domenico |title=Remaking Italy in the Twentieth Century |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |year=2002 |pages=101–102}}</ref>

 

==Further reading==

*{{cite book|last1=Katz|first1=Robert|title=The Fall of the House of Savoy|date=1972|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd.|isbn=978-0049450110|edition=}}

 

==External links==

[[Category:20th-century regents]]

[[Category:Claimant kings of Jerusalem]]

[[Category:Princes of Piedmont]]

[[Category:Princes of Savoy]]

[[Category:Dukes in Italy]]

[[Category:Field marshals of Italy]]

[[Category:Italian admirals]]

[[Category:Burials at Hautecombe Abbey]]

[[Category:People from Racconigi]]

[[Category:Italian people of Montenegrin descent]]

[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]

[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles]]

[[Category:Sons of emperors]]

[[Category:Italian military personnel of World War II]]