Umberto II of Italy: Difference between revisions

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

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

{{Infobox royalty

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

| issue = {{unbulleted list|[[Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma|Princess Maria Pia]]|[[Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples]]|[[Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy|Princess Maria Gabriella]]|[[Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy|Princess Maria Beatrice]]}}

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

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

}}

 

 

 

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==

 

===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"/>

 

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"/>

Most of the Committee of National Liberation (CLN) leaders operating underground in the north tended to lean in a republican direction. Still, they were willing to accept Umberto temporarily out of the belief that his personality and widespread rumours about his private life would ensure that he would not last long as either Lieutenant General of the Realm or as King, should his father abdicate.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 pp. 88–89</ref> After the liberation of Rome on 6 June 1944, the various Italian political parties all applied strong pressure on Umberto to dismiss Pietro Badoglio as prime minister, as the Duke had loyally served the Fascist regime until the Royal coup on 25 July 1943, which resulted in the social democrat [[Ivanoe Bonomi]] being appointed prime minister.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.727">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 727</ref> On 5 June 1944, Victor Emmanuel formally gave up his powers to Umberto, finally recognising his son as Lieutenant General of the Realm.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 72</ref> After the liberation of Rome, Umberto received a warm welcome from ordinary people when he returned to the Eternal City.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.329"/> Mack Smith cautioned that the friendly reception that Umberto received in Rome may have been due to him being a symbol of normalcy after the harsh German occupation as opposed to genuine affection for the prince.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.329"/> During the German occupation, much of the Roman population had lived on the brink of starvation, young people had been arrested on the streets to be taken off to work as slave labourers in Germany, while the Fascist ''Milizia'', together with the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' and [[SS]], had committed numerous atrocities.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 70</ref> Badoglio, by contrast, was greeted with widespread hostility when he returned to Rome, being blamed by many Italians as the man, together with the King, who was responsible for abandoning Rome to the Germans without a fight in September 1943.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 95</ref>

 

 

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"/>

 

==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 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:Children of Victor Emmanuel III]]

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