Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
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Victor Emmanuel III (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele III; 11 November, 1869 – 28 December, 1947) was King of Italy (29 July, 1900 – 9 May, 1946), as well as putative Emperor of Ethiopia (1936 - 1943) and King of Albania (1939 - 1943).
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[edit] Royal family
Victor Emmanuel was the only child of Umberto I, King of Italy and his consort, Princess Margrethe of Savoy, daughter of the duke of Genoa. In 1896 he married princess Elena of Montenegro (1873-1953), daughter of Nicholas I, King of Montenegro. Their issue included:
- Yolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria (1901-1986), married to Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count Bergolo, (1887-1977);
- Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana (1902-1944), married to Prince Philip of Hesse-Kassel (1896-1980,) with issue; she died in the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald;
- Umberto, later Umberto II, King of Italy (1904-1983) married to Princess Marie José of Belgium, with issue.
- Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria (1907-2000), married to Boris III, King of Bulgaria, and mother of Simeon II, King and later Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
- Maria Francesca Anna Romana (1914-2001), who married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899-1967), with issue.
[edit] Achievements and failures
During his long reign, Victor Emmanuel III saw two world wars and the birth of Fascism. His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, he was a man committed to constitutional government. But Italy's totally-unprepared entrance into World War I, the corrupt and disorganised war effort, the stunning loss of life suffered by the Italian army, especially at the great defeat of Caporetto, and the economic depression that followed the war, turned the King against what he perceived as an inefficient political bourgeoisie.
The economic depression had given rise to much extremism among the sorely-tried working classes, and Benito Mussolini took advantage of this instability for his rise to power, which led to the March on Rome. The King suggested that his armed forces could not have defended the city against the Fascist march, though testimony from the military leaders and surviving military records challenge his claim. The Commander-in-Chief of the defending forces in the Capital was finally ordered by the King, it is said, to remove the blocks and let the Camicie Nere (Black Shirts) pass-- an act that provoked the resignation of the Facta government. Later, the King's failure, in the face of mounting evidence, to move against the Mussolini regime's abuses of power (including, as early as 1924, the notorious assassination of Giacomo Matteotti and other opposition MPs) led to much criticism.
It has been alleged that Victor Emmanuel's decisions showed poor judgment and undemocratic sentiments. What is not in doubt is that Fascism offered political stability and opposition to left-wing radicalism. This appealed to many people in Italy at the time, and certainly to the King. In many ways, the events from 1922 to 1943 demonstrated that the monarchy and the moneyed class, for different reasons, felt Mussolini and his regime offered an option that, after years of political chaos, was more appealing than what they perceived as the alternative: socialism and anarchism. Both the spectre of the Russian Revolution and the tragedies of World War I played large roles in these political decisions.
The Italian monarchy enjoyed popular support for decades. Foreigners noted how even as late as the 1940s newsreel images of King Victor Emmanuel and his strikingly beautiful Queen evoked applause, sometimes cheering, when played in cinemas, in contrast to the hostile silence shown toward images of Fascist leaders. Several of Victor Emmanuel's decisions, however, proved fatal to the monarchy.
Among these was the the assumption of the crown of Ethiopia, which was not universally accepted, after the Italian Army had invaded what was then known as Abyssinia and overthrown its rightful Emperor, Haile Selassie, against all international law and custom in 1935/36. (After the fall of Mussolini's government in 1943, Victor Emanuel renounced his titles of Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Abyssinia.)
In addition, Victor Emanuel kept a public silence in 1938, when the Fascist government, under Hitlerite pressure, issued its notorious racial purity laws, leaving his Jewish subjects open to persecution. This was a clear violation of both his Coronation oath and his oath to the constitution. The fact that large numbers of Italians risked their lives to save not only their Jewish fellow citizens but also Jewish refugees from other countries only deepened their contempt for a King who had dragged them into an alliance with the Germans that they had never wanted.
Another unfortunate decision was the King's flight from Rome before the advancing German army, in 1943. This choice, though perhaps necessary for his safety, shocked many, including foreign observers, who contrasted it with the behaviour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who refused to leave London during the Blitz, or Pope Pius XII, who mixed with Rome's crowds and prayed with them after the popular (i.e. working class) Roman quartiere of San Lorenzo was bombed and destroyed.
Victor Emmanuel III yielded most of his powers to his son in 1944, when Umberto was appointed Lieutenant General of the Realm. He finally abdicated in 1946.
Taking refuge in Egypt, he died in Alexandria in 1947. He is buried in Alexandria.
[edit] Before posterity
He has been seldom treated sympathetically by historians. His almost forced abdication on the eve of a referendum on the future of the Italian monarchy achieved nothing, being too little far too late. At worst, it reminded undecided voters of the role the monarchy and the King's own actions (or inactions) had played during the Fascist period, at precisely the moment when monarchists were hoping that voters would focus on the positive impression created by Crown Prince Umberto and Princess Maria José as the de facto monarchs of Italy since 1943. The 'May' King and Queen, Umberto and Maria José, in their brief, month-long reign, were unable to shift the burden of recent history and opinion.
| Styles of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Sire |
[edit] Titles and honours as King of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III, by the Grace of God, King of Italy, King of Sardinia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia, Duke of Savoy, count of Maurienne, Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy; prince of Piedmont, Carignan, Oneglia, Poirino, Trino; Prince and Perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire; prince of Carmagnola, Montmellian with Arbin and Francin, prince bailliff of the Duchy of Aosta, Prince of Chieri, Dronero, Crescentino, Riva di Chieri e Banna, Busca, Bene, Brà, Duke of Genoa, Montferrat, Aosta, Duke of Chablais, Genevois, Duke of Piacenza, Marquis of Saluzzo (Saluces), Ivrea, Susa, del Maro, Oristano, Cesana, Savona, Tarantasia, Borgomanero e Cureggio, Caselle, Rivoli, Pianezza, Govone, Salussola, Racconigi con Tegerone, Migliabruna e Motturone, Cavallermaggiore, Marene, Modane e Lanslebourg, Livorno Ferraris, Santhià Agliè, Centallo e Demonte, Desana, Ghemme, Vigone, Count of Barge, Villafranca, Ginevra, Nizza, Tenda, Romont, Asti, Alessandria, del Goceano, Novara, Tortona, Bobbio, Soissons, Sant'Antioco, Pollenzo, Roccabruna, Tricerro, Bairo, Ozegna, delle Apertole, Baron of Vaud e del Faucigni, Lord of Vercelli, Pinerolo, della Lomellina, della Valle Sesia, del marchesato di Ceva, Overlord of Monaco, Roccabruna and 11/12th of Menton, Noble patrician of Venice, patrician of Ferrara.
[edit] External links
EXTERNAL LINK: IN THIS SOURCE HE IS CALLED King Vittorio Emanuele III
[edit] References
- Denis Mack Smith, Italy and Its Monarchy (Yale University Press, 1989) (ISBN 0-300-05132-8)
| Preceded by: Umberto I | King of Italy 29 July 1900 - 9 May 1946 | Succeeded by: Umberto II |
| Preceded by: Haile Selassie | Emperor of Ethiopia 9 May 1936 - 5 May 1941 | Succeeded by: Haile Selassie |
| Preceded by: Zog I | King of Albania 1939-1943 | Succeeded by: Zog I |
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