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Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy , in 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). Victor Emmanuel III's assumption of the Ethiopian crown was not universally accepted, as the Italian army had invaded what was then known as Abyssinia and overthrown its rightful Emperor, Haile Selassie, against all international law and custom. After the fall of Benito Mussolini's government, Victor Emmanuel renounced both his titles of Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania, in 1943.
The Royal Family Victor Emmanuel was the only child of Umberto I, King of Italy and his consort Margherita 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: 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 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 then military leaders and surviving military records challenge his claim. The commander in chief of the defending forces for 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 which provoked the resignation of the Facta government). Later, the King's failure, in the face of mounting evidence, to act 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 an opposition to the left-wing radicalism. This appealed to many people in Italy at that time, and certainly to the King. In many ways the events from 1922 to 1943 show that the monarchy and the moneyed class, for different reasons, felt Mussolini and his regime offered an option that, after years of political chaos, seemed more appealing than what they perceived as the alternative. Both the spectre of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the tragedies of World War I played a part in this new political course. The Italian monarchy enjoyed popular support at the time. 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. He, like Pope Pius XI, 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. Another discussed choice was to flee his capital before the advancing German army, in 1943. His decision, 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. Indeed, 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. 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 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 in the Fascist period, at a time when monarchists hoped voters would have been focusing on the positive impression created by Crown Prince Umberto and Princess Maria José as the effective monarchs of Italy since 1943. The 'May' King and Queen, Umberto and Maria José, in their short month-long reign, were unable to shift the burden of recent history. Titles & 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. | ||||||||
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