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Pietro Badoglio
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Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of el Sabotino (28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian soldier and politician. He was a member of the National Fascist Party and commanded his nation's troops under Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War; his efforts gained him the title Duke of Addis Abeba.
On 24 July 1943, as Italy had suffered several setbacks in World War II, Mussolini summoned the Fascist Grand Council, which voted no confidence in Mussolini.
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Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of el Sabotino (28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian soldier and politician. He was a member of the National Fascist Party and commanded his nation's troops under Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War; his efforts gained him the title Duke of Addis Abeba.
On 24 July 1943, as Italy had suffered several setbacks in World War II, Mussolini summoned the Fascist Grand Council, which voted no confidence in Mussolini. The following day Il Duce was removed from government by king Victor Emmanuel III and arrested. Badoglio was named Prime Minister of Italy and while mass confusion in Italy reigned, he eventually signed an armistice with the Allies. When this was made public, it threw Italy into chaos. The king and Badoglio fled Rome leaving the Italian Army with no orders to follow.
Eventually from Brindisi on 13 October, Badoglio and the Kingdom of Italy declared war against Nazi Germany. Badoglio did not stay as Prime Minister for long however, as world opinion at that stage desired a person with a non-Fascist past to head the government. By 1944, Badoglio was replaced by Ivanoe Bonomi of the Labour Democratic Party.
Biography
He was born in Grazzano Monferrato (later Grazzano Badoglio) in the province of Asti (Piedmont).
After studying at the military academy in Turin, he served with the Italian Army from 1892, at first as a Lieutenant (Tenente) in artillery, taking part in the campaigns in Eritrea (1896) and Libya (1912), where he distinguished himself at the Battle of Zanzur.
World War I
At the beginning of Italian participation in World War I, he was a Lieutenant Colonel (Tenente Colonnello); he rose to the rank of General following his handling of the capture of Monte Sabotino in May 1916 and by the late months of 1917 was the Vice Chief-of-Staff (Sottocapo di Stato Maggiore) despite being partially responsible in the disaster during the Battle of Caporetto on October 24, 1917.
Interwar period
Post-war, Badoglio was named as a Senator, but also remained in the army with special assignments to Romania and the U.S. in 1920 and 1921. At first, he opposed Benito Mussolini and after 1922 was side-lined as ambassador to Brazil. A change of political heart soon returned him to Italy and a senior role in the army as Chief of Staff from 4 May 1924. On June 25 1926, Badoglio was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia).
Badoglio was governor of Italian Libya from 1929 to 1933.
Ethiopian invasion
Badoglio was not in East Africa when Emilio de Bono began the invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. De Bono was the Commander-in-Chief of all Italian military forces invading Ethiopia and he was in direct command of the invasion army on the northern front. Ultimately, the progress of De Bono's invasion was judged to be too slow by Mussolini. As a result, Bodoglio replaced De Bono in November.
Badoglio was immediately faced with the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive." and he sought and received approval for the use of mustard gas. He employed it to effectively destroy the Ethiopian armies confronting him on the northern front. Badoglio commanded the Italian invasion army at the First Battle of Tembien, the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of Tembien, and the Battle of Shire. On 31 March, Badoglio defeated Emperor Haile Selassie commanding the last Ethiopian army on the northern front at the Battle of Maychew. On 26 April, with no Ethiopian resistance left between his forces and Addis Ababa, Badoglio launched his "March of the Iron Will" to take the Ethiopian capital city and end the war. By 2 May, Haile Selassie had fled the country.
On 5 May 1936, Marshal Badoglio led the victorious Italian troops into Addis Ababa and Mussolini declared King Victor Emmanuel to be the Emperor of Ethiopia. Ethiopia was declared to be part of the Italian Empire. On this occasion, Badoglio was declared the first Viceroy and Governor General of Ethiopia and received the title of "Duke of Addis Abeba."
On 11 June 1936, Rodolfo Graziani replaced Badoglio as Viceroy and Governor General of Ethiopia. Badoglio returned to his duties as the Supreme Chief of the Italian General Staff.
World War II
Badoglio was not in favour of the Italian-German Pact of Steel and was pessimistic about the chances of Italian success in any European war but he did not oppose the decision of Mussolini and the King to declare war on France and Great Britain. Following the Italian army's poor display in the invasion of Greece in December 1940, he resigned from the General Staff. Badoglio was replaced by Ugo Cavallero.
On 24 July 1943, following the Allied invasion of Sicily, there was a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council. On the following day, in a technical coup d'etat, King Victor Emmanuel dismissed Mussolini as Prime Minister and appointed Badoglio to head the government in his place. Martial law was declared, Mussolini was arrested, and negotiations were covertly opened with the Allies. Publicly, the King and Badoglio claimed that Italy would remain with the Axis.
On September 3, General Giuseppe Castellano signed the Italian armistice with the Allies in Cassibile on behalf of Badoglio. On September 8, the armistice document was published by the Allies. It was published before Badoglio could communicate news of the switch to the Italian armed forces. The units of the Royal Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force were generally surprised by the switch and unprepared for German actions to disarm them. Soon after the armistice was published, Badoglio, King Victor Emanuel, some military ministries, and the Chief of the General Staff escaped to Pescara and Brindisi seeking Allied protection.
On September 23, the longer version of the armistice was signed in Malta. The Badoglio government officially declared war on Germany on October 13. Badoglio did not head the government for long. Following the German rescue of Mussolini, the liberation of Rome, and increasingly strong opposition, he was replaced by Ivanoe Bonomi and other committed anti-Fascists. Badoglio was never tried for war crimes by the Allies primarily because he helped them during the invasion of Italy.
Private life
In 1904, Pietro Badoglio married Sofia Valania, by whom he had four children: Mario Ferdinando Antonio Luigi, Francesco Ferdinando, Paulo Ferdinando, and Maria Immacolata Luigia Antonietta.
See also
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