Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino ( , ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the

fall of the Fascist regime in Italy The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as 25 Luglio ( it, Venticinque Luglio, ; "25 July"), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and sum ...

, he became Prime Minister of Italy.

Early life and career

Badoglio was born in 1871. His father, Mario Badoglio, was a modest landowner, and his mother, Antonietta Pittarelli, was of middle-class background. On 5 October 1888 he was admitted to the Royal Military Academy in Turin. He received the rank of second lieutenant in 1890. In 1892, he finished his studies and was promoted to first lieutenant. After completing his studies, he served with the '' Regio Esercito'' (Italian Royal Army) from 1892, at first as a lieutenant (''tenente'') in artillery. Badoglio was involved in the First Italo-Ethiopian War and the Italo-Turkish War.

First World War

At the beginning of Italian participation in the First World War, he was a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

(''tenente colonnello''); he rose to the rank of major general following his handling of the capture of

Monte Sabotino Sabotin ( it, Sabotino, fur, Mont di San Valantin) is mountain ridge overlooking Gorizia, Nova Gorica, and Solkan on the border between Slovenia and Italy. At its foot stands the Solkan Bridge spanning the Soča River. Name The mountain was ...

in May 1916 and by the late months of 1917, by now already a lieutenant general, was named as vice-chief of staff (''sottocapo di stato maggiore'') despite being one of those mainly responsible for the disaster during the Battle of Caporetto on 24 October 1917. With regard to the Battle of Caporetto, although he was blamed in various quarters for his disposition of the forces under his command before the battle, a commission of inquiry rejected most of the criticisms made upon him. In the years after the First World War, in which he held several high posts in the '' Regio Esercito'', Badoglio exerted a constant effort in modifying official documents in order to hide his role in the defeat.

Genocide in Libya

After the war, Badoglio was named as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, 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 Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

and after 1922 was side-lined by being sent to Brazil as ambassador. A political change of heart soon returned him to Italy and a senior role in the army, as chief of staff from 4 May 1925. On 25 June 1926, Badoglio was promoted to the rank of marshal of Italy (''maresciallo d'Italia''). Badoglio was the first unique governor of

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

and Cyrenaica (later amalgamated as Italian Libya) from 1929 to 1933. During his governorship, he played a vital part (with

Rodolfo Graziani Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli (; 11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's ''Regio Esercito'' ("Royal Army"), primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and during ...

, deputy governor of Cyrenaica) in defeating the Libyan Resistance by waging a near-genocidal campaign. On 20 June 1930, Badoglio wrote to Graziani: "As for overall strategy, it is necessary to create a significant and clear separation between the controlled population and the rebel formations. I do not hide the significance and seriousness of this measure, which might be the ruin of the subdued population ... But now the course has been set, and we must carry it out to the end, even if the entire population of Cyrenaica must perish." By 1931, well over half of the population of Cyrenaica were confined to 15 concentration camps where many died as a result of overcrowding (and lack of water, food and medicine) while Badoglio's air force used chemical weapons against the Bedouin rebels in the desert. On 24 January 1932 (the third anniversary of his appointment), Badoglio proclaimed the end of Libyan resistance for the first time since the Italian invasion in 1911.

Italian invasion of Ethiopia

On 3 October 1935, because the progress of De Bono's invasion of Abyssinia was judged by Mussolini to be too slow, Badoglio, who had in the meantime launched an epistolary campaign against Emilio de Bono, replaced de Bono as the commander. Badoglio asked for and was given permission to use chemical weapons, using the torture and murder of downed Italian pilot Tito Minniti during the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive" as a pretext for doing so. British historian

Sir Ian Kershaw Sir Ian Kershaw (born 29 April 1943) is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is pa ...

wrote the "barbarous initiatives in the conduct of the war ''in Ethiopia''" came as a rule from the military elite rather than from Mussolini himself. Badoglio employed

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

to effectively destroy the Ethiopian armies confronting him on the northern front. He 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 1936, 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. Mussolini declared King Victor Emmanuel to be the

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...

, and Ethiopia became part of the Italian Empire. On this occasion, Badoglio was appointed the first viceroy and governor general of Ethiopia and ennobled with the victory title of '' Duke of Addis Abeba'' ad personam. On 11 June 1936,

replaced Badoglio as viceroy and governor-general of Ethiopia. Badoglio returned to his duties as supreme chief of the Italian general staff. According to '' Time'' magazine, Badoglio even joined the

Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

in early June.

World War II

Badoglio was chief of staff from 1925 to 1940, and had the final say on the entire structure of the Armed Forces, including doctrine, selection of officers, and armaments, influencing the whole military environment. 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 performance in the invasion of Greece in December 1940, he resigned from the General Staff. He was replaced by Ugo Cavallero. By early 1943, there was a widely-held belief among the military elite that Italy needed to sign an armistice in order to exit the war. Mussolini needed to be removed, as he was not willing to sign an armistice, nor were the Allies willing to sign an armistice with him. The two men considered to replace Mussolini were Marshal Badoglio and Marshal Enrico Caviglia. As Marshal Caviglia was one of the few Royal Army officers who was known to dislike Fascism, the king was unwilling to have him as prime minister. Victor Emmanuel wanted an officer who was committed to continuing the Fascist system, which led him to choose Badoglio who had faithfully served Mussolini and committed an array of atrocities in Ethiopia, but who had a grudge against Mussolini for making him the scapegoat for the failed invasion of Greece in 1940. Moreover, Badoglio was an opportunist well known for his sycophancy towards those in power, which led the king to choose him as Mussolini's successor as he knew that Badoglio would do anything to have power whereas Caviglia had a reputation as a man of principle and honour. On 15 July 1943, in a secret meeting Victor Emmanuel told Badoglio that he would soon be sworn in as Italy's new prime minister and the king wanted no "ghosts" (i.e. liberal politicians from the pre-fascist era) in his cabinet. On 24 July 1943, as Italy had suffered several setbacks following the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War II, Mussolini summoned the Fascist Grand Council, which voted no confidence in Mussolini. The following day, Mussolini was removed from government by King Victor Emmanuel III and arrested. On 3 September 1943, General Giuseppe Castellano signed the Italian armistice with the Allies in Cassibile on behalf of Badoglio, who was named Prime Minister of Italy. Wary of the potentially hostile German response to the Armistice, Badoglio hesitated to formally announce the treaty. On 8 September 1943, the armistice document was published by the Allies in the Badoglio Proclamation, and Badoglio had not informed the Italian armed forces. The units of the Italian Royal Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force were generally surprised by the change and unprepared for German actions to disarm them. In the early hours of the following day, 9 September 1943, Badoglio, King Victor Emmanuel, some military ministers, and the chief of the general staff escaped to Pescara and

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

seeking Allied protection. On 29 September 1943, the longer version of the armistice was signed in Malta. On 13 October, Badoglio and the Kingdom of Italy officially declared war on Nazi Germany. Badoglio continued to head the government for another nine months.

Final years

Due to increased tensions with the Soviet Union, the British government saw Badoglio as a guarantor of an

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

post-war Italy. Consequently, Badoglio was never tried for

Italian war crimes Italian war crimes have mainly been associated with Fascist Italy in the Pacification of Libya, the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II. Italo-Turkish War In 1911, Italy went to war with the Ottoman Empire and in ...

committed in Africa.Di Sante, Costantino (2005
Italiani senza onore: I crimini in Jugoslavia e i processi negati (1941–1951)
Ombre Corte, Milano.
Archived by WebCite®
Badoglio died in the '' comune'' of his birth, Grazzano Badoglio, on 1 November 1956.

Bibliography

* Pietro Badoglio: ''Italy in the Second World War, memories and documents''. (Transl.: Muriel Currey). Oxford University Press, 1948. Repr. 1976, Greenwood Press: * Pietro Badoglio: ''The war in Abyssinia''. (Foreword:

). London, Methuen Publishers, 1937.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Badoglio, Pietro 1871 births 1956 deaths Military history of Italy Prime ministers of Italy Field marshals of Italy Foreign ministers of Italy Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of World War II People of former Italian colonies Military history of Addis Ababa Dukes in Italy Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Chiefs of Italian general staff 20th-century Italian politicians Recipients of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Italian war crimes in Ethiopia People from Grazzano Badoglio Italian anti-communists Italian fascists Libyan genocide perpetrators Ambassadors of Italy to Brazil Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Italian military personnel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Second Italo-Senussi War Recipients of the Maurician medal Royal Italian Army personnel of World War II World War II political leaders