Ettore Bertolè-Viale (

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, 25 November 1829 –

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, 13 November 1892 ) was an Italian general and politician. He was

senator of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...

and

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

third Menabrea government The Menabrea III government of Italy held office from 13 May 1869 until 14 December 1869, a total of 215 days, or 7 months and 1 days. Government parties The government was composed by the following parties: Composition References {{Gover ...

s, the

eighth Depretis government The Depretis VIII government of Italy held office from 4 April 1887 until 29 July 1887, a total of 116 days, or 3 months and 25 days. Government parties The government was composed by the following parties: Composition References

{{Go ...

and the

and second Crispi governments.

Military career

Born into a family with military traditions, he attended the military academy in Turin, graduating in 1844. Appointed Second Lieutenant at eighteen, the following year he became Lieutenant and was enrolled in the 13th infantry regiment, Savona brigade with which he took part in the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence (), part of the ''Risorgimento'' or unification of Italy, was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conse ...

. After the end of the war, he resumed his studies and became a General Staff officer. He took part in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

with the rank of Captain in command of the 2nd provisional brigade of the General Staff and fought at the

Battle of the Chernaya The Battle of the Chernaya (also Tchernaïa; Russian: Сражение у Черной речки, Сражение у реки Черной, literally: Battle of the Black River) was fought near the Traktir Bridge on the Chernaya River dur ...

. In 1859 he took part in the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

with the rank of staff captain, fighting under General

Manfredo Fanti Manfredo Fanti (23 February 1806 – 5 April 1865) was an Italian general; he is known as the founder of the Royal Italian Army. Biography Manfredo Fanti was born at Carpi (Emilia-Romagna) and educated at the military college of Modena. In 1831 ...

. He then took part in the battles of

battle of Palestro The Battle of Palestro was fought on 30–31 May 1859 between the Austrian Empire and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and Second French Empire, France. The Franco-Piedmontese forces were victorious. It was fought just sout ...

and

battle of Magenta The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, during the Second Italian War of Independence. It resulted in a French-Sardinian victory under ...

, where he earned the medal for military valor and the knight's cross of the Military Order of Savoy. After the

Armistice of Villafranca The Armistice of Villafranca, concluded by Napoleon III of France and Franz Joseph I of Austria on July 11, 1859, set the stage for the end of the Second Italian War of Independence. It was the consequence of a unilateral decision by Second Fren ...

, he became secretary to General Fanti, following him in the campaigns in Emilia and Tuscany. In 1860 General Fanti became Minister of War, and Viale was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Officer of the Military Order of Savoy. On 13 June 1861, appointed general secretary of the Minister of War, he was shortly afterwards also made a colonel. In 1866, with the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence () was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria giving the region of Venetia (p ...

, he was appointed General Intendant of the army, but since this position had to be held by a general, Bertolè-Viale was promoted to this major-general, thus becoming at 37 years old the youngest general in Italy. He held this rank until 1874 when he became commander of the general staff and then of the Army Corps in 1881, obtaining the rank of aide-de-camp to His Majesty as Lieutenant General.

Political career

In the meantime, in 1867, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the constituency of

Crescentino Crescentino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Vercelli. Crescentino borders the following municipalities: Brusasco, Fontanetto ...

, which he continued to represent for five legislatures. A few months after being elected he was appointed Minister of War, remaining in office until 1869. During this first term of office he was mostly occupied with reforming and strengthening the army, overcoming the weaknesses identified in the Third War of Independence, and making ready for the eventual

capture of Rome The Capture of Rome () occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, c ...

. However the main reform he worked on - a recruitment bill by which military service was to be made compulsory for all men, but reducing the service period to four years - did not come to fruition because of the fall of the Menabrea ministry. In 1878, upon the death of king

Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II (; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia (also informally known as Piedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March ...

, Bertolè-Viale was chosen to bring the official announcement of Umberto I's assumption of the throne to Vienna, laying the foundations for the signing of the Triple Alliance. In 1887 he became war minister for a second time, when King Umberto I appointed him on the advice of

Agostino Depretis Agostino Depretis (31 January 181329 July 1887) was an Italian statesman and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Italy for several stretches between 1876 and 1887, and was leader of the Historical Left parliamentary group for more than a de ...

following the humiliating Italian defeat at the

battle of Dogali The Battle of Dogali was fought on 26 January 1887 between Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia in Dogali near Massawa, in present-day Eritrea. History The Italians, after their unification in 1861, wanted to e ...

. Under his prudent leadership the Italian forces were able to regroup and eventually prevail in the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889, taking

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

and Keren. His appointment also came shortly after the renewal of the Triple Alliance. Bertolè-Viale was concerned about the risk of a French invasion, it nevertheless agreed that Italy would send troops to support the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

on the Rhine in the event of a French assault. Having fallen ill, he retired from his politics in 1891 and died in Turin on 13 November 1892 at the age of sixty-three.

Honours

Italian honours

Foreign honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertolè Viali, Ettore 1829 births 1892 deaths People from Genoa Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Italy) Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Italian Army generals Ministers of war of Italy