Umberto I of Italy

Umberto I (Italian: Umberto Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination in 1900. His reign saw the creation of the Italian colonial empire and the formation of the Triple Alliance among Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary.

The son of Victor Emmanuel II and Adelaide of Austria, Umberto took part in the Italian Wars of Independence as a commander of the Royal Sardinian Army. He assumed the Italian throne in 1878 on the death of his father. A strong militarist, Umberto approved the alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, which was formalised in 1882. He also encouraged Italy's colonial efforts and oversaw the incorporation of Eritrea and Somalia into the emerging Italian Empire, while the First Italo-Ethiopian War resulted in defeat at the Battle of Adwa.

In the last years of his reign, Umberto faced increasing social unrest and serious economic difficulties. Tensions mounted as a result of growing opposition to new colonial campaigns, the spread of socialism, and crackdowns on civil liberties. Umberto was contested by left-wing circles for his conservatism and particularly for the decorations he gave in 1896 to Bava Beccaris, a general who bloodily suppressed demonstrations over rising food prices in Milan. He was deeply hated by Italian anarchists, who had already attempted to assassinate him during the first year of his reign.

In 1900, two years after the Bava Beccaris massacre, Umberto was killed in Monza by Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci. He was succeeded by his son, Victor Emmanuel III. Before his killing, he was also one of the recipients of one of Friedrich Nietzsche's Wahnbriefe notes. The Umbertino architecture style was named after him.