Pietro Badoglio

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Pietro Badoglio

Pietro Badoglio , Duke of Addis Ababa (born September 28, 1871 in Grazzano Monferrato , Piedmont , † November 1, 1956 ibid) was a leading Italian general (from 1926 bearer of the title " Marshal of Italy ") during the rule of fascism and after the fall of Mussolini from 1943 to 1944 the first post-fascist prime minister of Italy.

The United Nations War Crimes Commission listed Badoglio as one of the greatest Italian war criminals. After the Second World War, both the Abyssinian Empire and the Kingdom of Libya demanded his extradition. However, he was never prosecuted for war crimes committed in Africa.

Military career

Badoglio became an artillery officer after his training at the military academy in Turin and took a. a. participated in the campaigns of Italy in East Africa and Libya . During the First World War he was promoted to major general after conquering Monte Sabotino in 1916 ; he was also ennobled by the king and received the title of Marchese del Sabotino . In the Italian defeat in the Twelfth Battle of Isonzo in 1917, he shared responsibility as the commanding general of the corps responsible for the section near Tolmin (XXVII Corpo d'armata (XXVII. Army Corps)). After the retreat from the Isonzo to the Piave , however, he was the new deputy chief of staff in the reorganization of the army. He advised the new chief of staff Armando Diaz in the battles of the Piave and in the battle of Vittorio Veneto . Badoglio led the armistice negotiations with Austria-Hungary at the beginning of November 1918 and concluded the armistice at Villa Giusti with the representative of Austria-Hungary, General Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau .

First opponent, then Mussolini's brother in arms

Appointed senator in 1919 , he initially turned against Benito Mussolini and his fascist movement , which is why he was deported to the post of ambassador in Brazil after Mussolini's march on Rome in 1922 . After changing his mind, he was allowed to return to Italy in 1924, where he assumed the new post of Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and was promoted to Marshal of Italy in 1926 . From 1929 to 1933 he was Governor General of the Italian colony of Libya. According to a report by the Times correspondent in Rome , on June 20, 1929, Badoglio threatened Sanussiya, who was at war with Italy, with the greatest possible violence if they did not surrender their weapons: “Not a single insurgent will ever find peace again, neither he nor his family , nor his clan, nor his heirs. I will destroy everything, people and their property alike. May God enlighten you so that you can make the right choice. [...] This is my first and last word. "

In 1935 he replaced the hesitant Emilio De Bono as commander-in-chief of the Italian invasion troops during the Abyssinian War and, together with Rodolfo Graziani , subjugated the previously non-colonized Abyssinian Empire in 1936 . Contrary to the Geneva Conventions, he also used poison gas on a massive and systematic basis . He was not held accountable by either Italy or the Allies for this war crime . Italy did not officially admit the use of poison gas until 1995; No reparation was made.

For the victory over Ethiopia Badoglio was at the suggestion of Mussolini by King Viktor Emanuel III. raised to the hereditary Duke of Addis Ababa . Shortly thereafter, he left the office of viceroy to Rodolfo Graziani.

In 1940 Badoglio, like Graziani, Italo Balbo and Carlo Favagrossa, was a staunch opponent of Italian entry into the war on the side of Hitler's Germany . Mussolini took part in the war, of course, only after the defeat of France became apparent. Badoglio resigned as Chief of Staff of the armed forces in the course of the disastrous Italian campaign against Greece . His successor was Ugo Cavallero .

Change of sides in World War II

After the meeting of the Grand Fascist Council on July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini was overthrown and imprisoned. King Viktor Emanuel III., Shortly beforehand given supreme command of the army, installed Badoglio as prime minister of a cabinet without fascist party members on July 26, 1943. At the first cabinet meeting on July 28, the resolution of the fascist party, the disempowerment of the Grand Council and the political courts and a ban on the establishment of new parties for the duration of the war were resolved. He left the Italian racial laws untouched. Badoglio took action against riots that accompanied calls for an end to the war quickly; to do this, he had the state of siege imposed and rebels brought to internment camps.

The new government assured its loyalty to the German ally that was occupying northern Italy, but from August 3, 1943, it conducted secret negotiations with the allies who had begun the conquest of Sicily ( Operation Husky ) on July 10, 1943 . Badoglio's idea of ​​neutralizing the country, both militarily and domestically, quickly turned out to be unrealistic: the Allies were not content with that, and internally the old political parties and unions reorganized surprisingly quickly. On September 3, 1943, the armistice was signed by Cassibile , the proclamation was delayed until September 8, 1943.

Disarmed Badoglio soldiers in Bolzano , photo taken by a propaganda company , September 1943
Memorial plaque on the house where Badoglio was born

The German Wehrmacht occupied northern and central Italy, enclosed the city of Rome and took about 800,000 Italian soldiers prisoner; Especially in the Aegean and Greece, thousands of Italian soldiers were killed by the Germans ( Axis case ). Mussolini was freed by German paratroopers on the Gran Sasso and deployed on September 23, 1943 as head of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (also Repubblica di Salò). The king fled with Badoglio and only two ministers via Pescara to the unoccupied Brindisi . Under pressure from the Allies, Italy declared war on the German Reich on October 13, 1943.

German propaganda called Badoglio a “traitor” and his declaration of war against Germany “ridiculous”. The Allies demanded from Badoglio to administer the parts of the country they occupied and to remove the fascists from their offices and positions. Badoglio was reluctant to act; At the same time, he had to accept anti-fascists returning from exile such as the communist Palmiro Togliatti into the cabinet.

After the liberation of Rome by Allied troops on June 4, 1944, the anti-fascists forced Badoglio to resign on June 8. His successor Ivanoe Bonomi formed a cabinet of returned emigrants and anti-fascists and allowed the political cleansing to continue more vigorously.

In 1945 Badoglio was expelled from the Senate for his collaboration with the fascists, but was rehabilitated two years later. Badoglio then gradually withdrew to his birthplace in Piedmont and into private life.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Senussi Surrender , in: The Times , June 21, 1929, p. 14.
  2. ↑ To this in detail Aram Mattioli : Unbounded War Violence. The Italian use of poison gas in Abyssinia 1935–1936. In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte . Vol. 51, Issue 3, 2003, pp. 311–337, online (PDF; 7 MB) .
  3. ↑ Peter Tompkins: Mussolini's fall and Italy's change of front in 1943 Der Spiegel 14/1967.
  4. ↑ The NSDAP -Blatt West German observers devoted in its issue No. 524 of October 14, 1943 Badoglio on the front page wide room and wrote, among other things. "Badoglio with this declaration of war again proved 'that he was the British-only tool American war criminal. He thus crowns treason. Nobody, not even in the enemy camp, takes this creature seriously. "

Works

  • The Abyssinian War . Beck, Munich 1937.
  • Italy in World War II . List, Munich 1947.

literature

Web links

Commons : Pietro Badoglio  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Badoglio, Pietro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Badoglio, Pietro Duke of Addis Ababa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian politician and general
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Grazzano Monferrato
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 1956
Place of death Grazzano Monferrato