Pietro Badoglio

41st
President of the Council of Ministers of Italy

In office
July 25, 1943 – June 18, 1944

Monarch

Victor Emmanuel III

Preceded by

Benito Mussolini

Succeeded by

Ivanoe Bonomi

Born

September 28, 1871
Grazzano Badoglio, Italy

Died

November 1, 1956 (aged 85)
Grazzano Badoglio, Italy

Nationality

Italian

Political party

None (Provisional Military Government)

Biography

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. 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.

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.

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 the Italian invasion army on the northern front. The progress of De Bono's invasion was judged to be too slow by Mussolini. As a resiult, he replaced De Bono with Badoglio by the end of November.

Badoglio immediately sought and received approval for the use of mustard gas. He employed it to effectively destroy the Ethiopian armies confronting him. Badoglio commanded the Italian invasion army at the First Battle of Tembien, the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of Tembien, the Battle of Shire, and the Battle of Maychew. On 26 April, with no Ethiopian resistance left between his army and Addis Ababa, Badoglio launched his "March of the Iron Will" to take the Ethiopian capital city and end the war.

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 and declared Ethiopia 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 durties as the Supreme Chief of the Italian General Staff.

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 didn't oppose the decision of Mussolini and the King to declare war on France and Great Britain. He resigned from the General Staff in December 1940, following the Italian army's poor display in the invasion of Greece.

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, Badoglio signed the Italian armistice with the Allies in Cassibile. 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.