The Kingdom of Italy officially came to an end on June 12, 1946 and the next day, 65 years ago today, HM King Umberto II left the Quirinale Palace in Rome to begin his life in exile. It was the first time since 1003 that a member of the House of Savoy was not reigning somewhere. The loss of the Italian monarchy must rank as one of the greatest injustices to result from World War II. All of the bitterness over the actions of the fascist regime were heaped upon the House of Savoy, in spite of the fact that it was only the presence of King Victor Emanuel III which allowed for the removal of the fascists from power and a 
peaceful transition of governments. The referendum which brought about the replacement of the kingdom with a republic was absolutely fraudulent and unfair on almost every level. The downfall of the House of Savoy was also an act of the greatest betrayal as there would be no Italy at all without their leadership, there would be no Italian state and no sense of being "Italian" without the part they played in moderating the radical elements and leading the pan-Italian elements in the cause of national unification. It is also true that, whatever mistakes might have been made, King Umberto II had not made them and, as sadly often happens in the history of fallen monarchies, an innocent King was made to suffer for the crimes of others, in his case, the suffering was to exiled from his beloved homeland for the rest of his life. It was an immense injustice on every level and that injustice will remain until the day that the House of Savoy is restored.
peaceful transition of governments. The referendum which brought about the replacement of the kingdom with a republic was absolutely fraudulent and unfair on almost every level. The downfall of the House of Savoy was also an act of the greatest betrayal as there would be no Italy at all without their leadership, there would be no Italian state and no sense of being "Italian" without the part they played in moderating the radical elements and leading the pan-Italian elements in the cause of national unification. It is also true that, whatever mistakes might have been made, King Umberto II had not made them and, as sadly often happens in the history of fallen monarchies, an innocent King was made to suffer for the crimes of others, in his case, the suffering was to exiled from his beloved homeland for the rest of his life. It was an immense injustice on every level and that injustice will remain until the day that the House of Savoy is restored.
I agree completely. The fall and exile of the House of Savoy demonstrates the truth of the statement that "no good deed goes unpunished".
ReplyDeleteI always think of how Germany was brought to utter ruin thanks to Hitler's suicidal 'last stand' in the Fuhrerbunker. That was because there was no means of removing him without violating a sacred oath. In Italy that did not happen because there was the King, oaths were said to him, not the state, the party or Mussolini and because of that, when power shifted, the King was able to dismiss him without a total upheaval of the country. The Royal Family should have been applauded rather than punished.
ReplyDeleteReferendum was faked. There were "antifacist" [read - communist scum] everywhere, they were killing and threating supporters of monarchy. Administration also was taken by communist.
ReplyDeleteWe can't forget about powerfull Italian masons - they were the main force that "Unify" [ read - throw away rightfull Kings, and conquer whole Italy by unlawfull, revolutionary force].
Later masons stopped being satisfacted with liberal, anticatholic monarchy but they wanted more - republic that can be fully contolled by masons.
I agree that the referendum was a sham. However, I can't help but think that the fall of the House of Savoy was to some degree Divine retribution for the forced unification of Italy.
ReplyDeleteI posted on that subject some time ago ("He who sups with the devil must have a long spoon" and their spoon wasn't long enough). I would have preferred the unification to have happened differently but the fact is that it didn't. The Church and the Kingdom finally made peace with other, both sides accepted the other and so I do the same. The way I see it, if they got over it in 1929 someone as far removed as myself in 2011 should be able to as well.
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