Pietro Badoglio

65
Pietro Badoglio bigraphy, stories - Italian soldier and World War II prime minister

Pietro Badoglio : biography

28 September 1871 – 1956-11-1

Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino ( 28 September 1871, Grazzano Monferrato (later Grazzano Badoglio), province of Asti (Piedmont) – 1 November 1956) was an Italian general during both World Wars and a Prime Minister of Italy, as well as the first viceroy of Italian East Africa.

Early Italian colonial wars in Africa

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 early Italian colonial wars in Eritrea (1896), and in Libya (1912).

Italian invasion of Ethiopia

On 3 October 1935, because the progress of De Bono’s invasion of Abyssinia was judged to be too slow by Mussolini, Badoglio, who had in the meantime launched an epistolary campaign against Emilio de Bono, replaced de Bono as the commander. Badoglio asked for and was given permission to use chemical warfare in response to torture and murder of downed Italian pilot Tito Minniti during the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive".

He employed mustard gas to effectively destroy the Ethiopian armies confronting him on the northern front. Badoglio commanded the Italian invasion army at the First Battle of Tembien, the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of Tembien, and the Battle of Shire. On 31 March, Badoglio defeated Emperor Haile Selassie commanding the last Ethiopian army on the northern front at the Battle of Maychew. On 26 April, with no Ethiopian resistance left between his forces and Addis Ababa, Badoglio launched his "March of the Iron Will" to take the Ethiopian capital city and end the war. By 2 May, Haile Selassie had fled the country.

On 5 May 1936, Marshal Badoglio led the victorious Italian troops into Addis Ababa. Mussolini declared King Victor Emmanuel to be the Emperor of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia became part of the Italian Empire. On this occasion, Badoglio was appointed the first Viceroy and Governor General of Ethiopia and ennobled with the victory 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 duties as the Supreme Chief of the Italian General Staff. According to Time magazine, Badoglio even joined the Fascist Party in early June.Time Magazine, Guard Changed

Italian invasion of Libya

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 25 June 1926, Badoglio was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d’Italia).

Badoglio was the first unique governor of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (Italian Libya) from 1929 to 1933. During his goveronship, he played a vital part (with Rodolfo Graziani, deputy governor of Cyrenaica) in defeating the Libyan rebels. On 24 January 1932, Badoglio proclaimed the end of Libyan resistance for the first time since the Italian invasion in 1911.

World War I

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 (mostly thanks to his Masonic contacts, including his superior, General Capello) was named as Vice Chief-of-Staff (Sottocapo di Stato Maggiore) despite being one of the main leaders responsible for the disaster during the Battle of Caporetto on 24 October 1917. With regard to the Battle of Caporetto, although he was blamed in various quarters for his disposition of the forces under his command before the battle, a commission of inquiry rejected most of the criticisms made upon him.

In the years after World War I, in which he held several high ranks in the Italian Army, Badoglio exerted a constant effort in modifying official documents in order to hide his role in the defeat.