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Militaria and Political Auction
Lot 1300:
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
DS 9" x 13.25" 1 pp August 2, 1900
Monza File Foreign
Victor Emmanuel III (Italian Vittorio Emanuele III November 11, 1869 – December 28, 1947), nicknamed "The Soldier", was the King of Italy (July 29, 1900 – May 9, 1946), Emperor of Ethiopia (1936 – 1943) and King of Albania (1939 – 1943).
Important Italian history: Victor Emmanuel III writes a Letter of State announcing the death of his father Umberto I ". victim of a wicked attack…". Umberto was assassinated by an anarchist.
Description:
Manuscript Document Signed, "Vittorio Emanuele", in Italian with a full translation, 1p, on 9" × 13.25" black-bordered paper. In full: "By the grace of God and by the will of the Nation King of Italy, to the President of the Republic of Bolivia, greetings. Dearest and good friend, with the soul grieving with pain, We announce to you that on July 29th of this year, died in Monza, victim of a wicked attack, our most beloved father, His Majesty the King Umberto I. The incomparable virtues of the noble deceased and the friendship that your Republic always shared with him, assure us of your participate in the pain for this immense tragedy that is breaking our heart. As We are called to succeed my beloved father, it is our intention to tie even further the friendly relationship that happily exists between Italy and Bolivia. With such feelings, We pray God that He may keep You under His Patronage, our dearest and good friend… (Signed)
Victor Emmanuele"
Victor Emmanuel III, 1869-1947, king of Italy (1900-1946), emperor of Ethiopia (1936-43), king of Albania (1939-43), son and successor of Umberto I. In 1896 he married Princess Helena of Montenegro. Though involved with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance, he sought cordial relations with France and Great Britain. He favored the war of 1911-12 against Turkey, thus acquiring Libya. Though first advocating neutrality, he finally joined (1915) the Allies in World War I. He was unable to handle the confused internal situation of Italy after the war, refused to oppose the Fascist march on Rome, and asked Mussolini to form a government.
Under the Fascist regime he was king in name only, but Mussolini’s conquests added to his list of titles. During World War II, when the Fascist grand council voted against continued support of Mussolini, the king dismissed the dictator, placed him under arrest, and named Pietro Badoglio premier. German troops occupied Rome after Italy surrendered to the Allies, and Victor Emmanuel fled. Unpopular because of his long association with Mussolini, he was obliged to transmit his royal prerogatives to his son, Umberto II, in whose favor he abdicated in 1946. He died in exile in Egypt.
Umberto I was the son of Vittorio Emanuele II and of Adelaide, archduchess of Austria, Umberto was born at Turin, capital of the kingdom of Sardinia, on 14 March 1844. Compared with the reigns of his grandfather, Charles Albert of Savoy, and of his father, Victor Emmanuel, the reign of Umberto proved tranquil. The claims of King Umberto upon popular gratitude and affection were enhanced by his extraordinary munificence, which was not merely displayed on public occasions, but directed to the relief of innumerable private wants into which he had made personal inquiry. The regard in which he was universally held was abundantly demonstrated on the occasion of the unsuccessful attempt upon his life made by the anarchist Acciarito near Rome on April 22, 1897, and still more after his tragic assassination at Monza by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci on the evening of 29 July 1900. Good-humoured, active, tender-hearted, somewhat fatalistic, but, above all, generous, he was spontaneously called "Umberto the Good". He was buried in the Pantheon in Rome, by the side of Victor Emmanuel Il, on August 9, 1900.
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