44 Important Presentation Dagger from the Blackshirts (Facists) of Asti to Marshal Pietro Badoglio January 24, 1936.
The grip made of light horn with a finely chased silver pommel in the shape of the head of the Roman eagle. The obverse side has an inset gold medallion with the recipient's initials "PB". The quillons in the shape of the fasci, the symbol of Italian fascism.
Double-edged, blued blade with a high center point and the dedication inscription:
"A. PIETRO BADOGLIO / LE FEDELI C.C. NN. DI ASTI".
The reverse with inscription: "A. XIV / E. F." (Year XIV of the Epocha Facista ran from October 28, 1935 - October 27, 1936).
In the original red velvet case of issue with applied silver shield with the Fascist coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy and the date: "24. GENNAIO 1936".
Length: 43.5 cm. Case50 x 12.5 x 4 cm
Pietro Badoglio, Duke of Addis Ababa (28 September 1871, Grazzano Monferrato-1 November 1956, Piemonte) was an Italian General who held the title of Marshal of Italy in 1926. Badoglio played a key role in the fascist wars of conquest in Libya (1923-1932) and Abyssinia (1935-36/41), as well as in Italy's transition to the side of the Allies during the Second World War as the first post-fascist Prime Minister.
After his training at the military academy in Turin, Badoglio became an artillery officer and took part in the Italian campaigns in East Africa and Libya. During the first World War he was promoted to Major General after the conquest of Monte Sabotino in 1916; he was also ennobled by the king and received the title of Marchese del Sabotino. At the Italian defeat in the twelfth Battle of Isonzo in 1917, he served as commanding general of the Corps in charge of the Section at Tolmin (XXVII Corpo d'armata). Armeekorps)) a joint responsibility. After the retreat from the Isonzo to the Piave, however, as the new deputy chief of the general staff, he played a leading role in the reorganization of the army. He advised the new chief of the General Staff Armando Diaz in the Piave battles 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 of Villa Giusti on 3 November with the representative of Austria-Hungary, General Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau.
Appointed Senator in 1919, he initially opposed Benito Mussolini and his fascist movement, for which 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 the General 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 Rome correspondent of the Times, Badoglio threatened to resign on April 20. "Not a single insurgent will ever find peace again, neither he, nor his family, nor his clan, nor his heirs," said Sanussiya, who was at war with Italy, with the greatest possible violence, if they did not surrender their weapons. I will destroy everything, people and their possessions alike. May God enlighten you so that you may make the right choice. [...] This is my first and last word."
In 1935, during the Abyssinian War, he replaced the hesitant Emilio De Bono as commander-in-chief of the Italian invasion forces and, together with Rodolfo Graziani, subdued the hitherto uncolonized empire of Abyssinia in 1936. Contrary to the Geneva Conventions, he also used poison gas massively and systematically. He was not held accountable for this war crime by Italy or the allies. Italy did not officially admit the use of poison gas until 1995; no reparations were made.
Badoglio was appointed to the rank of hereditary Duke of Addis Ababa by King Victor Emmanuel III on Mussolini's proposal for the victory over Ethiopia. He left the Office of Viceroy to Rodolfo Graziani shortly thereafter.
In 1940, like Graziani, Italo Balbo and Carlo Favagrossa, Badoglio was a determined opponent of an Italian entry into the war alongside Hitler's Germany. Mussolini, however, took part in the war, but only after the defeat of France had become apparent. Badoglio resigned as chief of the General Staff of the armed forces during the disastrous Italian campaign against Greece. His successor was Ugo Cavallero.
After the meeting of the great fascist Council on 25 July 1943, Benito Mussolini was overthrown and imprisoned. King Victor Emanuel III, who had recently been given command of the army, installed Badoglio as prime minister of a cabinet without fascist party members on 26 July 1943. At the first Cabinet meeting on 28 July, it was decided to dissolve the fascist party, depose the Grand Council and the political courts, and prohibit the re-establishment of parties for the duration of the war. He left the Italian race laws untouched. Badoglio took action against riots that were accompanied by demands to end the war quickly; to this end, he had the state of siege imposed and Rebels brought to internment camps.
The new government assured its loyalty to the German ally occupying northern Italy, but from 3 August 1943 it conducted secret negotiations with the Allies, which had begun on 10 July 1943 with the conquest of Sicily (Operation Husky). Badoglio's idea of neutralizing the country, both militarily and domestically, was soon to prove unrealistic: the Allies did not want to settle for it, and inside, the old political parties and trade unions reorganized surprisingly quickly. On 3. The armistice of Cassibile was signed on September 20, 1943, and the proclamation was delayed until September 8, 1943.
The German Wehrmacht occupied northern and central Italy, included the city of Rome and captured about 800,000 Italian soldiers; especially in the Aegean Sea and Greece, thousands of Italian soldiers were killed by the Germans (fall axis). Mussolini was liberated by German paratroopers on the Gran Sasso and was appointed chief of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (also Repubblica di Salò) on 23 September 1943. 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 13 October 1943.
German Propaganda called Badoglio a" traitor "and his declaration of war against Germany"ridiculous".The Allies demanded of Badoglio to manage the parts of the country they occupied and to remove the fascists from their offices and positions. Badoglio acted only hesitantly; at the same time he had to admit anti-fascists returning from exile, such as the Communist Palmiro Togliatti, into the Cabinet.
After the liberation of Rome by Allied troops on 4 June 1944, the anti-fascists forced Badoglio's resignation on 8 June. His successor Ivanoe Bonomi formed a cabinet of returned emigrants and anti-fascists and continued the political purges more vigorously.
In 1945 Badoglio was expelled from the Senate for his cooperation with the fascists, but two years later he was rehabilitated. Badoglio then gradually withdrew to his birthplace in Piedmont and into private life.
Highly significant presentation dagger in excellent quality and made of the most precious material.
An important museum quality historical object, worthy of exhibit which tells the story of the Italian history and the "Epocha Fascista".