Post War Italy

Regno d'Italia
Kingdom of Italy

←

1945–1946

→

Motto
FERT FERT FERT

Anthem
Marcia Reale

Capital

Rome

Government

Constitutional monarchy

King

- 1945-1946

Victor Emmanuel III

- 1946

Umberto II

Regent

- 1945-1946

Prince Umberto

Prime Minister

- 1945

Ivanoe Bonomi

- 1945

Ferruccio Parri

- 1945-1946

Alcide De Gasperi

Legislature

Parliament

- Upper house

Senate

- Lower house

Chamber of Deputies

History

- September 3, 1943

Armistice with the Allies

- May 2, 1945

Surrender of German Forces in Italy

- June 2, 1946

Constitutional referendum

Area

310,196 km²

Population

- 1936

42,994,000

Density

138.6/km²

Currency

Italian lira

Salò Republic

Kingdom of Italy

Italy

Free Territory of Trieste

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The Kingdom of Italy (1945-1946) represents a period that meant the final days of the Italian monarchy, and the first year of peace for Italy after World War II. Victor Emmanuel III was still king, but his son Prince Umberto had acted as regent since 1944. On May 9, 1946 he acceded to the throne as Umberto II, but his reign was cut short by the referendum on the future Italian constitution, which came out in favour of a republic.

Government[]

Italy allied with Germany and declared war on the United Kingdom and France in 1940. In 1941, Italy--with the other Axis powers, Germany and Japan--declared war on the United States and the Soviet Union. Following the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, the King dismissed Mussolini and appointed Marshal Pietro Badoglio as Premier. The Badoglio government declared war on Germany, which quickly occupied most of the country and freed Mussolini, who led a brief-lived regime in the north. An anti-fascist popular resistance movement grew during the last two years of the war, harassing German forces before they were driven out in April 1945. A 1946 plebiscite ended the monarchy, and a constituent assembly was elected to draw up plans for the republic.^[1]