A Fascist diplomat who became a witness to the regime's internal collapse
On 25 July 1943, Ciano voted for Grandi's motion, the act that helped bring down his father-in-law Mussolini.
Galeazzo Ciano was Mussolini's son-in-law and a leading diplomat of Fascist Italy who helped drive the regime's expansion and dependence on Germany before turning against a war he saw ending in catastrophe. He supported the Ethiopian war, the invasion of Albania, and the attack on Greece, while keeping diaries and diplomatic papers during his years as foreign minister. In July 1943 he voted for Dino Grandi's motion at the Fascist Grand Council, helping remove Mussolini, but miscalculated that his privileged position would survive the regime's change. After fleeing to Germany and being handed to the Italian Social Republic, he was executed after the Verona trial; his diaries remain a major record of Fascist responsibility and internal collapse.
Also known as: Gian Galeazzo Ciano · Count Galeazzo Ciano
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1925After earning a law degree, entered the diplomatic service
- 1935–1936Minister of Press and Propaganda; served as a bomber pilot in the Ethiopian War
- 1936–1943Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Italy
- 1939Participated in signing the Pact of Steel with Germany
- 1943.02–07Ambassador to the Holy See
- 1943.07Voted for Grandi's motion at the Fascist Grand Council
- 1944.01Executed by firing squad after the Verona trial
Related historical events
- 1938–1944.03Hungary on the Axis side: from the Vienna Awards to the DonItalian foreign ministerDelivered both Vienna Awards together with Ribbentrop.
- 1943–1945The Italian Campaign and the Fall of MussoliniMussolini's son-in-law and former foreign ministerHe voted for the Grandi motion, revealing the internal fracture of the regime.
The Verona trial and execution, 1944
On 24 July 1943 the Fascist Grand Council passed Dino Grandi's motion 19 to 8, leading to Mussolini's dismissal and arrest. After the Gran Sasso raid of September 1943 restored him as leader of the Italian Social Republic, the trial of the voters was prepared at the urging of the German authorities. At Verona in January 1944, five of the six captured defendants were sentenced to death, Ciano among them. The one exception was Tullio Cianetti, granted extenuating circumstances and sentenced to thirty years, while the thirteen who had not been captured were sentenced to death in absentia.