The general who sought an Italian exit from the Axis under the monarchy
“The Axis is besieged, it is in a closed ring; it is necessary to get out.”
Vittorio Ambrosio was an Italian cavalry officer and general who served in both world wars and commanded forces during the invasion of Yugoslavia. As Chief of the Italian Armed Forces General Staff in 1943, he concluded after the defeats in North Africa and Sicily that Italy could not remain tied to Germany, and worked through the king and the military command to remove Mussolini and negotiate an armistice with the Allies. His course was not a democratic break with Fascism so much as a monarchic and military attempt to manage Italy's withdrawal from the war; the September armistice nonetheless failed to prevent German occupation and the disintegration of Italian command.
Career Timeline
- 1898Commissioned as a cavalry officer
- 1911–1913Served in the Italo-Turkish War
- 1915–1918Served in World War I and covered the retreat after Caporetto
- 1941Commander of the Second Army during the invasion of Yugoslavia
- 1942Chief of Staff of the Army
- 1943-02–1943-11Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, pursuing Mussolini's removal and an armistice with the Allies
- 1943-11Demoted to Inspector-General of the Army