Editing Umberto II of Italy (section)

==Early life==
[[File:King Umberto II of Italy as a child.jpg|thumbnail|upright|right|Photo of Umberto, [[Prince of Piedmont]], prior to the [[First World War]]]]

Umberto was born at the [[Castle of Racconigi]] in [[Piedmont (Italy)|Piedmont]]. He was the third child and the only son of King [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]] and his wife, [[Jelena of Montenegro]]. As such, he was [[heir apparent]] from birth since the Italian throne was limited to male descendants. He was accorded the title [[Prince of Piedmont]], which the Royal Decree formalised on 29 September 1904.<ref name="Royal Decree 29 September 1904"/>

During the crisis of May 1915, when Victor Emmanuel III decided to break the terms of the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] by declaring war on the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]], he found himself in a quandary as the [[Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy|Italian Parliament]] was against declaring war; several times, the king discussed abdication, with the throne to pass to [[Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (1869–1931)|the 2nd Duke of Aosta]] instead of Umberto.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 210–211</ref> The British historian [[Denis Mack Smith]] wrote that it is not entirely clear why Victor Emmanuel was prepared to sacrifice his 10-year-old son's right to succeed to the throne in favour of the Duke of Aosta.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: [[Yale University Press]], p. 211</ref>

Umberto was brought up in an authoritarian and militaristic household and was expected to "show an exaggerated deference to his father"; both in private and public, Umberto always had to get down on his knees and kiss his father's hand before being allowed to speak, even as an adult,<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.272">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 272</ref> and he was expected to stand to attention and salute whenever his father entered a room.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.272"/> Umberto was given the formal military education of a Savoyard prince<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 182–183</ref> and like the other Savoyard princes before him, Umberto received an education that was notably short on politics; Savoyard monarchs customarily excluded politics from their heirs' education with the expectation that they would learn about the art of politics when they inherited the throne.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 271–272</ref>

Umberto was the first cousin of [[King Alexander I of Yugoslavia]]. In a 1959 interview, Umberto told the Italian newspaper ''La Settimana Incom Illustrata'' that in 1922 his father had felt that appointing [[Benito Mussolini]] as prime minister was a "justifiable risk".<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 254</ref>