Editing Victor Emmanuel III (section)

====Armistice with the Allies====
On 8 September 1943, Victor Emmanuel publicly announced an [[Armistice of Cassibile|armistice with the Allies]].  Confusion reigned as Italian forces were left without orders, and the Germans, who had been expecting this move for some time, quickly [[Operation Achse|disarmed and interned Italian troops]] and took control in the occupied Balkans, France and the [[Dodecanese campaign|Dodecanese]], as well as in Italy itself. Many of the units that did not surrender joined forces with the Allies against the Germans.

Fearing a German advance on Rome, Victor Emmanuel and his government fled south to [[Brindisi]]. This choice may have been necessary to protect his safety; indeed, Hitler had planned to arrest him shortly after Mussolini's overthrow. Nonetheless, it still came as a surprise to many observers inside and outside Italy. Unfavourable comparisons were drawn with [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]] and [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Queen Elizabeth]], who refused to leave London during [[the Blitz]], and of [[Pope Pius XII]], who mixed with Rome's crowds and prayed with them after Rome's working-class neighbourhood of [[Quartiere San Lorenzo]] had been destroyed by bombing.

Despite the German occupation, Victor Emmanuel kept refusing to declare war on Germany, saying he needed a vote by Parliament first, though that had not stopped him from signing declarations of war on Ethiopia, Albania, Great Britain, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and the United States, none of which had been sanctioned by Parliament.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 321}}  Under strong pressure from the Allied Control Commission, the king finally declared war on Germany on 8 October 1943.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 321}}  Ultimately, the Badoglio government in [[Southern Italy]] raised the [[Italian Co-Belligerent Army]] (''Esercito Cobelligerante del Sud''), the [[Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force]] (''Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana''), and the [[Italian Co-Belligerent Navy]] (''Marina Cobelligerante del Sud''). All three forces were loyal to the King. Relations with the Allied Control Commission were very strained as the king remained obsessed with protocol, screaming with fury when General [[Noel Mason-Macfarlane]] met him wearing shirt sleeves and shorts, a choice of attire he considered very disrespectful.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 320}}  Victor Emmanuel was ultra-critical of the slow progress made by the [[United States Army North|American 5th Army]] and the [[British 8th Army]] as the Allies [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|fought their way up the Italian peninsula]], saying he wanted to return to Rome as soon as possible, and felt that all of the Allied soldiers fighting to liberate Italy were cowards.{{Sfn |Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 321}}  Likewise, Victor Emmanuel refused to renounce the usurped Ethiopian and Albanian crowns in favour of the legitimate monarchs of those states, claiming that the Fascist-dominated Parliament had given him these titles and he could only renounce them if parliament voted on the matter.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 320}}

On 12 September, the Germans launched [[Operation Eiche]] and rescued Mussolini from captivity. In a short time, he established a new Fascist state in northern Italy, the [[Italian Social Republic]] (''Repubblica Sociale Italiana''). This was never more than a German-dominated [[puppet state]], but it did compete for the allegiance of the Italian people with Badoglio's government in the south.

By this time, it was apparent that Victor Emmanuel was irrevocably tainted by his earlier support of the Fascist regime. At a 10 April meeting, under pressure from ACC officials [[Robert Daniel Murphy|Robert Murphy]] and [[Harold Macmillan]], Victor Emmanuel transferred most of his constitutional powers to his son, [[Umberto II of Italy|Crown Prince Umberto]].<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 249.</ref> Privately, Victor Emmanuel told General [[Noel Mason-MacFarlane]] that by forcing him to give power to Umberto, the Allies were effectively giving power to the Communists.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 326}}

By this time, however, events had moved beyond Victor Emmanuel's ability to control. After Rome was liberated on 4 June, he turned over his remaining powers to Umberto and named him [[Luogotenente|Lieutenant General of the Realm]], while nominally retaining the title of king.