Editing Umberto II of Italy (section)

==Career as Prince of Piedmont==
===State visit to South America, 1924===
[[File:Príncipe Humberto de Saboya.jpg|thumb|Prince Umberto during his visit to Chile, in 1924]]
As [[Prince of Piedmont]], Umberto visited South America, between July and September 1924. With his [[preceptor]], Bonaldi, he went to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. This trip was part of the political plan of Fascism to link the [[Italian diaspora#Americas|Italian people living outside of Italy]] with their mother country and the interests of the regime. In Brazil, visits were scheduled to the national capital [[Rio de Janeiro]] and the [[State of São Paulo]], where the largest Italian colony in the country lived. However, a [[São Paulo Revolt of 1924|major rebellion]] broke out on 5 July 1924, when Umberto had already departed from Europe, imposing a change in the Royal tour. The prince had to stop in [[Salvador, Bahia|Salvador]], the capital of [[Bahia]], to supply the ships, going directly to the other countries of South America. On his return, Umberto could only be received in Salvador again. Governor Góis Calmon, the Italian colony and other entities warmly welcomed the heir to the Italian Throne.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brito |first1=Jonas |title=História da Passagem do Príncipe Umberto di Savoia por Salvador (Bahia, 1924) |url=https://repositorio.ufba.br/ri/bitstream/ri/18803/1/Hist%C3%B3ria%20da%20Passagem%20do%20Pr%C3%ADncipe%20Umberto%20di%20Sav%C3%B3ia%20por%20Salvador%20%28Bahia%2C%201924%29.compressed.pdf|website=Repositorio.ufba.br}}</ref>

===Military positions and attempted assassination===
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2020}}
Umberto was educated for a military career and in time became the commander-in-chief of the Northern Armies, and then the Southern ones. This role was merely formal, the ''de facto'' command belonging to his father, King Victor Emmanuel III, who jealously guarded his power of supreme command from ''[[Il Duce]]'', [[Benito Mussolini]]. By mutual agreement, Umberto and Mussolini always kept a distance. In 1926, Mussolini passed a law allowing the [[Fascist Grand Council]] to decide the succession, though in practice he admitted the prince would succeed his father.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 265</ref>

An attempted assassination took place in [[Brussels]] on 24 October 1929, the day of the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Marie José. Umberto was about to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Belgian Unknown Soldier at the foot of the ''[[Colonne du Congrès]]'' when, with a cry of 'Down with Mussolini!', [[Fernando de Rosa]] fired a single shot that missed him.

De Rosa was arrested and, under interrogation, claimed to be a member of the [[Second International]] who had fled Italy to avoid arrest for his political views. His trial was a major political event, and although he was found guilty of attempted murder, he was given a light sentence of five years in prison. This sentence caused a political uproar in Italy and a brief rift in Belgian-Italian relations, but in March 1932 Umberto asked for a [[pardon]] for de Rosa, who was released after having served slightly less than half his sentence and was eventually killed in the [[Spanish Civil War]].

===Visit to Italian Somaliland===
[[File:Philip de László - Prince Umberto of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont 1928.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait by [[Philip de László]], 1928]]
In 1928, after the colonial authorities in [[Italian Somaliland]] built [[Mogadishu Cathedral]] (''Cattedrale di Mogadiscio''), Umberto made his first publicised visit to [[Mogadishu]], the territory's capital.<ref name="dsrstmjn">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tm6uVwH03hAC |title=Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915–1945 |author= R. J. B. Bosworth |page=48 |date= 2007|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1101078570 |access-date=2014-04-06}}</ref><ref name="tsyjrxs">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vaDkDZmrZmYC |title=Safirka: An American Envoy |author= Peter Bridges |year=2000 |page=71 |publisher=Kent State University Press |isbn=978-0873386586 |access-date=2014-04-06}}</ref> Umberto made his second publicised visit to Italian Somaliland in October 1934.<ref name="dsrstmjn"/>

===Marriage and issue===
Umberto was married in the city of Rome on 8 January 1930 to [[Princess]] [[Marie José of Belgium]] (1906–2001), the daughter of [[Albert I of the Belgians|King Albert I of the Belgians]] and his wife, [[Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium|Queen Elisabeth]] (''née'' Duchess Elisabeth in [[Bavaria]]).

They had four children:
*[[Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma|Princess Maria Pia]] (born 1934)
*[[Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples|Prince Vittorio Emanuele]] (1937–2024)
*[[Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy|Princess Maria Gabriella]] (born 1940)
*[[Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy|Princess Maria Beatrice]] (born 1943)
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09783, Mailand, Italienisches Kronprinzenpaar.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|The Prince and Princess of Piedmont in 1930]]

===Under the Fascist Regime===
Following the Savoyards' tradition ("Only one Savoy reigns at a time"), Umberto was kept apart from active politics until he was named [[Luogotenente|Lieutenant General of the Realm]].<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.272"/> He made an exception when [[Adolf Hitler]] asked for a meeting. This was not considered proper, given the international situation; thereafter, Umberto was more rigorously excluded from political events. In 1935, Umberto supported the war against the [[Ethiopian Empire]], which he called a "legitimate war" that even [[Giovanni Giolitti]] would have supported had he still been alive.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.271">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 271</ref> Umberto wanted to serve in the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|Ethiopian war]], but was prevented from doing so by his father, who did, however, allow four royal dukes to serve in East Africa.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.271"/> Umberto conformed to his father's expectations and behaved like an army officer; the prince obediently got down on his knees to kiss his father's hand before speaking. However, Umberto privately resented what he regarded as a deeply humiliating relationship with his cold and emotionally distant father.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.272"/> Umberto's attitude toward the Fascist regime varied: at times, he mocked the more pompous aspects of Fascism and his father for supporting such a regime, while at other times, he praised Mussolini as a great leader.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 272–273</ref>

===Italian expansion during the Second World War===
[[File:Benito Mussolini w rozmowie z księciem Umberto II (2-279).jpg|thumb|Umberto in conversation with Benito Mussolini in the [[French Alps]] during the [[Italian invasion of France]] in June 1940.]]
Umberto shared his father's fears that Mussolini's policy of alliance with [[Nazi Germany]] was reckless and dangerous, but he made no move to oppose Italy becoming one of the [[Axis powers]].<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 287</ref> When Mussolini decided to enter the [[Second World War]] in June 1940, Umberto hinted to his father that he should use the royal veto to block the Italian declarations of war on Britain and France, but was ignored.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.291">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 291</ref> After the war, Umberto criticised the decision to enter the war, saying that Victor Emmanuel was too much under "Mussolini's spell" in June 1940 to oppose it.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.291"/> Following Italy's entry into the war, Umberto ostensibly commanded ''Army Group West'', made up of the [[Italian First Army|First]], [[Italian Fourth Army|Fourth]] and the [[Italian Seventh Army|Seventh Army]] (kept in reserve), which attacked French forces during the [[Italian invasion of France]]. Umberto was appointed to this position by his father, who wanted the expected Italian victory to also be a victory for the House of Savoy, as the King feared Mussolini's ambitions.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 292</ref> A few hours after France signed an armistice with Germany on 21 June 1940, the Italians invaded France. The Italian offensive was a complete fiasco, with Umberto's reputation as a general only being saved by the fact that the already defeated French signed an armistice with Italy on 24 June 1940.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292"/> Thus, he could present the offensive as a victory.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292"/> The Italian plans called for the ''[[Regio Esercito]]'' to reach the Rhone river valley, which the Italians came nowhere close to reaching, having penetrated only a few kilometres into France.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.292"/>

After the capitulation of France, Mussolini kept Umberto inactive as an Army commander. In the summer of 1940, Umberto was to command a planned invasion of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]]. Still, Mussolini subsequently cancelled the invasion of [[Yugoslavia]] in favour of invading the [[Kingdom of Greece]].<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 293</ref> In June 1941, supported by his father, Umberto strongly lobbied to be given command of the Italian expeditionary force sent to the [[Soviet Union]], saying that, as a Catholic, he fully supported [[Operation Barbarossa]] and wanted to do battle with the "godless communists".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 298</ref> Mussolini refused the request, and instead gave Umberto the responsibility of training the Italian forces scheduled to participate in [[Operation Hercules]], the planned Axis invasion of [[British Malta|Malta]].<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> On 29 October 1942, he was awarded the rank of [[Marshal of Italy]] (''Maresciallo d'Italia'').<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> During October–November 1942, in the [[Battle of El Alamein]], the Italo-German force was defeated by the British [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]], marking the end of Axis hopes of conquering [[Egypt]]. The Axis retreated back into [[Italian Libya|Libya]]. In November 1942, as part of the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], the [[Red Army]] launched [[Operation Uranus]], which saw the Soviets annihilate much of the Italian expeditionary force in [[Russia]] and encircle the German 6th Army. The disastrous Italian defeats at Stalingrad and El Alamein turned Umberto against the war and led him to conclude that Italy must sign an armistice before it was too late.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> In late 1942, Umberto had his cousin, the [[Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta|4th Duke of Aosta]], visit Switzerland to contact the British consulate in [[Geneva]], where he passed on a message to London that the King was willing to sign an armistice with the Allies in exchange for a promise that he be allowed to keep his throne.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/>

===Attempts at armistice===

In 1943, Marie José, Princess of Piedmont, involved herself in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the [[United States]]. Her interlocutor from the [[Holy See|Vatican]] was Giovanni Battista [[Monsignor]] Montini, a senior Papal diplomat who later became [[Pope Paul VI]].<ref name="Queen Marie Jose of Italy">{{cite news|date=29 January 2001|title=Queen Marie Jose of Italy|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1320052/Queen-Marie-Jose-of-Italy.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1320052/Queen-Marie-Jose-of-Italy.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2019-01-21}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Her attempts were not sponsored by her father-in-law, the King, and Umberto was not (directly at least) involved in them. Victor Emmanuel III was anti-clerical, distrusting the [[Catholic Church]], and wanted nothing to do with a peace attempt made through [[Papal]] intermediaries.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> More importantly, Victor Emmanuel was proudly [[misogynistic]], holding women in complete contempt as the King believed it to be a scientific fact that the brains of women were significantly less developed than the brains of men.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> Victor Emmanuel simply did not believe that Marie José was competent to serve as a diplomat.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> For all these reasons, the King vetoed Marie José's peace attempt.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.298"/> After her failure&nbsp;– she never met the American agents&nbsp;– she was sent with her children to [[Sarre, Italy|Sarre]], in the [[Aosta Valley]], and isolated from the political life of the Royal House.<ref name="Queen Marie Jose of Italy"/>

In the first half of 1943, as the war continued to go badly for Italy, several senior Fascist officials, upon learning that the Allies would never sign an armistice with Mussolini, began to plot his overthrow with the support of the King.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.300">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 300</ref> Adding to their worries were a number of strikes in [[Milan]] starting on 5 March 1943, with the workers openly criticising both the war and the Fascist regime which had led Italy into the war, leading to fears in Rome that Italy was on the brink of revolution.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.300"/> The strike wave in Milan quickly spread to the industrial city of [[Turin]], where the working class likewise denounced the war and Fascism.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.485">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 485</ref> The fact that during the strikes in Milan and Turin, Italian soldiers fraternised with the striking workers, who used slogans associated with the banned Socialist and Communist parties, deeply worried Italy's conservative establishment.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.300"/> By this point, the successive Italian defeats had so psychologically shattered Mussolini that he become close to being [[catatonic]], staring into space for hours on end and saying the war would soon turn around for the Axis because it had to, leading even his closest admirers to become disillusioned and to begin looking for a new leader.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 302</ref> Umberto was seen as supportive of these efforts to depose Mussolini, but as Ciano (who had turned against Mussolini by this point) complained in his diary, the prince was far too passive, refusing to make a move or even state his views unless his father expressed his approval first.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.300"/>

On 10 July 1943, in [[Operation Husky]], the Allies invaded [[Sicily]].<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 594</ref> Just before the invasion of Sicily, Umberto had gone on an inspection tour of the Italian forces in Sicily and reported to his father that the Italians had no hope of holding Sicily.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.303">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 303</ref> Mussolini had assured the King that the ''[[Regio Esercito]]'' could hold Sicily, and the poor performance of the Italian forces defending Sicily helped to persuade the King to finally dismiss Mussolini, as Umberto informed his father that ''Il Duce'' had lied to him.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.303"/> On 16 July 1943, the visiting Papal Assistant Secretary of State told the American diplomats in [[Madrid]] that King Victor Emmanuel III and Prince Umberto were now hated by the Italian people even more than Mussolini.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 35</ref> By this time, many Fascist ''gerarchi'' had become convinced that it was necessary to depose Mussolini to save the Fascist system, and on the night of 24–25 July 1943, at a meeting of the [[Fascist Grand Council]], a motion introduced by the ''gerarca'' [[Dino Grandi]] to take away Mussolini's powers was approved by a vote of 19 to 8.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.597">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 597</ref> The fact that the majority of the Fascist Grand Council voted for the motion showed just how disillusioned the Fascist ''gerarchi'' had become with Mussolini by the summer of 1943.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.485"/> The intransigent and radical group of Fascists led by the ''gerarchi'' [[Roberto Farinacci]], who wanted to continue the war, were only a minority, while the majority of the ''gerarchi'' supported Grandi's call to jettison Mussolini as the best way of saving Fascism.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.597"/>

On 25 July 1943, Victor Emmanuel III finally dismissed Mussolini and appointed [[Marshal of Italy|Marshal]] [[Pietro Badoglio]], as prime minister with secret orders to negotiate an armistice with the Allies. [[Baron]] [[Raffaele Guariglia]], the Italian ambassador to [[Spain]], contacted British diplomats to begin the negotiations. Badoglio went about the negotiations halfheartedly while allowing many German forces to enter Italy.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.598"/> The American historian [[Gerhard Weinberg]] wrote that Badoglio as prime minister "...did almost everything as stupidly and slowly as possible", as he dragged out the secret peace talks going on in Lisbon and [[Tangier]], being unwilling to accept the Allied demand for unconditional surrender.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.598">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 598</ref> During the secret armistice talks, Badoglio told [[Pietro d'Acquarone|Count Pietro d'Acquarone]] that he thought he might get better terms if Victor Emmanuel abdicated in favour of Umberto, complaining that the armistice terms that the King wanted were unacceptable to the Allies.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.310">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 310</ref> D'Acquarone told Badoglio to keep his views to himself as the King was completely unwilling to abdicate, all the more so as he believed that Umberto was unfit to be monarch.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.310"/>

===Partition of Italy===
On 17 August 1943, Sicily was taken and the last Axis forces crossed over to the Italian mainland. On 3 September 1943, the British [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]] landed on the Italian mainland at [[Reggio Calabria]] while the U.S. 5th Army landed at [[Salerno]] on 9 September 1943, a few hours after it was announced that Italy had signed an armistice.<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 599</ref> [[Adolf Hitler]] had other plans for Italy, and in response to the Italian armistice ordered [[Operation Achse]] on 8 September 1943, as the Germans turned against their Italian allies and occupied all of the parts of Italy not taken by the Allies.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 315–316</ref> In response to the German occupation of Italy, neither Victor Emmanuel nor [[Marshal of Italy|Marshal]] [[Pietro Badoglio]] made any effort at organised resistance; they instead issued vague instructions to the Italian military and civil servants to do their best and fled Rome during the night of 8–9 September 1943.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 316–317</ref> Not trusting his son, Victor Emmanuel had told Umberto nothing about his attempts to negotiate an armistice nor about his plans to flee Rome if the Germans should occupy it.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 318–319">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 318–319</ref> For the first time in his life, Umberto openly criticised his father, saying the King of Italy should not be fleeing Rome and only reluctantly obeyed his father's orders to go south with him towards the Allied lines.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.318"/> The King and the rest of the Royal Family fled Rome via a car to [[Ortona]] to board a corvette, the [[Italian corvette Baionetta (1942)|''Baionetta'']], that took them south. A small riot occurred at the Ortona dock as about 200 senior-ranking Italian military officers, who had abandoned their commands and unexpectedly showed up, begged the King to take them with him. Almost all of them were refused permission to board, making the struggle to get to the head of the queue pointless.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.318">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 318</ref> With the exceptions of Marshal [[Enrico Caviglia]], General Calvi di Bergolo and General [[Antonio Sorice]], the Italian generals simply abandoned their posts on the night of 8–9 September to try to flee south, which greatly facilitated the German take-over, as the ''Regio Esercito'' was left without senior leadership.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.318"/> On the morning of 9 September 1943, Umberto arrived with Victor Emmanuel and Badoglio in [[Brindisi]].

In September 1943, Italy was partitioned between the south of Italy, administered by the Italian government with an Allied Control Commission (ACC) having supervisory powers, while Germany occupied northern and central Italy with a puppet [[Italian Social Republic]] (popularly called the Salò Republic), headed by Mussolini holding nominal power.<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 485–486</ref> By 16 September 1943, a line had formed across Italy with everything to the north held by the Germans and to the south by the Allies.<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 601</ref> Because of what Weinberg called the "extraordinary incompetence" of Badoglio, who, like Victor Emmanuel, had not anticipated Operation Achse until it was far too late, thousands of Italian soldiers with no leadership were taken prisoner by the Germans without resisting in the Balkans, France and Italy itself, to be taken off to work as slave labour in factories in Germany, an experience that many did not survive.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.485"/> How Victor Emmanuel mishandled the armistice was to become almost as controversial in Italy as his support for Fascism.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 5</ref> Under the terms of the armistice, the ACC had the ultimate power with the Royal Italian Government in the south, being in many ways a similar position to the Italian Social Republic under the Germans. However, as the British historian [[James Holland (author)|James Holland]] noted, the crucial difference was that: "In the south, Italy was now moving closer towards democracy".<ref name="Holland, James p.250">Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 250</ref> In the part of Italy under the control of the ACC, which issued orders to the Italian civil servants, freedom of the press, association and expression were restored along with other civil rights and liberties.<ref name="Holland, James p.250"/>

During 1943–45, the Italian economy collapsed with much of the infrastructure destroyed, inflation rampant, the black market becoming the dominant form of economic activity, and food shortages reducing much of the population to the brink of starvation in both northern and southern Italy.<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 pp. 192–193, 242–243, 396–396</ref> In 1943–44, the cost of living in southern Italy skyrocketed by 321%, while it was estimated that people in Naples needed 2,000 calories per day to survive while the average Neapolitan was doing well if they consumed 500 calories a day in 1943–44.<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 242</ref> Naples in 1944 was described as a city without cats or dogs which had all been eaten by the Neapolitans, while much of the female population of Naples turned to prostitution to survive.<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 243</ref> As dire as the economic situation was in southern Italy, food shortages and inflation were even worse in northern Italy as the Germans carried out a policy of ruthless economic exploitation.<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 pp. 192–193</ref> Since the war in which Mussolini had involved Italy in 1940 had become such an utter catastrophe for the Italian people by 1943, it had the effect of discrediting all those associated with the Fascist system, including Victor Emmanuel.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 7</ref>  In late 1943, Victor Emmanuel stated that he felt he bore no responsibility for Italy's plight, for appointing Mussolini as prime minister in 1922 and for entering the war in 1940. This further increased his unpopularity and led to demands that he abdicate at once.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 pp. 62–63</ref>

In northern Italy, a guerrilla war began against the fascists, both Italian and German, with most of the guerrilla units fighting under the banner of the [[National Liberation Committee]] (''Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale''-CLN), who were very strongly left-wing and republican.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 336</ref> Of the six parties that made up the CLN, the Communists, the Socialists and the Action Party were republican; the Christian Democrats and the Labour Party were ambiguous on the "institutional question", and only the Liberal Party was committed to preserving the monarchy, though many individual Liberals were republicans.<ref>M.L.K "Republic versus Monarchy in Italy" pp. 305–313 from ''The World Today'', Vol 2, Issue 7, July 1946 p. 307</ref> Only a minority of the partisan bands fighting for the CLN were monarchists, and a prince of the House of Savoy led none.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> After the war, Umberto claimed that he wanted to join the partisans, and only his wartime duties prevented him from doing so.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> The Italian Royal Court relocated itself to [[Brindisi]] in the south of Italy after fleeing Rome.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 318–319"/> In the fall of 1943, many Italian monarchists, like [[Benedetto Croce]] and [[Count]] [[Carlo Sforza]], pressed for Victor Emmanuel III to abdicate and for Umberto to renounce his right to the succession in favour of his 6-year-old son, with a regency council to govern Italy as the best hope of saving the monarchy.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 322–323</ref> Count Sforza tried to interest the British members of the ACC in this plan, calling Victor Emmanuel a "despicable weakling" and Umberto "a pathological case", saying neither was qualified to rule Italy. However, given the unwillingness of the King to abdicate, nothing came of it.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 323</ref>

At a meeting of the leading politicians from the six revived political parties on 13 January 1944 in [[Bari]], the demand was made that the ACC should force Victor Emmanuel to abdicate to "wash away the shame of the past".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.324">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 324</ref> Beyond removing Victor Emmanuel, which everyone at the Congress of Bari wanted, the Italian politicians differed, with some calling for a republic to be proclaimed at once, some willing to see Umberto succeed to the throne, others wanting Umberto to renounce his claim to the throne in favour of his son, and finally those who were willing to accept Umberto as ''[[Luogotenente#Kingdom of Sardinia and Kingdom of Italy|Luogotenente Generale del Regno]]'' ({{langx|en|Lieutenant General of the Realm}}) to govern in place of his father.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.324"/> Since northern and central Italy were still occupied by Germany, it was finally decided at the Bari conference that the "institutional question" should be settled only once all of Italy was liberated, so all of the Italian people could have their say.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.324"/>

===Outing and appointment as regent===

In the [[Italian Social Republic|Salò Republic]], Mussolini returned to his original republicanism and, as part of his attack on the [[House of Savoy]], Fascist newspapers in the area under the control of the Italian Social Republic [[outing|outed]] Umberto, calling him ''Stellassa'' ("Ugly Starlet" in the [[Piedmontese language]]).<ref name="Dall'Oroto p. 534">Dall'Oroto, Giovanni "Umberto II" from ''Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History'', London: Psychology Press, 2002 p. 534</ref> The Fascist newspapers reported in a lurid, sensationalist, and decidedly homophobic way Umberto's various relationships with men as a way of discrediting him.<ref name="Dall'Oroto p. 534"/> It was after Umberto was outed by the Fascist press in late 1943 that the issue of his homosexuality came to widespread public notice.<ref name="Dall'Oroto p. 534"/>

As the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] freed more and more of Italy from the [[Italian Social Republic|Salò Republic]], it became apparent that Victor Emmanuel was too tainted by his previous support of [[National Fascist Party|Fascism]] to have any further role. A sign of how unpopular the House of Savoy had become was that on 28 March 1944, when the Italian Communist leader [[Palmiro Togliatti]] returned to Italy after a long exile in the [[Soviet Union]], he did not press for an immediate proclamation of a republic. Togliatti wanted the monarchy to continue as the best way of winning the Communists' support after the war.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 326–327">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 326–327</ref> For the same reason, Count Sforza wanted a republic as soon as possible, arguing the House of Savoy was far too closely associated with Fascism to enjoy moral legitimacy, and the only hope of establishing a liberal democracy in Italy after the war was a republic.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 326–327"/> By this point, the government of [[Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba|Pietro Badoglio]] was so unpopular with the Italian people that Umberto was willing to accept the support of any party with a mass following, even the Communists.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 326–327"/> The fact that contrary to expectations, Togliatti and Badoglio got along very well, led to widespread fears amongst liberal-minded Italians that a Togliatti-Badoglio duumvirate might emerge, forming an alliance between what rapidly was becoming Italy's largest mass party and the military.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 88</ref> The power and influence of Badoglio's government, based in [[Salerno]], was very limited, but the entry of the Communists, followed by representatives of the other anti-Fascist parties, into the Cabinet of that government in April 1944 marked the moment when, as the British historian David Ellwood noted, "...anti-Fascism had compromised with the traditional state and the defenders of Fascism, and the Communist Party had engineered this compromise. A quite new phase in Italy's liberation was opening".<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 89</ref> Besides the "institutional question", the principle responsibility of the Royal Italian Government was the reconstruction of the liberated areas of Italy.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.487">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004 p. 487</ref> As the Allies pushed northwards, aside from the damage caused by the fighting, the retreating Germans systematically destroyed all of the infrastructure, leading to a humanitarian disaster in the liberated parts.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.487"/> Umberto, together with the rest of his father's government, spent time attempting to have humanitarian aid delivered.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Under intense pressure from [[Robert Daniel Murphy|Robert Murphy]] and [[Harold Macmillan]] of the ACC at a meeting on 10 April 1944, Victor Emmanuel transferred most of his powers to Umberto.<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 249</ref> The King bitterly told [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Noel Mason-MacFarlane|Sir Noel Mason-MacFarlane]] that Umberto was unqualified to rule, and that handing power over to him was equivalent to letting the Communists come to power.<ref>Mack Smith, Denis ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989 p. 326</ref> However, events had moved beyond Victor Emmanuel's ability to control. After Rome was liberated in June, Victor Emmanuel transferred his remaining constitutional powers to Umberto, naming his son [[Luogotenente#LGR|Lieutenant General of the Realm]]. However, Victor Emmanuel retained the title and position of [[King]]. During his period as Regent, Umberto saw his father only three times, partly out of a bid to distance himself and partly because of tensions between father and son.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/> Mack Smith wrote that Umberto was: "More attractive and outgoing than his father, he was even more a soldier at heart, and completely inexperienced as a politician...In personality-less astute and intelligent than his father...less obstinate, he was far more open, affable and ready to learn".<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 325, 330</ref>

As Regent, Umberto initially made a poor impression on almost everyone as he surrounded himself with Fascist-era generals as his advisers, spoke of the military as the basis of his power, frequently threatened to sue for libel anyone who made even the slightest critical remarks about the House of Savoy, and asked the ACC to censor the press to prevent the criticism of himself or his father.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.325">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 325</ref> The British Foreign Secretary, [[Anthony Eden]], wrote after meeting Umberto, in a message to London, that he was "the poorest of poor creatures", and his only qualification for the throne was that he had more charm than his charmless father.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.325"/> The historian and philosopher [[Benedetto Croce]], a minister in Badoglio's cabinet, called Umberto "entirely insignificant" as he found the Prince of Piedmont to be shallow, vain, superficial, and of low intelligence, and alluding to his homosexuality stated his private life was "tainted by scandal".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.325"/>

The diplomat and politician [[Count]] [[Carlo Sforza]] wrote in his diary that Umberto was utterly unqualified to be King as he called the prince "a stupid young man who knew nothing of the real Italy" and "he had been as closely associated with fascism as his father. In addition he is weak and dissipated, with a degenerate and even oriental disposition inherited from his Balkan mother".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.325"/> Sam Reber, an American official with the ACC, who had known Umberto before the war, met the prince in Naples in early 1944 and wrote he found him "greatly improved. The Balkan playboy period was over. But he has a weak face and, to judge by first meeting, has not, I should say, the personality to inspire confidence and devotion in others".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.325"/> More damaging, Victor Emmanuel let it be known that he regretted handing over his powers to his son, and made clear that he felt that Umberto was unfit to succeed him as part of a bid to take back his lost powers.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.325"/>

After Togliatti and the Communists entered Badoglio's cabinet, taking the oaths of loyalty to Umberto in the so-called ''Svolta di Salerno'' ("Salerno turn"), the leaders of the other anti-Fascist parties felt they had no choice but to join the cabinet as to continue to boycott it might lead Italy to be open to Communist domination.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith pp. 326–327"/> The other parties entered the cabinet on 22 April 1944 to preempt the Communists who joined the cabinet on 24 April.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 68</ref> The Christian Democratic leader [[Alcide De Gasperi]] believed in 1944 that a popular vote would ensure a republic immediately, and sources from the Vatican suggested to him that only 25% of Italians favoured continuing the monarchy.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 332</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] was in favour of Umberto, who, unlike his father, was a sincere Catholic who it was believed would keep the Communists out of power.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> However, De Gasperi admitted that though the monarchy was a conservative institution, "it was difficult to answer the argument that the monarchy had done little to serve the interests of the country or people during the past thirty years".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/>

Umberto's relations with the Allies were strained by his insistence that after the war, Italy should keep all of its [[Italian Empire|colonial empire]], including [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] and the parts of [[Yugoslavia]] that Mussolini had annexed in 1941.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.341">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 341</ref> Both the British and Americans told Umberto that Ethiopia had its independence restored in 1941 and would not revert to Italian rule, while the Allies had promised that Yugoslavia would be restored to its pre-war frontiers after the war. Umberto later stated that he would have never signed the peace treaty of 1947 under which Italy renounced its empire.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.341"/> On 15 April 1944, in an interview with ''[[The Daily Express]]'', Umberto stated his hope that Italy would become a full Allied power, expressing his wish that the ''[[Regia Marina]]'' would fight in the Pacific against the [[Empire of Japan]] and the ''[[Regio Esercito]]'' would march alongside the other Allied armies in invading Germany.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.328">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 328</ref> In the same interview, Umberto stated that he wanted post-war Italy to have a government "patterned on the British monarchy, and at the same time incorporating as much of America's political framework as possible".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.328"/> Umberto admitted that, in retrospect, his father had made grave mistakes as King and criticised Victor Emmanuel for a suffocating childhood, where he was never permitted to express his personality or hold views of his own.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.331">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 331</ref> In the same interview, Umberto stated that he hoped to make Italy a democracy by executing "the vastest education programme Italy has ever seen" to eliminate illiteracy in Italy once and for all.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.331"/>

A few days later, on 19 April 1944, Umberto in an interview with ''[[The Times]]'' complained that the ACC was too liberal in giving Italians too much freedom, as the commissioners "seemed to expect the Italian people to run before they could walk".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.328"/> In the same interview, Umberto demanded the ACC censor the Italian press to end the criticism of the Royal Family, and claimed he had no choice but to support Mussolini because otherwise he would have been disinherited.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.328"/> Finally, Umberto made the controversial statement that Mussolini "at first had the full support of the nation" in bringing Italy into the war in June 1940. Victor Emmanuel III had only signed the declarations of war because "there was no sign that the nation wanted it otherwise. No single voice was raised in protest. No demand was made for summoning parliament".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.328"/> The interview with ''The Times'' caused a storm of controversy in Italy, with many Italians objecting to Umberto's claim that the responsibility for Italy entering the war rested with ordinary Italians and his apparent ignorance of the difficulties of holding public protests under the Fascist regime in 1940.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 328–329</ref> Sforza wrote in his diary of his belief that Victor Emmanuel, "that little monster", had put Umberto up to the interview to discredit his son.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.329">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 329</ref> Croce wrote:<blockquote>"The Prince of Piedmont for twenty-two years has never shown any sign of acting independently of his father. Now he is simply repeating his father's arguments. He chooses to do this at the very moment when, having been designated lieutenant of the kingdom, he ought to be overcoming doubt and distrust as I personally hoped he would succeed in doing. To me it seems unworthy to try to unload the blame and errors of royalty on the people. I, an old monarchist, am therefore especially grieved when I see the monarchs themselves working to discredit the monarchy".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.329"/></blockquote> Various Italian politicians had attempted to persuade the Allies to revise the armistice of 1943 in Italy's favour because there was a difference between the Fascist regime and the Italian people. Umberto's statement that the House of Savoy bore no responsibility when he asserted that the Italian people had been of one mind with Mussolini in June 1940, was widely seen as weakening the case for revising the armistice.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 63</ref>

===Liberation and republicanism===
Most of the Committee of National Liberation (CLN) leaders operating underground in the north tended to lean in a republican direction. Still, they were willing to accept Umberto temporarily out of the belief that his personality and widespread rumours about his private life would ensure that he would not last long as either Lieutenant General of the Realm or as King, should his father abdicate.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 pp. 88–89</ref> After the liberation of Rome on 6 June 1944, the various Italian political parties all applied strong pressure on Umberto to dismiss Pietro Badoglio as prime minister, as the Duke had loyally served the Fascist regime until the Royal coup on 25 July 1943, which resulted in the social democrat [[Ivanoe Bonomi]] being appointed prime minister.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.727">Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 727</ref> On 5 June 1944, Victor Emmanuel formally gave up his powers to Umberto, finally recognising his son as Lieutenant General of the Realm.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 72</ref> After the liberation of Rome, Umberto received a warm welcome from ordinary people when he returned to the Eternal City.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.329"/> Mack Smith cautioned that the friendly reception that Umberto received in Rome may have been due to him being a symbol of normalcy after the harsh German occupation as opposed to genuine affection for the prince.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.329"/> During the German occupation, much of the Roman population had lived on the brink of starvation, young people had been arrested on the streets to be taken off to work as slave labourers in Germany, while the Fascist ''Milizia'', together with the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' and [[SS]], had committed numerous atrocities.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 70</ref> Badoglio, by contrast, was greeted with widespread hostility when he returned to Rome, being blamed by many Italians as the man, together with the King, who was responsible for abandoning Rome to the Germans without a fight in September 1943.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 95</ref>

Umberto had ordered Badoglio to bring members of the Committee of National Liberation (CLN) into his cabinet after the liberation of Rome to broaden his basis of support and ensure national unity by preventing the emergence of a rival government.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Umberto moved into the [[Quirinal Palace]], while at The Grand Hotel, the Rome branch of the CLN met with the cabinet.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Speaking on behalf of the CLN in general, the Roman leadership of the CLN refused to join the cabinet as long as Badoglio headed it but indicated that Bonomi was an acceptable choice as prime minister for them.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Noel Mason-MacFarlane|Sir Noel Mason-MacFarlane]] of the ACC visited the Quirinal Palace and convinced Umberto to accept Bonomi as prime minister because the Crown needed to bring the CLN into the government, which required sacrificing Badoglio.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> As Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were willing to see Badoglio continue as prime minister, seeing him as a force for order, Umberto could have held out for him. However, as part of his efforts to distance himself from Fascism, Umberto agreed to appoint Bonomi as prime minister.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Reflecting the tense "institutional question" of republic vs. monarchy, Umberto, when swearing in the Bonomi cabinet, allowed the ministers to take either their oaths to himself as the Lieutenant General of the Realm or to the Italian state; Bonomi himself chose to take his oath to Umberto while the rest of his cabinet chose to take their oaths only to the Italian state.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Churchill especially disapproved of the replacement of Badoglio with Bonomi, complaining that, in his view, Umberto was being used by "a group of aged and hungry politicians trying to intrigue themselves into an undue share of power".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Through the Allied occupation, the Americans were far more supportive of Italian republicanism than the British, with Churchill in particular believing the Italian monarchy was the only institution that was capable of preventing the Italian Communists from coming to power after the war.<ref>Gerhard Weinberg, ''A World in Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 727–728</ref>

Unlike the conservative Badoglio, the social democrat Bonomi started to move Italian politics in an increasingly democratic direction as he argued that King Victor Emmanuel III, who had only turned against Mussolini when it was clear that the war was lost, was unfit to continue as monarch.<ref name="Gerhard Weinberg p.727"/> On 25 June 1944, the Bonomi government, which like Badoglio's government, ruled by Royal Decree as there was no parliament in Italy, had a Royal Decree issued in Umberto's name promising a Constituent Assembly for Italy after the war.<ref>Giuseppe Mammarealla ''Italy After Fascism A Political History 1943–1965'', Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966 p. 73</ref> As Umberto continued as regent, he surprised many, after his rocky start in the spring of 1944, with greater maturity and judgement than was expected.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.331"/> Croce advised him to make a break with his father by choosing his advisers from the democratic parties, and it was due to Croce's influence that Umberto appointed [[Falcone Lucifero]], a socialist lawyer, as Minister of the Royal House.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/> Lucifero suggested reforms, which were implemented, such as reducing the number of aristocrats and generals at the Royal Court, while bringing in people from all the regions of Italy instead of just Piedmont to make the Royal Court more representative of Italy.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.332"/>

Umberto, in September 1944, vetoed an attempt by the Bonomi government to start an investigation of who was responsible for abandoning Rome in September 1943 as he feared that it would show his father was a coward.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.334">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 334</ref> The same month, Badoglio, who was kept on as an adviser by Umberto, made an offer to the British and the Americans on behalf of the regent in September 1944 for Italy to be governed by a triumvirate consisting of himself, Bonomi and another former prime minister, [[Vittorio Orlando]], which purged the prefects in the liberated areas who were "agents of Togliatti and Nenni" with Fascist-era civil servants.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.334"/> Badoglio also spoke of Umberto's desire not to lose any territory after the war to Greece, Yugoslavia and France.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.334"/> Badoglio's offer was rejected as Admiral [[Ellery W. Stone]] of the ACC was opposed to Umberto's plans to have Bonomi share power with Badoglio and Orlando, seeing this as upsetting the delicately achieved political consensus for no other reason than to increase the Crown's power.<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 105</ref><ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.338">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 338</ref>

In October 1944, Umberto, in an interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'', stated that he favoured a referendum to decide whether Italy was to be a republic or a monarchy instead of having the "institutional question" decided by the national assembly that would write Italy's post-war constitution.<ref>Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 333–334</ref> Umberto's interview caused controversy as the republican parties widely feared that a referendum would be rigged, especially in the south of Italy.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.335">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 335</ref> In the same interview, Umberto mentioned his belief that, after the war, monarchies all over the world would move towards the left, and stated that under his leadership Italy would go leftwards "in an ordered, liberal way" as he understood "the weight of the past is the monarchy's greatest handicap", which he would resolve by a "radical revision" of the ''[[Statuto Albertino]]''.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.333">Denis Mack Smith, ''Italy and Its Monarchy'', New Haven: Yale University Press p. 333</ref> Umberto spoke favourably of Togliatti as he was "clever, agreeable, and easy to discuss problems with".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.333"/> In private, Umberto said he found Togliatti "to be a very congenial companion whose intelligence he respected, but was afraid that he suited his conversation according to his company".<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.334"/>

By late 1944, the question of whether the CLN or the Crown represented the Italian people came to a head.<ref name="Holland, James p.449">Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 p. 449</ref> On 25 November 1944, Bonomi resigned as prime minister, saying he could not govern owing to his difficulties with the CLN, and as the politicians could not agree on a successor. Umberto used the impasse to reassert the Crown's powers.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.335"/> The crisis ended on 12 December 1944 with Umberto appointing a new government under Bonomi consisting of ministers from four parties, the most important of which were the Communists and the Christian Democrats.<ref>Holland, James ''Italy's Year of Sorrow, 1944–1945'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008 pp. 449–450</ref> In response to objections from the CLN, Bonomi, in practice, accepted their claim that they represented the Italian people rather than the Crown, while still swearing an oath of loyalty to Umberto as the Lieutenant General of the Realm when he took the prime minister's oath.<ref name="Holland, James p.449"/> An attempt by Umberto to have Churchill issue a public statement in favour of the monarchy led Macmillan to warn Umberto to try to be more politically neutral as regent.<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.335"/> However, Churchill,  during a visit to Rome in January 1945, called Umberto "a far more impressive figure than the politicians".<ref>Ellwood, David ''Italy 1943–1945'', Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1985 p. 219</ref> As a gesture to promote national unity after the traumas of the war, in June 1945, Umberto appointed as prime minister, a prominent guerrilla leader, [[Ferruccio Parri]].<ref name="Denis Mack Smith p.336"/>

In December 1945, Umberto appointed a new, more conservative government under [[Alcide De Gasperi]].<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 pp. 34–35</ref> One of the first acts of the new government was to announce the High Commission for Sanctions Against Fascism would cease operating as of 31 March 1946 and to start purging from the liberated areas of northern Italy civil servants appointed by the CLN, restoring the career civil servants who had served the Fascist regime back to their former posts.<ref>Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 35</ref> Over the opposition of the left-wing parties who wanted the "institutional question" resolved by the Constituent Assembly, De Gasperi announced that a referendum would be held to decide the "institutional question".<ref name="Kogan, Norman p.36">Kogan, Norman ''A Political History of Postwar Italy'', London: Pall Mall Press, 1966 p. 36</ref> At the same time, Italian women were given the right to vote and to hold official office for the first time, again over the opposition of the left-wing parties, who viewed Italian women as more conservative than their menfolk, and believed that female suffrage would benefit the monarchist side in the referendum.<ref name="Kogan, Norman p.36"/> The monarchists favoured putting off the referendum as long as possible out of the hope that a return to normalcy would cause the Italians to take a more favourable view of their monarchy, while the republicans wanted a referendum as soon as possible, hoping that wartime radicalisation would work in their favour.<ref name="Kogan, Norman p.36"/>