Editing Umberto II of Italy (section)

===Military positions and attempted assassination===
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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]].