Editing Victor Emmanuel III (section)

===Support for Mussolini===
The economic depression which followed [[World War I]] gave rise to much extremism among Italy's sorely tried working classes. This caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable. [[Benito Mussolini]], soon to be Italy's [[Italian fascism|Fascist]] dictator, took advantage of this instability for his rise to power.

====March on Rome====
[[File:Albert I and Victor Emmanuel III.jpg|thumb|200px|King Victor Emmanuel III (right) with [[Albert I of the Belgians|King Albert I of the Belgians]] (left). This photograph shows Victor Emmanuel's small physical stature.]]
In 1922, Mussolini led a force of his Fascist supporters on a [[March on Rome]].  Prime Minister [[Luigi Facta]] and his cabinet drafted a decree of [[martial law]]. After some hesitation the King refused to sign it, citing doubts about the ability of the army to contain the uprising without setting off a civil war.

Fascist violence had been growing in intensity throughout the summer and autumn of 1922, climaxing in rumours of a possible coup. On 24 October 1922, during the Fascist Congress in Naples, Mussolini announced that the Fascists would march on Rome to "take by the throat our miserable ruling class".{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 249}}  General [[Pietro Badoglio]] told the King that the military would be able without difficulty to rout the rebels, who numbered no more than 10,000 men armed mostly with knives and clubs whereas the ''Regio Esercito'' had 30,000 soldiers in the Rome area armed with heavy weapons, armoured cars, and machine guns.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | pp = 249–250}}  During the "March on Rome", the Fascist ''squadristi'' were halted by 400 lightly armed policemen, as the ''squadristi'' had no desire to take on the Italian state.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 250}}

The troops were loyal to the King; even [[Cesare Maria De Vecchi]], commander of the [[Blackshirts]], and one of the organisers of the March on Rome, told Mussolini that he would not act against the wishes of the monarch. De Vecchi went to the Quirinal Palace to meet the king and assured him that the Fascists would never fight against the king.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | pp = 250–251}}  It was at this point that the Fascist leader considered leaving Italy altogether.  But then, minutes before midnight, he received a telegram from the King inviting him to Rome. Facta had the decree for martial law prepared after the cabinet had unanimously endorsed it, and was very surprised when he learned about 9&nbsp;am on 28 October that the king had refused to sign it.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 249}}  When Facta protested that the king was overruling the entire cabinet, he was told that this was the royal prerogative and the king did not wish to use force against the Fascists.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | pp = 249–250}}  The only politician Victor Emmanuel consulted during the crisis was [[Antonio Salandra]], who advised him to appoint Mussolini prime minister and stated he was willing to serve in a cabinet headed by Mussolini.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 251}}

By midday on 30 October, Mussolini had been appointed [[President of the Council of Ministers of Italy|President of the Council of Ministers]] (Prime Minister), at the age of 39, with no previous experience of office, and with only 32 Fascist deputies in the [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber]].{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 252}}  Though the King claimed in his memoirs that it was the fear of a civil war that motivated his actions, it would seem that he received some 'alternative' advice, possibly from the arch-conservative [[Antonio Salandra]] as well as General [[Armando Diaz]], that it would be better to do a deal with Mussolini.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | pp = 250–251}}

On 1 November 1922, the king reviewed the ''squadristi'' as they marched past the Quirinal Palace giving the fascist salute.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 253}}  Victor Emmanuel took no responsibility for appointing Mussolini prime minister, saying he learned from studying history that events were "much more automatic than a result of individual action and influence".{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 254}}  Victor Emmanuel was tired of the recurring crises of parliamentary government and welcomed Mussolini as a "strong man" who imposed "order" on Italy.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 254}} Mussolini was always very respectful and deferential when he met him in private, which was exactly the behaviour which the king expected of his prime ministers.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | pp = 254–255}}  Many Fascist ''gerarchi'', most notably [[Italo Balbo]], regarded as the number two-man in Fascism, remained republicans, and the king greatly appreciated Mussolini's conversion to monarchism.{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 255}}  In private, Mussolini detested Victor Emmanuel as a tedious and tiresomely boring man, whose only interests were military history and his collections of stamps and coins, a man whom Mussolini sneered was "too diminutive for an Italy destined to greatness" (a reference to the king's height).{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 255}}  However, Mussolini told the other ''gerarchi'' that he needed the king's support and that one day, another fascist revolution would take place "without contraceptives".{{Sfn | Mack Smith | 1989 | p = 255}}

[[File:Re darfo.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Victor Emmanuel in Darfo Boario Terme after the [[Gleno Dam]] disaster, 1923]]