Ministry of War (Italy)
Ministero della guerra | |
The Palazzo Esercito ("Army Palace") in Rome, once the headquarters of the Ministry of War, on 2 December 2010. | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1861 |
Preceding |
|
Dissolved | 14 February 1947 |
Superseding agency | |
Jurisdiction | Government of Italy |
The Ministry of War (
History
The Italian Ministry of War had its origins in the
Until 1920, the ministry was a stronghold of the upper hierarchy of the Royal Army, who always rejected any form of control by the
Under the fascist government of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, Mussolini himself served as the Minister of War from 1925 to 1929 and from 1933 to 25 July 1943, delegating its ordinary management to a Royal Army general, who he appointed as undersecretary of state. The Mussolini government made changes to the Ministry of War's responsibilities during the mid-1920s. On 30 August 1925, it split off the Ministry of War's oversight of aviation activities into a new Ministry of Aeronautics, reflecting the transformation of the Ministry of War's Commissariat for Aeronautics into the new Regia Aeronautica ("Royal Air Force") in 1923.[3] With the "Mussolini Order" of 1926, oversight of the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops (Italian: Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali, or RCTC) in the colonies of the Italian Empire moved from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of the Colonies.
Italy entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers in June 1940. In September 1943, it surrendered to the Allies and switched sides, becoming a co-belligerent with the Allies. Between September 1943 and the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945, with the Kingdom of Italy in control of southern Italy, the ministry oversaw the Royal Army's forces as they fought as the Italian Co-belligerent Army alongside Allied forces in the Italian campaign and simultaneously in the Italian Civil War against the Italian Social Republic, which the Germans established as a puppet state in northern Italy under Mussolini and which continued to fight on the Axis side.
In 1946, the
Under the Third De Gasperi government, by Decree Number 17 of the provisional head of state on 4 February 1947, the Ministry of War, Ministry of the Navy, and Ministry of Aeronautics were abolished as of 14 February 1947, and their responsibilities were transferred to a new, unified Ministry of Defence.[4]
Organization
1928
In 1928, the organization of the ministry was as follows:[1]
- Office of the Minister
- Coordination Office
- General Staff
- General Directorate for Civilian Personnel and General Affairs
- General Directorate for OfficerPersonnel
- General Directorate for Non-Commissioned Officers and Troops
- General Directorate for Automobiles
- General Directorate for Engineers
- General Directorate for Logistical Services
- General Directorate for Military Health Care
- General Administrative Inspectorate
- Director of the Military Chemical Center
- Equestrian and Veterinary Service
- Division for Physical Education, Pre-Military Education, and Military Schools
1940
With Italy's entry into World War II in June 1940, the ministry was reorganized under Law Number 1039 on 6 July 1940 as follows:
- Office of the Minister
- Private Secretariat of the Undersecretary of State
- Headquarters
- General Directorate for Officers on Permanent Duty
- General Directorate for Officers on Leave
- General Directorate for Civilian Personnel and General Affairs
- General Directorate for Artillery
- General Directorate for Engineers
- General Directorate for Logistics Services
- General Directorate for Military Health
- General Directorate for Administrative Services
- Directorate for the Military Chemical Service
- General Directorate for Recruits, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Troops
- General Directorate for Motorization
- Superior Inspectorate of Technical Services
- Equestrian and Veterinary Service
- Military Information Service
- Autonomous Company of the Royal Carabinieri
- Military Publications Office
List of ministers
See also
References
- ^ a b "Archivio Centrale dello Stato - Guida ai Fondi - MINISTERO DELLA GUERRA (1831-1944)". search.acs.beniculturali.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 December 2021..
- ^ a b "IT.CULTURA.STORIA.MILITARE ON-LINE: Articoli: Ricerche: Storia Contemporanea: Gli ordinamenti e la dottrina del Regio esercito negli Anni Venti" (in Italian). Retrieved 14 December 2021..
- ^ "Ministero della guerra / I Governo Mussolini / Governi / Camera dei deputati - Portale storico". storia.camera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 December 2021..
- ^ "Governo De Gasperi III" (in Italian). 20 November 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2021..