Pietro Badoglio
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Pietro Badoglio was born on September 28, 1871 in Monferrato, Italy. He entered the Italian Army
in 1890 as an artillery officer and fought in Ethiopia in 1896, and in the Italo-Turkish War of 1912. During World War 1,
he distinguished himself by directing the capture of Monte Sabotino on August 6th, 1916. Although he was later defeated at
Caporetto on October 24, 1917, he emerged from the war with his career intact and participated in the armistice talks for
the Italians and was chief of staff from 1919 to 1921. Badoglio was at first only lukewarm to Mussolini and stayed out of politics for a year before serving as ambassador to Brazil before Mussolini named him chief of staff once again in 1925 and was promoted Field Marshal on May 26,1926. He was governor of Libya from 1928 to 1934. He commanded the forces that captured Addis Ababa in 1936 and ruled over that land as viceroy of Ethiopia. Badoglio resigned as chief of staff during the disasterous campaign in Greece and disavowed responsibility for Mussolini's acts. It is not clear whether his objections were military or moral. |
Written By: Stefan Schlemmer
