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Umberto I of Italy

King of Italy from 1878 to 1900

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The son of Victor Emmanuel II and Adelaide of Austria, Umberto took part in the Italian Wars of Independence as a commander of the Royal Sardinian Army. He assumed the Italian throne in 1878 on the death of his father. A strong militarist, Umberto approved the alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, which was formalised in 1882. He also encouraged Italy's colonial efforts and oversaw the incorporation of Eritrea and Somalia into the emerging Italian Empire, while the First Italo-Ethiopian War resulted in defeat at the Battle of Adwa.

In the last years of his reign, Umberto faced increasing social unrest and serious economic difficulties. Tensions mounted as a result of growing opposition to new colonial campaigns, the spread of socialism, and crackdowns on civil liberties. Umberto was contested by left-wing circles for his conservatism and particularly for the decorations he gave in 1898 to Bava Beccaris, a general who bloodily suppressed demonstrations over rising food prices in Milan. He was deeply hated by Italian anarchists, who had already attempted to assassinate him during the first year of his reign.

In 1900, two years after the Bava Beccaris massacre, Umberto was killed in Monza by anarchist Gaetano Bresci. He was succeeded by his son, Victor Emmanuel III. Before his killing, he was also one of the recipients of one of Friedrich Nietzsche's Wahnbriefe notes. The Umbertino architecture style was named after him.

Youth

The son of Victor Emmanuel II and Archduchess Adelaide of Austria, Umberto was born in Turin, which was then capital of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, on 14 March 1844, his father's 24th birthday. His education was entrusted to, among others, Massimo Taparelli, Marquess d'Azeglio, and Pasquale Stanislao Mancini. As Crown Prince, Umberto was distrusted by his father, who gave him no training in politics or constitutional government. Umberto was brought up with no affection or love. Instead, Umberto was taught to be obedient and loyal; he had to stand at attention whenever his father entered the room. When speaking to his father, Umberto had to get down on his knees to kiss his father's hand first. The fact that Umberto had to kiss his father's hand before being allowed to speak to him (both in public and in private) right up to his father's death contributed much to the tension between the two.

From March 1858, he had a military career in the Royal Sardinian Army, beginning with the rank of captain. Umberto took part in the Italian Wars of Independence. In the Second War of Italian Independence (1859), Umberto, who was only 14, was present at the battle of Solferino. In the Third War of Italian Independence (1866), Umberto commanded the XVI Division at the Villafranca battle that followed the Italian defeat at Custoza.

Because of the upheaval the House of Savoy caused to a number of other royal houses (all the Italian ones, and those related closely to them, such as the Bourbons of Spain and France) in 1859–1860, only a minority of royal families in the 1860s were willing to establish relations with the newly founded Italian royal family. It proved difficult to find any royal bride for either of the sons of king Victor Emmanuel II (his younger son Amedeo, Umberto's brother, married a Piedmontese subject, princess Vittoria of Cisterna). Their conflict with the papacy did not help these matters. Not many eligible Catholic royal brides were easily available for young Umberto.

At first, Umberto was to marry Archduchess Mathilde of Austria, a scion of a remote sideline of the Austrian imperial house; however, she died as the result of an accident at the age of 18. On 21 April 1868, Umberto married his first cousin, Margherita Teresa Giovanna, Princess of Savoy. Their only son was Victor Emmanuel, prince of Naples. While Umberto was to be described by a modern historian as "a colourless and physically unimpressive man, of limited intellect", Margherita's appearance, cultural interests and strong personality were to enhance the popularity of the monarchy. Umberto kept many mistresses on the side, and his favourite mistress, Eugenia, the wife of Duke Litta Visconti-Arese, lived with him at his court as his common-law wife. He forced Queen Margherita to accept Eugenia as a lady-in-waiting.

In 1876, when the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury, visited Rome, he reported to London that King Victor Emmanuel II and Crown Prince Umberto were "at war with each other". Upon taking the Crown, Umberto dismissed all of his father's friends from the court, sold off his father's racing horse collection (which numbered 1,000 horses) and cut down on extravagances to pay down the debts Victor Emmanuel II had run up. The British historian Denis Mack Smith commented that it was a sign of the great wealth of the House of Savoy that Umberto was able to pay off his father's debts without having to ask parliament for assistance.

Like his father, Umberto was a poorly educated man without intellectual or artistic interests, never read any books, and preferred to dictate rather than write letters. He found writing to be too mentally taxing. He was said to have been raised with no real plan and was even uncomfortable when writing his signature in front of onlookers. After meeting him, Queen Victoria described Umberto as having his father's "gruff, abrupt manner of speaking", but without his "rough speech and manners". In contrast, Queen Margherita was widely read in all the classics of European literature, and kept up a salon of intellectuals. Although French was her first language, Margherita was often praised for her beautiful Italian in her letters and when speaking.

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