The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1314 - 956 Killing by Borrowed Knife_2

Chapter 1314: Chapter 956: Killing by Borrowed Knife_2

Chapter 1314 -956: Killing by Borrowed Knife_2

On January 6th, 1938, German and Italian diplomats held talks in Munich to discuss the situation in North Africa and possible solutions.

During one of the topics of discussion, the German diplomat formally raised the issue concerning the political system of Italy and expressed the idea of helping Italy establish a republican government led by Mussolini.

Indeed, at this time, Italy was still a kingdom, ruled by the Savoy dynasty.

The Savoy dynasty was renowned in Italy and supported by many Italian citizens. This family had a significant reputation throughout Europe, with its rule over the Italian region dating back more than 900 years to the distant era of the Earls of Savoy.

More importantly, Victor Emmanuel II, the Unifier of the Italian region and affectionately called the Father of the Fatherland by the Italian people, was a member of the Savoy dynasty.

It was precisely because of the deeply entrenched rule of the Savoy dynasty in Italy, coupled with the merit of unifying Italy, that the Kingdom of Italy had lasted until now.

Although Mussolini had held the reins of the Kingdom of Italy for several years, he still had not abolished the Savoy royalty.

After all, for some citizens who supported the monarchy, having a royal family or not was an entirely different concept. They could accept Mussolini overshadowing the monarchy, but not Mussolini abolishing it outright.

Interestingly, Germany’s situation was somewhat similar to Italy’s. The official name of Germany was still the German Empire, and the sovereign for foreign relations was still Emperor William II of Germany.

But in reality, whether it was Germany or the Kingdom of Italy, the real rulers were the Prime Ministers of the governments.

It was also because of the similar situations in Germany and Italy that the previous German government had not supported the idea of Italy establishing a republic.

But now it was different. To ensure the Italians were firmly tied to their war chariot, the German Chancellor had also gone out on a limb and openly proposed assisting Mussolini in establishing the Republic of Italy.

The benefits of establishing a republic need hardly be mentioned. Once Italy became a republic, Mussolini’s rule over Italy would become more legitimate, and there would be no need to worry about the king impeding him; the citizens could also solely pledge allegiance to him instead of being loyal to both the monarchy and the government.

If the Germans helped, the impact of Mussolini abolishing the monarchy could be minimized.

As for monarchies such as the British Empire and the Australasian Empire intervening, why care about their interference when both parties had already erupted in war?

Thinking about this, Mussolini was clearly tempted. If he could dispose of the king and go it alone, who would want an obstructionist above their head?

Moreover, neither the German Chancellor nor Mussolini had absolute control over their countries.

They faced opposition parties at home, and both Emperor William II and the King of Italy wielded certain powers.

Although it appeared that both their regimes were deeply entrenched, if William II and the King of Italy decided to oppose them, their rule would indeed meet with numerous difficulties.

However, abolishing the monarchy meant cutting ties completely with the Italian Aristocratic Classes. Even to say the least, Mussolini might face a backlash from the entrenched aristocracy and members of the Savoy dynasty.

Such intense conflict implied a need for a major purge, but thinking about the vast power he could gain afterward, Mussolini still decided to take the risk.

On January 7th, 1938, the Italian Government issued a public notice stating that a segment of the Italian Army in North Africa had surrendered to the British-French-Australian Forces and had turned their national flags into white flags.

The Italian Government stated that the commander of this army was a distant relative of the monarchy, and some of the members were originally part of the Guards of the royal family.

In the final section of the notice, the Italian Government also outlined the severe damage this surrender brought to Italy. Firstly, it severely damaged the prestige of the Italian government and insulted the Italian National Flag.

Secondly, the surrender of this army was likely to leave the several hundred thousand soldiers of the German-Italian forces in the Tunisian region surrounded and in jeopardy, including over 500,000 from the Italian Army itself.

Although the entire notice did not mention the responsibility of the monarchy, this phrasing clearly intended to shift the blame to the royal family.

Almost at the same time, many media outlets in Rome hurriedly reported the announcement, among which those that were clearly prepared even published details about the composition of that Italian Army unit, proving that the unit’s commanders and some soldiers indeed came from the Royal Guard.

For a time, there was a lot of speculation among the Italian civilians about the royal family.

Some believed that the royal family should not bear responsibility because the Royal Guard had already been disbanded and the military was planning to be reorganized into the Italian Army, with only a small portion of the Guard still protecting the Italian royal family.

Merely being of royal origin could not prove a connection between the surrendered troops and the royal family, nor could it throw the responsibility for the surrender onto the royal family.

However, another group believed that since the surrendered troops had once belonged to the Royal Guard, it would be impossible to assert that there were no links with the royal family.

Moreover, the Italian King had once objected during the reorganization of the Royal Guard. Could it be that the Italian King, in order to preserve the strength of his own guard, specifically instructed his officers to surrender if they encountered danger?

The second theory was more popular, as there were many Italian families with members in the military.

Italians feared such situations appearing on all battlefields, which put their family members at risk.

Especially for those several hundred thousand Italian families whose loved ones were sent to the North African battlefront—it was impossible for them not to resent the royal family at this time.

It’s also worth mentioning the origins of the Savoy dynasty. Although the Savoy family rule in Italy can be traced back over 900 years, the family’s founders were not Italian, but Burgundians who had migrated to the Italian region.

Under normal circumstances, Italians would certainly praise the unifiers of the Savoy family and the kingdom.

But when the lives of their family members were influenced by the royal family, their affection for the royal family diminished.

Mussolini’s media attack continued. Due to certain topics that were not convenient for Italian local media to discuss, it was necessary for German media to publish statements that were favorable to Mussolini.

Just on the second day, several German media outlets successively published articles condemning the Italian royal family for preserving their own strength and disregarding the safety of the hundreds of thousands of German and Italian troops still fighting in the Tunisia region.

The German news reports seemed to corroborate the guilt of the Italian royal family. After all, if only domestic sources criticized the royal family, the citizens might still harbor some doubts and distrust.

But if both domestic and foreign reports covered such events, the trust of the citizens would increase.

On January 9, 1938, Mussolini stepped forward to respond to the current public opinion about the royal family, stating that he still wished to believe in the royal family.

However, he also stated that, regarding nearly 500,000 Italian families and exactly 500,000 Italian soldiers (exaggerated), the issue of whether to forgive the royal family was not something he could decide alone.

Thus, Mussolini announced that the public would decide on the resolution of this matter.

The Italian government would hold a public vote at the end of January, lasting half a month. All Italian citizens could participate, regardless of gender or age.

The final result of the vote would determine the direction of this matter and also reveal the most genuine attitudes and opinions of the Italian people.

Regarding this solution, a portion of the Italian public was quite satisfied. Moreover, because all Italian citizens could vote, the royal family and the Monarchist Party had no excuse to object.

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After all, if the citizens truly believed that the royal family was not at fault, they could fully support the royal family in this civic vote.

If enough people supported the royal family, then even if Mussolini harbored any thoughts against the royal family, he could not do anything if all the Italian people were against him.

However, if the final voting result was against the royal family, even if Mussolini had no plans, he would still have to explain the so-called voting result to all Italian citizens.

Perhaps the Italian soldiers who initially surrendered could never have imagined that their arbitrary choice would bring the most severe crisis to the Savoy dynasty, which had ruled the Italian region for over 900 years.