In 1944, a politically complex game unfolded on an international and national scale around King Vittorio Emanuele III and the Savoy dynasty. This happened after the Allies gave permission for the government to move from Brindisi to Salerno on 27th January. The anti-fascist parties’ Congress, meeting at the Teatro Piccini in Bari, strongly reiterated the idea of the king’s abdication and convening a constituent assembly. However, the Allies, sensitive about granting this body the representativeness of the Italian people, did not fully support this idea. The British and Americans had differing views on the monarchy, with the latter’s strong republican tradition dominating the Italian perspective.
Enrico De Nicola, a jurist, advised Savoia to step back before history decided his fate. He had a meeting with him on 20th February in Ravello, where he urged him to appoint Umberto as the Kingdom’s lieutenant general. This was to ensure a smooth transition that would maintain dynastic continuity. Vittorio Emanuele reluctantly accepted this proposal.
Winston Churchill understood that these negotiations and movements had implications beyond the Italian context, affecting the political-military framework of the war and its aftermath. On 22nd February in London, he delivered a speech that was later referred to as ‘the coffee pot speech’. In this speech, he expressed his opposition to the Bari Congress’s proposal for a constituent assembly, instead showing support for Badoglio, his government, and the monarchy.
Benedetto Croce and Carlo Sforza responded to Churchill’s speech with a formal protest letter, which Churchill ignored. The anti-fascist parties aimed to legitimize themselves in the Allies’ eyes, proposing a large popular demonstration. However, the Anglo-Americans were upset by this idea, and Charles Poletti, the US governor, requested that this decision be revoked. The strike was declared illegal, and the agitators were arrested.
The solution to the impasse was found by De Nicola, the future provisional Head of State and the first President of the Republic despite his monarchist beliefs. He received approval from Croce and Sforza, who proposed that Maria José be made the regent of the young Vittorio Emanuele, thereby bypassing a generation of the Savoys. Umberto would perform the sovereign functions as the Kingdom’s lieutenant, with Vittorio Emanuele III nominally remaining on the throne but retiring to private life, awaiting formal abdication. Once the war was over, a constituent assembly, following a popular referendum, would determine the new Italy.
