Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd
Count of Cortellazzo and
Buccari (18
March 1903 –
11 January 1944) was
Foreign Minister of
Fascist Italy from 1936 until 1943 and
Benito Mussolini's son-in-law. On 11 January 1944
Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his father-in-law,
Mussolini, under pressure from
Nazi Germany.
Ciano left a massive diary that has been used as a source by several historians, including
William Shirer in his
The Rise and Fall of the
Third Reich and in the 4-hour
HBO docu-drama
Mussolini and I.
Gian Galeazzo Ciano was born in
Livorno, Italy, in 1903. He was the son of
Costanzo Ciano and his wife
Carolina Pini; his father was an
Admiral and
World War I hero in the
Royal Italian Navy (for which service he was given the aristocratic title of Count by
Victor Emmanuel III), founding member of the
National Fascist Party and re-organizer of the
Italian merchant navy in the
1920s. The elder Ciano (he was nicknamed Ganascia, meaning "The Jaw") was not above making a private profit from his public office. He would use his influence to depress the stock of a company, after which he would buy a controlling interest, which would increase his wealth after its value rebounded. He owned among other holdings a newspaper, a farmland in
Tuscany and other properties worth millions. As a result his son Galeazzo was accustomed to living a high-profile and glamorous life, which he maintained until almost the end. After studying
Philosophy of Law, the younger Ciano had a brief experience as a journalist before choosing a diplomatic career, and served as an attaché in
Rio de Janeiro. On 24
April 1930, he married Benito Mussolini's daughter
Edda Mussolini, with whom he soon left for
Shanghai where he served as Italian
Consul.
Back in
Italy, he became the minister of press and propaganda in 1935.
Ciano took part in the
Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–36) as a bomber squadron commander (his unit, 15ª squadriglia da bombardamento, was dubbed "La Disperata") where his future opponent
Alessandro Pavolini served as lieutenant. Upon his highly trumpeted comeback as a "hero" he became Foreign Minister in 1936, replacing Mussolini.
The following year he was allegedly involved in organizing the murder of the brothers
Carlo Rosselli and
Nello Rosselli, two exiled anti-fascist major activists killed in the
French spa town of Bagnoles-de-l'
Orne on 9 June
1937. In 1937, prior to the Italian annexation, Count Gian Galeazzo Ciano was an Honorary
Citizen of
Tirana, Albania.[3]
Ciano was skeptical of Mussolini's war plans and knew that Italy's armed forces were ill-prepared for a major war. When Mussolini formally declared war on
France, he wrote in his diary "
I am sad, very sad. The adventure begins. May God help Italy!" After
1939, Ciano became increasingly disenchanted with Nazi Germany and the course of
World War II, although when the Italian regime embarked on the ill-advised "parallel war" alongside
Germany, he went along fairly convinced, despite the terribly-devised
Italian invasion of Greece and its subsequent setbacks. Prior to the
German campaign in France in
1940 Count Ciano leaked a warning of imminent invasion to neutral
Belgium. In late
1942 and early 1943, following the
Axis defeat in
North Africa, other major setbacks on the
Eastern Front, and with the Anglo-American assault on
Sicily looming on the horizon, Ciano turned against prosecution of the doomed war and actively pushed for Italy's exit from the conflict. He was silenced by being removed from his post as Foreign Minister, an action which took place on
5 February 1943. Then he was offered the post of ambassador to the
Holy See, and presented his credentials to the
Pope on 1 March.[4] In this role he could remain in
Rome, to be watched closely by
Mussolini. The Regime's position had become even more shaky with the coming summer, however, and court circles were already probing the
Allies commands for agreements of some sort.
On the afternoon of 24 July 1943, Mussolini summoned the
Fascist Grand Council to its first meeting since 1939, prompted by the
Allied invasion of Sicily. At that meeting, Mussolini announced that the
Germans were thinking of evacuating the south. This led Count
Dino Grandi to launch a blistering attack on his longtime comrade. Grandi put on the table a resolution asking the king to resume his full constitutional powers—in effect, a vote leading to Mussolini's total ousting from leadership. The motion won by an unexpectedly large margin, 19-8, with Ciano voting in favor.
Mussolini did not think the vote had any substantive value, and showed up at work the next morning like any other day. That afternoon, Victor Emmanuel III, the
King, summoned him to
Villa Savoia and dismissed him from office. Upon leaving the
Villa, Mussolini was arrested. For the next two months he was moved from place to place to hide him and prevent his rescue by the Germans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galeazzo_Ciano
- published: 06 Apr 2015
- views: 3609