- Italo Balbo
Infobox Military Person
name=Italo Balbo
lived=June 5 ,1896 -June 28 ,1940
placeofbirth=Ferrara , Italy
placeofdeath=Skies overTobruk , Libya
caption=
nickname=
allegiance=
serviceyears=1915-1940
rank="Maresciallo dell'Aria" (Marshal of the Air Force )
commands=
unit=
battles=
awards=- 1 Bronze Medal
- 2 Silver Medals
laterwork=Italo Balbo (
5 June 1896 -28 June 1940 ) was an ItalianBlackshirt ("Camicie Nere", or CCNN) leader,Marshal of the Air Force ("Maresciallo dell'Aria"),Governor-General of Libya,Commander-in-Chief ofItalian North Africa ("Africa Settentrionale Italiana", or ASI), and the "heir apparent " to Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini .Biography
Early life
In 1896, Balbo was born in Quartesana near
Ferrara in the Kingdom of Italy. Balbo was very politically active from a young age. At only fourteen years-of-age, he joined in a revolt inAlbania underRicciotti Garibaldi ,Giuseppe Garibaldi 's son. [Smith, "Italy: A Modern History", p.273.]As
World War I broke out and Italy declared its neutrality, Balbo supported joining the war on the side of the Allies. He joined in several pro-war rallies. Once Italy entered the war in 1915, Balbo joined theItalian Royal Army ("Regio Esercito Italia") and served in the 8th Alpine ("Alpini") Regiment. He earned one bronze and two silver medals and reached the rank ofCaptain ("Capitano") due to courage under fire.Di Scala, "Italy:From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present", p.234.]Just before the Italian defeat at Caporetto, Italo Balbo requested a transfer to the Italian Royal Air Force ("Regia Aeronautica Italia"). He apparently never quite began his flight training. Because of his sudden transfer before the disaster and because his battalion was captured at Caporetto, some accused Balbo of deserting.
During
July andAugust of 1918, Balbo returned to the 8th Alpine Regiment and again saw action in the war as a member of the Royal Army. He participated in theBattle of Vittorio Veneto .After the war, Balbo studied in
Florence and obtained a degree inSocial Sciences , then returned to his hometown to work as a bank clerk.Blackshirt leader
In 1921, Balbo joined the newly created
National Fascist Party ("Partito Nazionale Fascista", or PNF) and soon became a secretary of the FerraraFascist organization. He began to organize Fascist gangs and formed his own group nicknamed "Celibano", after their favorite drink. They broke strikes for local landowners and attacked communists and socialists inPortomaggiore ,Ravenna ,Modena , andBologna . The group once raided theEstense Castle inFerrara .Italo Balbo had become one of the "Ras"," adopted from an Ethiopian title somewhat equivalent to a
duke , of the Fascist hierarchy by 1922, establishing his local leadership in the party. The "Ras" typically wished for a more decentralized Fascist Italian state to be formed, against Mussolini's wishes. At 26 years of age, Balbo was the youngest of the "Quadrumvirs ": The four main planners of the "March on Rome ." The "Quadrumvirs" wereMichele Bianchi (age 39),Cesare Maria De Vecchi (38),Emilio De Bono (56), and Balbo. Mussolini himself (39) would not participate in the risky operation that would ultimately bring Italy under Fascist rule. [Di Scala, "Italy: From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present", p.234; Smith, "Italy: A Modern History", p.365.]In 1923, as one of the "Quadrumvirs," Balbo became a founding member of the
Grand Council of Fascism ("Gran Consiglio del Fascismo"). This same year he was charged with the murder of anti-Fascist parishpriest Giuseppe Minzoni in Argenta. He fled toRome and in 1924 became General Commander of the Fascist militia and undersecretary for National Economy in 1925.Aviator
On
6 November 1926 , despite the fact that he knew nothing at the time aboutaviation , Balbo was appointedSecretary of State for Air. He went through a crash course of flying instruction and set up to build the Italian Royal Air Force ("Regia Aeronautica Italia"). On19 August 1928 , he became General of the Air Force and on12 September 1929 Minister of the Air Force.In Italy, this was a time of great interest in
aviation . In 1927,Francesco de Pinedo flew a seaplane fromItaly toAustralia toJapan and back again toItaly .Mario De Bernardi successfully raced seaplanes internationally. In 1928, Arctic explorerUmberto Nobile piloted theAirship Italia on a polar expedition.Balbo himself led two
transatlantic flight s. The first was the 1930 flight of twelveSavoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boat s fromOrbetello , Italy toRio de Janeiro ,Brazil between17 December 1930 and15 January 1931 . From1 July -12 August 1933 he led a flight of twenty-four flying boats on a round-trip flight from Rome to theCentury of Progress inChicago, Illinois . The flight had seven legs; Orbetello —Amsterdam —Derry —Reykjavík — Cartwright — Shediac —Montreal ending onLake Michigan near Burnham Park. In honor of this feat, Mussolini donated a column from Ostia to the city of Chicago; it can still be seen along the Lakefront Trail, a little south ofSoldier Field . Chicago renamed Seventh Street "Balbo Drive" and staged a parade in his honor.During Balbo's stay in the
United States , PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt invited him to lunch and presented him with the Distinguished Flying Cross. [ [http://www.comandosupremo.com/Balbo.html Italo Balbo] comandosupremo.com] TheSioux even honorarily adopted Balbo as "Chief Flying Eagle". [Taylor, "Fascist Eagle: Italy's Air Marshal Italo Balbo", p.63.] Balbo received a warm welcome in the United States, especially by the large Italian-American populations in Chicago and New York. At a cheering mass inMadison Square Garden he told them, "Be proud you are Italians. Mussolini has ended the era of humiliations." [Time Life Books, "World War II: Italy at War"] After this, the term "Balbo " entered common usage to describe any large formation of aircraft. Back home in Italy, he was promoted toMarshal of the Air Force ("Maresciallo dell'Aria"). Furthermore, a major street in Chicago was renamed Balbo Drive in his honor.Governor of Libya
On
7 November 1933 , Balbo was appointedGovernor-General of the Italian colony of Libya. Mussolini looked to the flamboyant Air Marshal to be the "condottiere" of Italian ambition and extend Italy's new horizons in Africa. Balbo's task was to assert Italy's rights in the indeterminate zones leading toLake Chad from Tummo in the west and fromKufra in the east towards theSudan . Balbo had already made a flying visit toTibesti . By securing the "Tibesti-Borku strip" and the "Sarra Triangle," Italy would be in a good position to demand further territorial concessions in Africa from France and Britain. Mussolini even had his sights set on the former German colony ofKamerun . From 1922, the colony had become theLeague of Nations mandate territories of French Cameroun and British Cameroons. Mussolini pictured an Italian Cameroon and a territorial corridor connecting that territory to Libya. An Italian Cameroon would give Italy a port on theAtlantic Ocean , the mark of a world power. Ultimately, control of theSuez Canal and ofGibralter would complete the picture. [Kelly, Saul, "The Lost Oasis", p. 102]As of
1 January 1934 , Tripolitania, Cyrenaica andFezzan were merged to form the new colony and Balbo moved to Libya. At that stage, Balbo had apparently caused bad blood in the party, possibly because of jealousy and individualist behavior. Being appointed Governor-General of Libya was an effective exile from politics in Rome where Mussolini considered him a threat. "Benito in Balboland," an article in the22 March 1937 issue ofTime Magazine , played with the conflict between Mussolini and Balbo. Balbo was still well known in theUnited States for his visit toChicago 's 1933Century of Progress Exposition . [Time Magazine [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757432,00.html Benito in Balboland] ]Abyssinia crisis
In 1935, as the "
Abyssinia Crisis " worsened, Balbo began preparing plans to to attackEgypt and theSudan . As Mussolini made his intentions to invade Ethiopia clear, relations between Italy and theUnited Kingdom became more tense. Fearing a "Mad Dog" act by Mussolini against British forces and possessions in the Mediterranean, Britain reinforced its fleet in the inland sea and also reinforced its military forces in Egypt. Should Britain choose to close theSuez Canal , Balbo reasoned, Italian troop transports would be prevented from reachingEritrea and Somalia. Thinking that the planned attack on Abyssinia would be crippled, Balbo asked for reinforcements in Libya. He calculated that such a gesture would make him a national hero and restore him to the center of the political stage. Three divisions and seven-hundred aircraft were immediately sent from Italy to Libya. Balbo may have received intelligence concerning the feasibility of advancing into Egypt and the Sudan from famed desert researcherLászló Almásy . [Kelly, Saul, "The Lost Oasis", p. 121]By
1 September 1935 , Balbo secretly deployed Italian forces along the border with Egypt without the British knowing anything about it. At the time, British intelligence concerning what what was going on in Libya was woefully inadequate. In the end, Mussolini rejected Balbo's overly ambitious plan to attack Egypt and the Sudan andLondon learned about his deployments in Libya fromRome . [Kelly, Saul, "The Lost Oasis", p. 122]Munich crisis
The "Anglo-Italian Agreement" of
April 1938 brought a temporary cessation of tensions between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Italy. For Balbo, the agreement meant the immediate loss of 10,000 Italian troops. But the agreement was characterized by renewed promises of undertakings which Mussolini had previously broken and which he could easily break again. By the time of the "Munich Crisis ", Balbo had his 10,000 troops back. [Kelly, Saul, "The Lost Oasis", p. 130]At this time, Italian aircraft were making frequent overflights of Egypt and the Sudan. Italian pilots were being familiarized with the routes and airfields. From 1938 to 1939, Balbo himself made a number of flights from Libya across the Sudan to
Italian East Africa ("Africa Orientale Italiana", or AOI). He even flew along the border between AOI andBritish East Africa (now known asKenya ). InJanuary 1939, Balbo was accompanied on one of his flights by GermanColonel-General Ernst Udet . [Kelly, Saul, "The Lost Oasis", p. 130]There were distinct signs of German military and diplomatic co-operation with the Italians. General Udet was accompanied by the Head of the German Mechanization Department. The German military attache to Rome paid a long visit to Egypt. A German Military Mission was present in Benghazi and German pilots were engaged in navigational training flights. [Kelly, Saul, "The Lost Oasis", p. 130] Balbo began road construction projects like the "
Via Balbia " in an attempt to attract Italian immigrants to ASI. He also made efforts to draw Muslims into theFascist cause. In 1938, Balbo was the only member of the Fascist regime who strongly opposed the new legislation against the Jews, the Italian "Racial Laws."In 1939, after the German invasion of Poland, Balbo visited Rome to express his displeasure with Mussolini's support for German dictator
Adolf Hitler . Balbo was the only Fascist man of rank to publicly criticize this aspect of Mussolini's foreign policy. He argued that Italy should side with Britain. But Balbo attracted little following to his arguement. When informed of Italy's formal alliance withNazi Germany , Balbo exclaimed: :"You will all wind up shining the shoes of the Germans!".World War II
At the time of the Italian declaration of war on
10 June 1940 , Balbo was the Governor-General of Libya andCommander-in-Chief ofItalian North Africa ("Africa Settentrionale Italiana", or ASI). He became resonsible for planning an invasion of Egypt. After the surrender ofFrance , Balbo was able to shift much of the men and material of the Italian Fifth Army on theTunisia n border to the Tenth Army on theEgypt ian border. While he had expressed many legitimate concerns to Mussolini and to MarshalPietro Badoglio , the Chief-of-Staff inRome , Balbo still planned to invade Egypt in earlyJuly .Death
On
28 June , while landing on the Italian airfield ofTobruk a few minutes after a British air attack, Balbo was shot down by Italian gunners and killed. The cruiser "San Giorgio" started firing on hisSavoia-Marchetti SM.79 airplane (bearing the civil registration "I-MANU" in honor of his wife, Donna Manu), [Taylor, "Fascist Eagle: Italy's Air Marshal Italo Balbo", p.2.] followed by the airport's anti-air guns. It is still not clear which of them shot him down. The government in Rome maintained that the incident was an accident offriendly fire , but Balbo's closest friends and his family strongly believed that it was anassassination on Mussolini's orders. This idea was supported during Mussolini's next visit to Tobruk to review the Italian forces, during which he refused to visit Balbo's place of death. A 1997 interview with the gunner who shot him down claimed that Balbo's plane was simply identified as an enemy target, as Balbo was flying low and coming in against the sun after an attack by BritishBristol Blenheim s. [Taylor, "Fascist Eagle: Italy's Air Marshal Italo Balbo", p.124.] But debate continues.Italo Balbo's remains were buried outside
Tripoli on4 July 1940 . In 1970, Balbo's remains were brought back to Italy and buried inOrbetello by Balbo's family. After taking power in a "coup d'état" on1 September 1969 , the new Libyan government ofMuammar al-Gaddafi threatened to disinter the Italian cemeteries in Tripoli.Notes
References
*Di Scala, Spencer. "Italy: From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present". Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8133-4176-0
*Kelly, Saul. "The Lost Oasis: The Desert War and the Hunt for Zerzura". Westview Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7195-61620 (HC)
*Smith, Denis Mack. "Italy: A Modern History". Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1959. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 59-62503
*Taylor, Blaine. "Fascist Eagle: Italy's Air Marshal Italo Balbo". Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 1-57510-012-6ee also
*
Military history of Italy during World War II
*"Squadrismo "
*Via Balbia External links
* [http://www.comandosupremo.com/Balbo.html Comando Supremo: Italo Balbo]
* [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11277.html Italo Balbo and the Sioux]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.