Rodolfo Graziani, Marchese di Neghelli (August 11,
1882—January 11, 1955), was an
Italian military officer who led expeditions in
Africa before and during World War II.
Rise to prominence
Born in Filettino (near Frosinone), he served in World War
I, and became the youngest colonel in the Italian Royal Army. In the 1920s, Graziani
commanded the Italian forces in Libya, responsible for pacifying the Senussi rebels. During this so-called pacification, he was responsible for
the construction of several concentration- and labor
camps, where tens of thousands Libyan prisoners died, if not killed
directly by hanging, like Omar Mukhtar, or bullets, then indirectly by starvation or
disease. In 1935-36 during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Graziani was the
commander of the Italian army which invaded Ethiopia. While governor of Ethiopia, he survived
an assassination attempt on February 19, 1937, and directed
the bloody repression that followed, becoming known as "the Butcher of Ethiopia".[1]
In World War II
During World War II he commanded the Tenth Army, stationed in Libya. He became
commander after the death of Italo Balbo killed by Italian "friendly fire" on
June 28 1940. After the declaration of war, Mussolini ordered Graziani to use his army in an invasion of
Egypt. Graziani expressed doubts about the ability of his largely un-mechanized
force could defeat the British, however, he followed orders and the Tenth Army attacked
on September 13. He resigned his commission in 1941 after
being defeated by the British in Operation Compass, following the defeat of his
army.
He was the only one of the Italian marshals to remain loyal to Mussolini after Dino
Grandi's Grand Council of Fascism coup, and was appointed Minister of Defence of the Italian Social
Republic. Graziani also commanded the mixed Italo-German LXXXXVII "Liguria" Army (Armee Ligurien).
At the end of the war, Graziani spent a few days in San Vittore prison in Milan before being transferred to Allied control. He was brought back to Africa in Anglo-American custody, staying there until
February of 1946. Allied forces then felt the danger of assassination or lynching had passed and returned him to Procida prison in Italy.
In 1950, a military tribunal sentenced Graziani to prison for a term of 19 years as punishment
for his collaboration with the Nazis, but he was released after serving only a few months of the sentence. He died in
Rome.
Military career
Trivia
Notes
- ^ An account of this event, known in Ethiopia as "Yekatit 12", is chapter 14
of Anthony Mockler's Haile Selassie's War (New York: Olive Branch, 2003).
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