Word: victor
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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They were busy and important days for Victor Emmanuel. He read long and complicated reports, reviewed parades, pinned medals on heroes and put wreaths on graves. An American visitor was told in 1927: "The most wonderful thing about Mussolini is his loyalty to his King." The words were spoken by King Victor Emmanuel III; by that time a lot of Italians would have disagreed. When Il Duce declared war against Ethiopia, il piccolo swiftly calculated: "If we win I shall be King of Abyssinia; if we lose, I shall be King of Italy...
They won. His father and grandfather who had ruled Italy since its unification in 1861 reigned over some 115,000 square miles. Victor Emmanuel, standing in the shadows, boosted...
King's Coffee. But Italians long since had learned to jeer at their little king. Two attempts to assassinate Victor Emmanuel failed prior to World War II. Casualty lists and home-front privations in war did not allay the discontent. Ran one popular coffeehouse rhyme...
...When our Victor was plain King...
...collect its due. But stubbornly the King procrastinated, hoping somehow to hang on to his throne. In 1944, he named his tall (6 ft.) playboy son and Crown Prince, Umberto, as "Lieutenant General of the Realm," subject to the people's will to be expressed by free vote. Victor Emmanuel remained a king in name only...