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From 1860 to 1915, and particularly in the North of Italy, rapid strides   
were made in the fields of education, transportation, industry, and   
distribution. The King's conduct during the First World War gained him   
universal popularity and even by the opponents of the monarchy he was   
respected for his negative virtues. But even at that time, the Italian   
monarchy had no firm roots in the ground such as, for instance, the crown   
in Great Britain. It was still, in the minds of many Italians, a   
compromise to be accepted and tolerated; it was not an emblem of real   
unity. It could not, therefore, sustain the severe shocks that the   
        following twenty years held in store for it.        
 
                                                            
 
 
The march on Rome: Could the King, should the King have prevented it? Most   
of the Italians with whom I have spoken, believe that it was his   
               constitutional duty to do so.                
 
                                                            
 
 
The murder of Matteoti: At this moment  Mussolini's prestige had fallen to   
a miserable low level. The opposition was strong and confident. The entire   
country was indignant and everyone expected the King to act. It was his   
duty as well as his prerogative to act. He did nothing. I won't go through   
the weary recital of time after time when constitutional monarchy in Italy   
rayed the constitution and betrayed itself. It is a sorry st
 
                                                            
 
 
(I must again make it clear that in this informal report, I trying to give   
you a resume of opinions collected from talks with responsible Italians   
               over a period of many months.)               
 
                                                            
 
 
When on July 25, 1943, the Kind did finally act, and the fall of Mussolini   
was brought about, it was for a time hoped and believed that the King   
would not stop at half-measures, but would act decisively. He did not do   
this; he temporised and, in the six weeks that followed, delivered the   
major part of his country just rescued from Fascism, into the complete   
                     grip of the Nazis.                     
 
                                                            
 
 
The King's first government after the fall of Fascism, headed by Marshal   
Badoglio, signed an armistice with the Allies, the terms of which, after   
nearly a year, have not yet been made public. The question in the minds of   
thinking Italians: Have the terms of the armistice been kept secret for so   
long merely for military reasons, or are they so severe and far-reaching   
that they are acceptable only to a tottering monarchy, intent solely on   
saving its own skin? Are the terms so dissonant with the principles of the   
Atlantic Charter that they are not likely to enjoy the support of public   
   opinion in either the United States or Great Britain?    
 
                                                            
 
 
Italy recognizes the fact that, up until a year ago, it was an enemy   
country. It accepts the grave responsibility and the consequences which   
its fatal choice of June 1940 has imposed on it. It recognizes that it is   
               a defeated nation. During the