Galeazzo Ciano
Ciano volunteered for action in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia between 1935 and 1936. He commanded a bomber squadron and received two silver medals of valour during that campaign. He reached the rank of captain while serving alongside future opponent Alessandro Pavolini who was a lieutenant. Upon his return from war as a hero in 1936 he was appointed Foreign Minister by Mussolini. He began keeping a diary shortly after receiving this appointment. The record remained active until his dismissal as foreign minister in 1943. In 1937 he allegedly planned the murder of brothers Carlo and Nello Rosselli. These exiled anti-fascist activists were killed in the French spa town of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne on the 9th of June. Also in 1937 prior to the Italian annexation in 1939 Ciano was named an Honorary Citizen of Tirana Albania. Before World War II Mussolini may have been preparing Ciano to succeed him as Duce.
When Mussolini formally declared war on France in 1940 Ciano wrote in his diary I am sad very sad. The adventure begins. May God help Italy. He became increasingly disenchanted with Nazi Germany and the course of World War II despite going along with parallel war efforts. Prior to the German campaign in France in 1940 Ciano leaked a warning of imminent invasion to neutral Belgium. Throughout 1941 and thereafter Ciano made derogatory and sarcastic comments about Mussolini behind his back. He was surprised that these comments were reported to the Duce who did not take them lightly. Friends advised moderation but Ciano ignored their warnings. Two relatively minor incidents wounded his overblown self-importance and vanity. One involved being excluded from a projected meeting between Mussolini and Franco. The other involved him being reprimanded for a rowdy celebration of an aviator in Bari. He wrote a letter stating the Duce had opened a wound in him which can never be closed.
On the afternoon of the 24th of July 1943 Mussolini summoned the Fascist Grand Council to its first meeting since 1939. This gathering was prompted by the Allied invasion of Sicily. At that meeting Mussolini announced that Germans were thinking of evacuating the south. Dino Grandi launched a blistering attack on his longtime comrade during this session. Grandi put on the table a resolution asking King Victor Emmanuel III to resume full constitutional powers. The motion won by an unexpectedly large margin of 19 votes to 8 with Ciano voting in favour. Mussolini's replacement was Pietro Badoglio an Italian general in both World Wars. Mussolini did not expect the vote to have substantive effect and showed up for work the next morning as usual. That afternoon the king summoned him to Villa Savoia and dismissed him from office. Upon leaving the villa Mussolini was arrested.
Ciano and Edda secretly turned to the Germans for help after fearing further prosecution by the new Italian government. They fled their villa with their three children on the 27th of August 1943. A German military plane evacuated them from Ciampino airport to Munich. After they were placed in a secluded villa near Munich Ciano applied for permission to be transferred to neutral Spain. The application was denied because the Germans were furious at Ciano for his anti-Mussolini vote at the 24th of July Fascist Grand Council meeting. They turned Ciano over to Mussolini's new government known as the Italian Social Republic formed on the 23rd of September. Ciano was then formally arrested on charges of treason under German and Fascist pressure. Mussolini kept Ciano imprisoned before he was tried at court and found guilty.
On the 11th of January 1944 Ciano was executed by a firing squad along with four others who had voted for Mussolini's ousting. Emilio De Bono Luciano Gottardi Giovanni Marinelli and Carlo Pareschi died alongside him. As a further humiliation the condemned men were tied to chairs and shot in the back. Allegedly Ciano managed to twist his chair around at the last minute to face the firing squad. He uttered his final words Long live Italy! before being shot. This event marked the end of his life after years of service within the fascist regime. His death followed the Verona trial which sentenced him to execution for treason against the state.
Ciano is remembered for his Diaries 1937, 1943 which served as a revealing daily record of meetings with Mussolini Hitler Ribbentrop and foreign ambassadors. Edda tried to barter his papers to the Germans in return for his life. Gestapo agents helped her confidant Emilio Pucci rescue some of them from Rome. Pucci was then a lieutenant in the Italian Air Force but would find fame after the war as a fashion designer. When Hitler vetoed the plan she hid the bulk of the papers at a clinic in Ramiola near Medesano. On the 9th of January 1944 Pucci helped Edda escape to Switzerland with five diaries covering the war years. These documents were buried beneath a rose garden. The diary was first published in English in London in 1946 edited by Malcolm Muggeridge. The complete English version was published in 2002. Ciano's diaries were used by the prosecution against Hitler's Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop during the post-war Nuremberg Trials.
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Common questions
When was Galeazzo Ciano born and where?
Gian Galeazzo Ciano was born in Livorno, Italy, on the 18th of March 1903. His father Costanzo held the title of Admiral and served as a hero during World War I for the Royal Italian Navy.
What role did Galeazzo Ciano play in the Fascist Grand Council meeting on the 24th of July 1943?
At that meeting Mussolini announced that Germans were thinking of evacuating the south. The motion won by an unexpectedly large margin of 19 votes to 8 with Ciano voting in favour.
How did Galeazzo Ciano die and when?
On the 11th of January 1944 Ciano was executed by a firing squad along with four others who had voted for Mussolini's ousting. He uttered his final words Long live Italy! before being shot.
Who published Galeazzo Ciano's diaries after his death?
The diary was first published in English in London in 1946 edited by Malcolm Muggeridge. The complete English version was published in 2002.
Why was Galeazzo Ciano arrested and executed by the Italian Social Republic?
They turned Ciano over to Mussolini's new government known as the Italian Social Republic formed on the 23rd of September. Ciano was then formally arrested on charges of treason under German and Fascist pressure.