Description
BENITO MUSSOLINI and VICTOR EMMANUEL III Document Signed.
Mussolini was an Italian fascist politician and Dictator of Italy from 1930-1943. Victor Emmanuel III of the House of Savoy was King of Italy from 1900-1946.
Official document with fine autograph signatures of both Victor Emmanuel III, as King, and Benito Mussolini, as Prime Minister and Secretary of State for War. Dated 31st August 1928. The document is a declaration of two articles in which two lieutenants of infantry are to lose their rank for breaches of the law leading to the loss of Italian citizens (or loss to Italian citizens?). Rubber stamped on verso and countersigned by what are presumably the divisional administrators or regional commanders of the units of infantry affected.
Folio. Approx 14.5 x 9.5 inches (37 x 24 cms) on paper watermarked "Provveditorato General dello Stato (Tipo 1)" General Superintendancy of State (Type 1). Partly typeset and rubber letterpress and partly in clerical manuscript. Original binding marks and one short edge tear to left margin and two very small edge chips to right edge (none of which touch any of the text or signatures). One or two slight marks or stains to the lower right corner. All else very good/near fine.
Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and declared himself Il Duce in 1925. Over the next five years he built a totalitarian fascist State in which he effectively ruled jointly with King Victor Emmanuel III. By 1928 the only check on the power of Mussolini was the King's theoretical right to dismiss him from office.
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