Ugo Cavallero

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Ugo Cavallero
Ugo Cavallero
Born	September 20, 1880 Casale Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy
Died	September 13, 1943 (aged 62) Frascati, Lazio, Italy
Allegiance	Kingdom of Italy
Service/branch	Royal Italian Army
Years of service	1900–1943
Rank	Marshal of Italy
Commands held	Italian Supreme Command
Battles/wars	Italo-Turkish War World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Ugo Cavallero (September 20, 1880 – September 13, 1943) was an Italian military commander before and during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Biography

Born in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont, Cavallero had a privileged childhood as a member of the Italian nobility.

After attending military school, Cavallero was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1900.

Cavallero later attended college and graduated in 1911, earning a degree in mathematics.

Still in the army, Cavallero fought in Libya in 1913, during the Italo-Turkish War, and was awarded a Bronze Medal for Military Valor.

World War I

In 1915, Cavallero was transferred to the Italian Supreme Command. A brilliant organizer and tactician, Cavallero became a Brigadier General and Chief of the Operations Office of the Italian Supreme Command in 1918. In this capacity, Cavallero was instrumental in forming plans that led to Italian victories at Piave and Vittorio Veneto during World War I. During his time as chief of the plan of Italian General Staff, he developed an antipathy with Pietro Badoglio the Sottocapo di Stato Maggiore ( vice chief of the staff ) of the army.

Interwar period

Cavallero retired from the army in 1919 but later rejoined in 1925, at which time he became Benito Mussolini’s Undersecretary of War. A committed fascist, Cavallero was made a senator in 1926 and in 1927 became a major general. After leaving the army for a second time, Cavallero became involved in business and diplomatic enterprises throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Cavallero rejoined the army for the third and final time in 1937. Promoted to Lieutenant General, he became Commander of the combined Italian forces in Italian East Africa in 1938 and was made a full General in 1940.

World War II

Cavallero with Erwin Rommel.

After Italy entered World War II in June 1940, Cavallero was made the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Army Group in Albania. In October, when Italy invaded Greece, he was the commander of the invading Italian forces. In December, he replaced Pietro Badoglio as the Chief of the Italian Supreme Command (Comando Supremo). Italian military activities in Greece remained part of Cavallero's responsibilities and oversight was added immediately of campaigns in the Western Desert and East Africa.

As Chief of the Italian Supreme Command, Cavallero worked closely with German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring and often asked for Kesselring’s advice on military matters. Cavallero opposed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s invasion of Egypt and campaigned for Rommel’s dismissal in 1942. But he was ignored by both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Under Cavallero’s leadership, Italy’s military forces performed poorly during the war. Nonetheless, he was promoted to Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia) in 1942 after the promotion of Rommel to Field Marshal. During his tenure as chief of general staff, his performance was very bad and he became famous for his optimistic view over the course of the war.^[1]

In July 1943, after several serious Italian setbacks (such as the Allies’ capture of Libya), Cavallero was dismissed as Chief of the Supreme Command (Comando Supremo) and replaced by Vittorio Ambrosio. In response to Cavallero's dismissal, members of the Fascist leadership like Galeazzo Ciano expressed their joy.

At the same time as Cavallero's dismissal, Mussolini’s government was toppled by the King and newly appointed Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio. Cavallero was arrested by Badoglio for his Fascist and pro-German views. In his own defense, Cavallero wrote a letter to Badoglio claiming he despised Mussolini and Fascism. But Badoglio did not believe him.

In September, when Badoglio’s government surrendered to the Allies, the Germans invaded Rome and rescued Cavallero. They planned to make him a commander of Italian military forces still loyal to Fascist ideals. However, the Germans found his anti-Fascist letter in Badoglio’s abandoned office and believed him to be a traitor.

Now hated by both the Germans and by the forces loyal to Badoglio, a desperate Cavallero committed suicide. On 13 September, he shot himself in the head.^[2] Whether he did so willingly is still a matter of some debate.

Awards

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 February 1942 as Generale di Corpo d'Armata and chief of the general staff of the Italian Supreme Command^[3]

Notes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ugo Cavallero

↑ "Roma civica website" (in Italian). Romacivica. May 31, 2008.
↑ Tucker, Spencer C. (2001). "Cavallero, Hugo". Who's Who in Twentieth-Century Warfare. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-415-23497-9. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
↑ Scherzer 2007, p. 258.

References

Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

v t e Marshals of Italy

Graf Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Emanuele Filiberto of Aosta Pietro Badoglio Enrico Caviglia Gaetano Giardino Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi Emilio De Bono Rodolfo Graziani Ugo Cavallero Ettore Bastico Umberto II of Italy Giovanni Messe

Paolo Thaon di Revel (Grandadmiral)

Italo Balbo (Marshal of the Air Force)

Greece during World War II

1940–41 Balkans Campaign	Occupation and Resistance		Greek government-in-exile

Greco-Italian War Battles Elaia–Kalamas Pindus Morava–Ivan Himara Klisura Trebeshina Italian Spring Offensive Commanders Greece Ioannis Metaxas Alexander Papagos Charalambos Katsimitros Konstantinos Davakis Ioannis Pitsikas Italy Benito Mussolini Sebastiano Visconti Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Carlo Geloso German invasion Battles Metaxas Line Vevi Kleisoura Pass Thermopylae Crete Commanders Greece Alexander Papagos Georgios Tsolakoglou British Empire & Commonwealth Henry Maitland Wilson Thomas Blamey Bernard Freyberg Germany Wilhelm List Kurt Student	Occupying powers Authorities/People Germany Günther Altenburg Hermann Neubacher Walter Schimana Alexander Löhr Hellmuth Felmy Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller Alexander Andrae Bruno Bräuer Italy Angelico Carta Pellegrino Ghigi Carlo Geloso Bulgaria Andon Kalchev Atrocities Kondomari Kandanos Alikianos Doxato Kommeno Kalavryta Distomo Domenikon Drakeia Cephalonia Mesovouno Pyrgoi Viannos Kedros Kleisoura Mousiotitsa Chortiatis The Holocaust in Greece Great Famine Collaborators People Georgios Tsolakoglou K. Logothetopoulos Ioannis Rallis Georgios Poulos George S. Mercouris Ioannis Plytzanopoulos Organizations Collaborationist government Security Battalions ESPO EEE Greek National Socialist Party Secessionists Principality of the Pindus Ohrana Cham collaboration (Këshilla) Atrocities Paramythia Kaisariani Kokkinia	National Liberation Front (EAM) People Aris Velouchiotis Stefanos Sarafis Georgios Siantos Andreas Tzimas Alexandros Svolos Evripidis Bakirtzis Markos Vafiades Organizations KKE Socialist Party ELAS ELAN PEEA EPON E.A. OPLA SNOF Operations Drama Uprising Ryka Mikro Chorio Gorgopotamos Bridge Fardykambos Sarantaporo Porta Steiri Agorelitsa Atrocities Feneos 5/42 dissolution Meligalas Non-EAM Resistance People Napoleon Zervas Georgios Kartalis Dimitrios Psarros Komninos Pyromaglou Kostas Perrikos Vasilios Sachinis Georgios Petrakis Organizations EDES EKKA YVE/PAO PEAN ΕΟΚ E.S. MAVI Other Operations ESPO bombing Gorgopotamos Bridge Fardykambos Agia Kyriaki Milia Skala Paramythias Xirovouni Menina Dodona Atrocities Expulsion of Cham Albanians British Mission in Greece (SOE) People Eddie Myers Chris Woodhouse Patrick Leigh Fermor Bill Stanley Moss Operations Operation "Albumen" Gorgopotamos Bridge Operation "Animals" Asopos Bridge Kidnap of General Kreipe Damasta sabotage	Events El Alamein Dodecanese April 1944 mutiny Rimini People King George II Emmanouil Tsouderos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Notable units 3rd Mountain Brigade Sacred Band Vasilissa Olga Adrias Katsonis Papanikolis 13th Squadron 335th Squadron 336th Squadron Toward the Civil War Events National Bands Agreement Plaka agreement Lebanon conference Caserta agreement Percentages agreement Dekemvriana Treaty of Varkiza People Ronald Scobie George Papandreou Archbishop Damaskinos Nikos Zachariadis

v t e Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients in the military of allies of the Third Reich

Ion Antonescu Ugo de Carolis Ugo Cavallero Corneliu Dragalina Ioan Dumitrache Petre Dumitrescu (Oak Leaves) Emilio Esteban Infantes Carlo Fecia di Cossato Italo Gariboldi Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia Ermil Gheorghiu Fedele di Giorgio Enzo Grossi Erik Heinrichs József Heszlényi Miklós Horthy Ioan Hristea Mihály von Ibrányi Gusztáv Jány Emanoil Ionescu Mineichi Koga (Oak Leaves) Radu Korne Géza Lakatos Mihail Lascăr (Oak Leaves) Dezső László Horia Macellariu Augustín Malár Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (Oak Leaves) Gheorghe Manoliu Giulio Martinat Giovanni Messe Béla Miklós Leonard Mociulschi Agustín Muñoz Grandes (Oak Leaves) Ioan Pălăghiţă Ioan Mihail Racoviţă Edgar Rădulescu Gheorghe Răscănescu Zoltán Szügyi Nicolae Tătăranu Corneliu Teodorini (Oak Leaves) Jozef Turanec Isoroku Yamamoto (Oak Leaves & Swords)

in alphabetical order

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 3383040 LCCN: n85208907 ISNI: 0000 0001 1035 8282 GND: 123556783

Persondata
Name	Cavallero, Ugo
Alternative names
Short description	Italian general
Date of birth	September 20, 1880
Place of birth	Casale Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy
Date of death	September 13, 1943
Place of death	Frascati, Lazio, Italy

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