Throughout the Second World War, there were many executions that took place and one of
the most shocking sights was when Benito Mussolini the former dictator of Facsist Italy was brought
dead into a square in Milan.
Hours before he had been dragged to the side of a road and he was executed by Partisan
fighters being sprayed by bullets from a machine gun.
Mussolini was very close with Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator and he would bail him out
following his capture as Mussolini was arrested and fell into the hands of his enemies.
But during World War 2, Mussolini was kicked out of power and he was voted out of government
by his own party and by the Grand Council of Fascism.
One of those people that rallied behind Mussolini was his son in law, who did turn against him
and who was motivated by power.
But Count Galeazzo Ciano would later himself be executed as he was brought to a firing
range and he was to be shot in the back out of shame.
But what is the story of the execution of Mussolini’s son in law, join us today as
we look at this and to support our channel please make sure to subscribe.
Gian Galeazzo Ciano was born in 1903 in Livorno, and he was the son of a First World War veteran
and an admiral.
His father was senior in the Italian Navy, and he was given the title of a Count by the
King of Italy.
His father though was a founding member of the Fascist party, and he was also in the
merchant navy.
His father though was a man who had a rather expensive lifestyle, and Galeazzo Ciano would
grow up in a high profile family where there was a lot of celebrity and wealth.
His father was there with his son during Mussolini’s Fascist march on Rome in 1922, and they were
involved in the demonstrations.
The blackshirts would conquer many parts of Italy and Mussolini then seized power after
he was made the prime minister.
But Galeazzo then went to university and he studied law, but he then looked towards a
career in politics.
But at the age of 27 he married Edda Mussolini the daughter of the Italian dictator.
With this, Ciano would enter the family of the most powerful man across Italy, and he
then benefitted politically from this union, and he would also have great power.
But their relationship led to three children being born, but Ciano was a man who would
have a number of affairs and mistressses whilst married to Mussolini’s daughter.
He would then work as a diplomat and travelled to Asia and Shanghai, and Edda Mussolini went
with him and its believed she on this trip also slept with another man, a Chinese warlord.
Their marriage was not a good one, but when Ciano came back to Italy in 1935 he would
become a bigger part of his father’s political party and government, and was named the Minister
of press and propaganda.
But Ciano then turned to the military, and he would be involved in the Italian invasion
of Ethiopia and he served as a bomber commander.
He was rewarded for his service and was seen as a war hero, but to the people of Italy
he had gained their respect and he was then named the Foreign Minister.
But he had a dark side, and he was linked to the murder of two brothers who were anti-facists,
and these were killed in a French town.
HE was slowly becoming the second most powerful person in Italy behind his father in law,
and before the Second World War broke out there were talks about Ciano being Mussolini’s
successor.
Mussolini was slowly getting his son in law into this position, but Ciano was realistic
and he was not as blinded as Mussolini.
He would see the problems with the Italian military and the armed forces, and he knew
that the Italians were not ready for an all out war and conflict.
He knew that if the Second World War broke out and Italy got involved that they’d be
destroyed, and when Mussolini declared war on France and supported the Nazis in public,
Ciano said ‘I am sad, I am very sad, the adventure begins but may god help Italy.’
When the Germans invaded Poland, Ciano was working as the foreign minister, and the Italians
were not told about the invasion, and he believed that Hitler should have consulted him and
Mussolini about this, and he said that the countries must not have been such close allies.
But Ciano himself began to doubt the Second World War effort, and he began to withdraw
his support for the Nazis and the Italians and he was starting to believe in withdrawing
the Italians from the conflict would be the best thing.
Ciano even started to sabotage the war effort, and he would leak information to the Belgians
about the impending invasion of their country.
He would also say that the Italian invasion of Greece was poorly executed, and that the
invasions they were involved in were terrible failures and resulted in un-necessary loss
of lives.
Ciano would in private make a number of comments about his father in law Mussolini, and these
were later reported back to him and Ciano was told to watch his words and that he was
guilty of treason against Mussolini for doing this.
But he did not listen, and at one meeting Ciano was excluded from a consultation between
Mussolini and Franco which frustrated him massively.
Ciano knew as foreign minister that he should have been in these meetings with heads of
foreign states, but more problems existed between Ciano and Mussolini.
He did not seem to realise that his job as foreign minister was more of a favour Mussolini
gave following the marriage of Ciano to Edda Mussolini.
But after more defeats for the Axis and for the Italians, Ciano then began to believe
that Italy did not need to be involved int he Second World War, and there were more criticisms
he had about the Fascist dictator, and in secret Ciano would lobby other prominent politicians
to try and form a coalition that would support the withdrawal of Italy from the conflict.
But when these talks were reported to Mussolini, Ciano lost his job as a foreign minister and
the rest of the cabinet were also fired and sacked.
But Ciano was then given a job with the Pope and Mussolini kept an eye on Ciano, but on
the 14th July 1943, the Fascist Grand Council gathered to meet.
This was the first meeting that had occurred since the Second World War had broken out,
and this was gathered due to the Allied Invasion of Sicily.
In this meeting, Mussolini told that the Germans were going to evacuate, and one of his most
loyal friends turned against him.
Following this, a motion was made to the King to oust Mussolini from power and leadership.
This was accepted as 19 voted for and 8 voted against, and Ciano would vote against his
father in law, and following this Mussolini was then sacked and he was arrested.
He was watched closely for two months and was moved to different residences for his
safety and to stop the Germans freeing him.
The Germans would eventually free Mussolini in the Gran Sasso Raid, and he was then appointed
the head of the Nazi Puppet State in the north of the country.
But the new government following his sacking was established, and Ciano was excluded from
this because of his links to Mussolini.
He went on the run with his wife and their 3 children, and they went towards Germany
and feared their lives.
Ciano was worried Mussolini would place him on trial and this is exactly what happened
and he accused his son in law of treason following his capture by the Germans, and his hand over
to the Fascists.
The trial was held in Verona, and Edda Mussolini would plead with her father to spare her husband
Galeazzo Ciano.
But Mussolini would not get involved in this, and Ciano knew he was about to be sentenced
to death.
He got his affairs in order, and wrote a letter to the King and one to Winston Churchill before
he then organised his diaries for post war publication.
Edda Mussolini continued to try and get her husband freed, and she even tried to hatch
an escape plan.
She was going to publish her husbands revealing diaries but it was clear Ciano would be executed.
Ciano was found guilty of treason and was sentenced to death.
He was considered still a military hero, and because of this the execution he would face
was a firing squad.
But on the 11th January 1944, Ciano was taken out of Verona and he was to be executed.
He was taken outside the walls of the town and there was a clearing against an embankment
where the firing squad was being gathered.
There were many others who were executed that day including others who voted against Mussolini
and it was a cold January morning.
The execution squad was summoned and opposite them were a number of wooden chairs and stools
for the men to be tied to and shot on.
Ciano was placed on the chair and he was then tied to it to make sure he didn’t flee.
He was tied tightly and then the executioners were readied.
But the men who shot Ciano were not the most skilled.
Ciano was awaiting his death, and he was facing away from the executioners which was considered
an act of humiliation.
But when the firing squad readied their rifles, Ciano then turned around and jumped forward
with the executioners then shooting him in the chest rather than his back.
He was the only one executed in this way, and the executioners that day did their jobs
poorly.
A number of the condemned were not killed to begin with by their wounds, and many had
to be given a coupe de grace gunshot to the head.
Galeazzo Ciano was the man who was the son in law of Mussolini and he was a rather senior
man inside of his fascist government through marrying his daughter.
But he would speak out against him, and because of this Mussolini became his enemy and he
would later order the execution of his son in law.
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