This article lists the commanders of the Blackshirts (Italian: Camicie Nere, CCNN; officially Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN — "Voluntary Militia for National Security"), a paramilitary wing of the Italian National Fascist Party (PNF), between the years of 1923[a] and 1943.
Commandants−General edit
| Commandant-General of the Blackshirts | |
|---|---|
| Comandante generale della MVSN (Italian) | |
 Rank insignia | |
 Command flag | |
| Blackshirts | |
| Type | Commanding officer of a paramilitary organization |
| Member of | Stato Maggiore della MVSN Grand Council of Fascism |
| Appointer | the Duce |
| Formation | 1 February 1923 |
| First holder | Held simultaneously by: |
| Final holder | Renato Ricci |
| Abolished | 8 December 1943 |
The Commandant-General of the Blackshirts (Italian: Comandante generale della MVSN) was the supreme commander of the Blackshirts.
List of officeholders edit
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Party | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | 
|
Marshal of Italy Emilio De Bono (1866–1944) |
1 February 1923 | 31 October 1924 | 1 year, 273 days | National Fascist Party | [1] | |
| 1 | .jpg)
|
Marshal of the Air Italo Balbo (1896–1940) |
1 February 1923 | 31 October 1924 | 1 year, 273 days | National Fascist Party | [2] | |
| 1 | 
|
General Cesare Maria De Vecchi (1884–1959) |
1 February 1923 | 10 July 1925 | 2 years, 159 days | National Fascist Party | [3] | |
| 2 | 
|
General Asclepia Gandolfo (1864–1925) |
1 December 1924 | 31 August 1925 | 273 days | National Fascist Party | [4] | |
| 3 | 
|
General Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga (1861–1938) |
12 September 1925 | 9 October 1926 | 1 year, 27 days | National Fascist Party | [5] | |
| 4 | .jpg)
|
First Marshal of the Empire Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) |
12 October 1926 | 25 July 1943 | 16 years, 286 days | National Fascist Party | [6] | |
| 5 | 
|
General Quirino Armellini (1889–1975) |
26 July 1943 | 8 September 1943 | 44 days | Independent | [7] | |
| 6 | .jpg)
|
Renato Ricci (1896–1956) |
20 September 1943 | 8 December 1943[b] | 79 days | Republican Fascist Party | [8] | |
Timeline edit
Chiefs of Staff edit
| Chief of Staff of the Blackshirts | |
|---|---|
| Capo di stato maggiore della MVSN (Italian) | |
 Rank insignia | |
 Command flag | |
| Blackshirts | |
| Type | Chief of staff of a paramilitary organization |
| Member of | Stato Maggiore della MVSN Grand Council of Fascism |
| Appointer | the Duce |
| Formation | 1 February 1923 |
| First holder | Francesco Sacco |
| Final holder | Renzo Montagna (acting) |
| Abolished | 30 September 1943 |
The Chief of Staff of the Blackshirts (Italian: Capo di stato maggiore della MVSN) oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Blackshirts.
List of officeholders edit
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Party | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | 
|
Lieutenant general Francesco Sacco (1877–1958) |
1 February 1923 | 1 December 1924 | 1 year, 304 days | National Fascist Party | [9] | |
| 2 | .gif)
|
Lieutenant general Enrico Bazan (1864–1947) |
1 December 1924 | 23 December 1928 | 4 years, 22 days | National Fascist Party | – | |
| 3 | 
|
Lieutenant general Attilio Teruzzi (1882–1950) |
2 January 1929 | 3 October 1935 | 6 years, 274 days | National Fascist Party | [10] | |
| 4 | 
|
Lieutenant general Luigi Russo (1882–1964) |
3 October 1935 | 3 November 1939 | 4 years, 31 days | National Fascist Party | – | |
| 5 | 
|
Achille Starace (1889–1945) |
3 November 1939 | 16 May 1941 | 1 year, 194 days | National Fascist Party | [11] | |
| 6 | 
|
Lieutenant general Enzo Galbiati (1897–1982) |
25 May 1941 | 26 July 1943 | 2 years, 62 days | National Fascist Party | [12] | |
| – | 
|
Lieutenant general Renzo Montagna (1894–1978) Acting |
17 September 1943 | 30 September 1943 | 13 days | Independent | [13] | |
Timeline edit
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ After approval by the Mussolini government on 28 December 1922, the draft law on founding the MVSN was approved by a resolution of the Grand Council of Fascism on 12 January 1923. The draft became law under Royal Decree No. 31 of 14 January 1923, issued by the King Victor Emmanuel III. The activities of the MVSN began on 1 February 1923.[citation needed]
- ^ Continued as commander of the National Republican Guard.
References edit
- ^ Scaffei, Elvira Valleri, ed. (1987). "De Bono, Emilio". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 33. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Berselli, Aldo, ed. (1963). "Balbo, Italo". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 5. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Santarelli, Enzo, ed. (1991). "De Vecchi, Cesare Maria". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 39. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Crociani, Piero, ed. (1999). "Gandolfo, Ascelpia". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 52. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ 14 gennaio 1923: nasce la Milizia, custode della rivoluzione fascista, Il Secolo d'Italia
- ^ Gentile, Emilio, ed. (2012). "Mussolini, Benito". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 77. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Boatti, Giorgio, ed. (1988). "Armellini, Quirino". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 34. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Teodori, Giovanni, ed. (2016). "Ricci, Renato". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 87. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ "Francesco Sacco, Senatori dell'Italia fascista" (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Attilio Teruzzi, Spazio in wind
- ^ Canali, Mauro, ed. (2019). "Starace, Achille". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 94. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, 1990, p. 144
- ^ "Biography of Major-General Renzo Montagna (1894 – 1978), Italy". generals.dk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2021.