Biography of Armando Diaz
February 29, 1928
Armando Diaz was born on 5 December 1861 Vittorio in Naples, the son of Anad and Lodovico Diaz (the father of Spanish origin). Still very young, it starts a military career, and is a student of the Military Academy of artillery of Turin. Became official, in 1884 the 10th field artillery regiment service takes, while from 1890 has the rank of captain in the 1st Regiment. In 1894 he took part in the War College, and the following year he married Sarah Dalton-Mirabelli.
Began working in the General Secretariat Alberto Pollio with the staff before being promoted to major in 1899: Armando Diaz begins, then, commanding a battalion of the 26TH infantry regiment. In 1905 he became Colonel, and then pass it as Chief of staff to the Division of Florence. During the italo-Turkish war, in 1910, he commands the 21st infantry, and the following year is in Libya to head the XCIII infantry regiment, remained without command. In 1912 was injured in Libya, but without serious consequences, Janzur. In 1915 he was appointed a major General by Luigi Cadorna on the occasion of the Declaration of intervention of Italy in World War I, in charge of the Department's high command operations officer; the following year, however, he asks to be moved to a Department fighter, and is then promoted to Lieutenant Général de Division, with the task of leading the command of the 49TH Division in the third army.
Assumed loads higher than the XXIII Corps in the spring of 1917, Diaz won the silver medal for bravery after being wounded in the shoulder. In November 1917, he was called to take the place of Luigi Cadorna-by Royal Decree--as Chief of staff of the Italian army. After the defeat of Caporetto Italian army, trying to recover by organizing the resistance on the river Piave and monte Grappa, decentralising functions to subordinates-drawing the appropriate lessons from the experience of Cadorna and reserving to itself a task of general supervision. Thanks to this strategy, in the autumn of 1918 is able to drive the Italian troops to victory with the collision between 51 Italian divisions (assisted by an American Regiment, a division of Czechoslovakia, two French divisions and three British divisions) and 73 Austrian divisions.
The plan of the Chief of staff is not based on frontal attacks but the assault on the enemy at a single point, Vittorio Veneto. Diaz, then attracts Austrian reinforcements along the Piave River with a defensive maneuver, pretending the enemy it is that of the river the site of the main attack, and thus preventing him to act because of the flood. The counterattack, carried out during the night between 28 and 29 October 1918, he broke the front of the austro-Hungarian army, which definitively on 4 November when capitola Diaz draws up the famous Bollettino della Vittoria "with which it communicates the success Italian and course of the opposing army. After the war, he was appointed as Senator; in 1918 became Knight Grand Cross of the equestrian order for civilian and military merit (recognition awarded by the Republic of San Marino), and in 1919 he you see assign a Knight Grand Cross of the order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, the title of Knight of the Supreme order of the most Holy Annunciation and a Knight Grand Cross of the military order of Savoy but several foreign decorations, including the title of bailiff Grand Cross of honour and devotion of the sovereign military order of Malta and a Knight Grand Cross of the order of the bath in England.
In 1921 Armando Diaz is awarded the title of Duca della Vittoria with a Royal Decree motu proprio issued in December. In 1921 he became the first Italian who can boast the honor of a ticker-tape parade in New York City, occurred during a trip in the United States: during that trip he travels well in Kansas City in order to attend the inauguration of the us national monument erected to commemorate the first world war, the Memorial of Freedom (with Diaz there are also the British Admiral David Beatty Belgian, Lieutenant-General Baron Jacques, the American General John j. Pershing and the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch).
In 1922, Diaz suggests not to resort to a military solution to resolve the crisis that began with the March on Rome (going against the opinion of Pietro Badoglio); He later joined the first Government Mussolini on imposition of King Victor Emmanuel III, that doing so puts the Executive a figure in support of the monarchy. As Minister of war, then, deals with the reform of the armed forces and to the realisation of approval national security volunteer militia, who reports directly to Benito Mussolini. On 30 April 1924 ends the experience in Government and decides to retire from public life. So along with the General Cadorna, receives the rank of Marshal of Italy, an award specially created by Mussolini in order to give recognition to the commanders of the army of the first world war. Armando Diaz died on 29 February 1928 in Rome: his body is buried in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.