Alessandro Pirzio Biroli (23 July 1877 – 20 May 1962) was an Italian fencer and army

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Biography

Biroli won a silver medal competing in the team

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

event at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

. During the First World War Biroli fought in the Macedonian Front as commander of one battalion of Italian Army who was decorated by the Government of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

with the Order of the White Eagle with swords. In 1918 Pirzio Biroli became the commanding officer for the

8th Bersaglieri Regiment The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment () is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Caserta in Campania. The regiment is part of the army's infantry corps' Bersaglieri speciality and operationally assigned to the Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi". The r ...

. Between 1921 and 1927, he headed a military mission to

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. He was commanding general of the ''Monte Nero Division'' from 1932 to 1933, and of the Italian V ''Trieste'' Corps from 1933 to 1935. He commanded the Eritrean Corps in the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Italy against Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Ita ...

, and subsequently was Governor of Amhara province in

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa (, A.O.I.) was a short-lived colonial possession of Fascist Italy from 1936 to 1941 in the Horn of Africa. It was established following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which led to the military occupation of the Ethiopian ...

from 1936 to 1937. Biroli was not fascist (but did partake in fascist war crimes). Pirzio Biroli was made General of the Italian 9th Army in 1941 and served as Governor of

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

from 1941 to 1943. After the outbreak of the Uprising in Montenegro, Pirzio was appointed by

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

with complete civil and military powers in Montenegro on 25 July 1941 and as governor of Montenegro in October 1941. Even before his formally given his powers, Biroli was in charge of suppressing the uprising, and on 15 July he told his troops to suppress the uprising 'with maximum severity, but without unnecessary reprisals'. The uprising was suppressed after significant usage of violence against both guerrilla fighters and civilian population. As recipient of the Serbian order he was considered a suitable person for cooperation with

Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

to whom he might be presented as their former ally from a previous war. In his speech held on 7 November 1942 in

Kolašin Kolašin (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Колашин, ) is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 (2003 census). Kolašin is the centre of Kolašin Municipality (population 9,949) and an unofficial centre of Morača region, nam ...

, the Chetnik commander

Pavle Đurišić Pavle Đurišić ( sh-Cyrl, Павле Ђуришић, ; 9 July 1909 – 21 April 1945) was a Montenegrin Serb regular officer of the Royal Yugoslav Army who became a Chetnik commander ('' vojvoda'') and led a significant proportion of the Che ...

greeted Biroli as a great friend of the Serbs and emphasized that the people of Montenegro were very lucky that Biroli came to them at a time when they were in a very difficult position. As early as 1941, Pirzio Biroli considered creating of an collaborationist committee, which would gather all notable collaborators in Montenegro against

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

. Because of opposition from Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, creation was delayed until July 24, 1942 when former Ban of

Zeta Banovina The Zeta Banovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zetska banovina, Зетска бановина), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of all of present-day Montenegro as well as ...

Blažo Đukanović signed a deal with Pirzio Biroli to head Central Nationalist Committee. Pirzio Biroli's brother married the daughter of

Ulrich von Hassell Christian August Ulrich von Hassell (12 November 1881 – 8 September 1944) was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell unsuccessfully proposed to the British ...

, a member of the German Resistance against German dictator

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. According to Yugoslav historian Pajović, Pirzio Biroli was personally responsible for numerous executions and mass terror of the population of Montenegro. Despite being very high on the list of war criminals of the

United Nations War Crimes Commission The United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC), initially the United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes, was a United Nations body that aided the prosecution of war crimes committed by Nazi Germany and other Axis powers duri ...

, Pirzio Biroli was never tried and spent his old age in Rome.

Sources

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References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirzio Biroli, Alessandro 1877 births 1962 deaths Italian male sabre fencers Olympic fencers for Italy Fencers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Italy Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian war crimes in Yugoslavia Italian war criminals Olympic medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Bologna Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Royal Italian Army personnel of World War II 20th-century Italian sportsmen