Mario Robotti (25 November 1882–1955) was a general in the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manf ...

who commanded the XI Corps during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Axis

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...

in April 1941. He then became military commander in the

province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana ( it, Provincia di Lubiana, sl, Ljubljanska pokrajina, german: Provinz Laibach) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by Fascist Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May 3 ...

, the Italian zone of occupied

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

.
In February 1943, he succeeded general Mario Roatta as commander of the Italian Second Army in occupied Yugoslavia.
General Robotti while commanding Italian troops in Axis occupied Yugoslavia in anti- partisan operations, was noted for his brutality, even once complaining to his officers that "you are not slaughtering enough people." During the winter of 1942-1943 Robotti personally chose 10 local dignitaries from the Slovene capital,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the a ...

, and had them imprisoned in the city and then stated that they would be executed if the partisans chose to make an attack on the city. https://books.google.ie/books/about/The_Fall_of_Mussolini.html?id=-UttMMRXi9AC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false pp 56 At the time of the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and B ...

in September 1943, he escaped capture by the Germans and retired to a private life in Rapallo where he lived with his family.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robotti, Mario Italian generals Italian military personnel of World War II Yugoslavia in World War II 1882 births 1955 deaths