History of Italy May") and the Constitutional Referendum that abolished the monarchy; De Gasperi briefly became acting Head of State as well as Prime Minister on 18 June 1946, but ceded the former role to Provisional President Enrico de Nicola ten days later. The aftermath of World War II left Italy with a destroyed economy and a divided society. Following Victor Emmanuel III's abdication, his son, the new king Umberto II, was pressured by the threat of another civil war to call a Constitutional Referendum to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. On 2 June 1946, the republican
King of Egypt other monarch to be styled "King of Egypt" was Fouad I's son Farouk I, whose title was changed to "King of Egypt and the Sudan" in October 1951 following the Wafdist government's unilateral abrogation of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936. The monarchy was abolished on 18 June 1953 following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 and the establishment of a republic. The then-king, the infant Fuad II of Egypt (Farouk having abdicated following the revolution), went into exile in Switzerland. The rulers of Ancient Egypt may be described using the title "King" (a translation of the Egyptian word "nsw") or "Pharaoh"