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
The King and Country debate The King and Country debate The King and Country debate took place at the Oxford Union debating society of Oxford University in England on 9 February 1933. The motion, "that this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country", was carried by 275 votes to 153. It is one of the most widely reported and discussed debates conducted at the Oxford Union. Prior to the debate, a similar motion had been proposed at the Cambridge Union by Arthur Ponsonby in March 1927: "That lasting peace can only be secured by the people of England adopting an uncompromising