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
I Was the King, I Really Was the King Greenhouse" and "East St O'Neill" as standout tracks, and ended his review with a short summation of the album's overall sound; "Horns parp convincingly, guitars swagger rather than stagger, choruses seem to have some idea of where they want to be in 30 seconds' time and Animals That Swim emerge as – gasp! – actual, potential pop stars". I Was the King, I Really Was the King I Was the King, I Really Was the King is the second album by British alternative rock band Animals That Swim, released in June 1996 via Elemental Records. Its title is taken from