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 Fall of the King The Fall of the King The Fall of the King () is a novel by Danish author Johannes V. Jensen, published in three parts from 1900 to 1901. It tells the story of Mikkel Thøgersen and the social entanglements which bring him into the service of king Christian II of Denmark. Begins at around 1497 and ends with the defeat of the Danish army at Dithmarschen in 1500. Takes place twenty years later, from the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1520 to the fall of the king in 1523. The third and last part opens twelve years after, at the time of