Mario Berti

Mario Berti (1881–1964) was an Italian officer during World War I and a general in the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Mario Berti was born in La Spezia, which is located in modern-day Liguria. He was born into an upper-middle-class family. His family was quite wealthy, partly because his father (originally from Pistoia) was granted land in La Spezia after the Mille Expedition of Garibaldi. Berti never married and never had children, but he had two nephews and a niece, who were his only heirs.

He achieved the rank of colonel at an extremely young age (he is still considered one of the youngest Italians ever to have held this rank except for the member of the royal family). Originally stationed in Libya by the outbreak of the war, he was serving on the Trento front in 1916. He saw action at the Battle of Asiago and later was decorated with DSO personally by Winston Churchill for his services to the Allies in World War I. He would later be awarded by Hitler with the Iron Cross.

As a General, Berti was the commander of the 9th "Pasubio" Infantry Division then commander of the 3 Cavalry Division Amedeo Duca d'Aosta before becoming the Deputy Commander of the Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo di Truppe Volontarie, or CTV) during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. Subsequently, Berti became commander of the CTV from late 1937 into 1938 during the Aragon Offensive. He was Commander of the Italian XV Corps from 1939 to 1940 and became head of the CTV at General Franco's request.

At the beginning of the war Berti was Chief of Staff in the Italian Army. However Italy's commitment in Spain had drained it of resources which made it not ready to fight against Britain and France. Many Generals including Berti made this clear to Mussolini. As a result, he was demoted and sidelined. He was given the rank of Commissioner of Libya. He had fallen out of favour with Mussolini and Graziani had taken his place.

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