supreme commander of the Italian Royal Army, Navy and later Air Force from 1861 to 1938 and 1943 to 1946 First Marshal of the Empire – supreme commander of the Italian Royal Army, Air Force, Navy and the Voluntary Militia for National Security from 1938 to 1943 during the Fascist era, held by both Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini Regio Esercito (Royal Army) Regia Marina (Royal Navy) Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force) Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (Voluntary Militia for National Security also known as the "MVSN" or "Blackshirts") – militia loyal to Mussolini during the Fascist era, abolished in 1943 OVRA (Italian Secret Police). History Unification process (1848–1870) The creation of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of concerted efforts of Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula. After the Revolutions of 1848, the apparent leader of the Italian unification movement was Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. He led the Italian republican drive for unification in Southern Italy, but the Northern Italian monarchy of the House of Savoy in the Kingdom of Sardinia, a state with a significant Italian population, whose government was led by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, also had ambitions of establishing a united Italian state. Though the Kingdom had no physical connection to Rome (seen by all as the natural capital of Italy, still the capital of the Papal States), the Kingdom had successfully challenged Austria in the Second Italian War of Independence, liberating Lombardy–Venetia from Austrian rule. The Kingdom had also established important alliances that helped improve the chances of Italian unification, such as with the United Kingdom and France in the Crimean War. Sardinia was dependent on French protection, and in 1860, Sardinia was forced to cede territory to France to maintain relations, including Garibaldi's birthplace, Nizza. This event caused the Niçard exodus, that was the emigration of a quarter of the Niçard Italians to Italy. Giuseppe Garibaldi was elected in 1871 in Nice at the National Assembly where he tried to promote the annexation of his hometown to the newborn Italian unitary state, but he was prevented from speaking. Because of this denial, between 1871 and 1872 there were riots in Nice, promoted by the Garibaldini and called "Niçard Vespers", which demanded the annexation of the city and its area to Italy. Fifteen Nice people who participated