 After the war, Umberto criticised the decision to enter the war, saying that Victor Emmanuel was too much under "Mussolini's spell" in June 1940 to oppose it.At the beginning of the war, Umberto commanded "Army Group West", made up of the First, Fourth and the Seventh Army (kept in reserve), which attacked French forces during the Italian invasion of France.Umberto was appointed to this position by his father, who wanted the expected Italian victory to also be a victory for the House of Savoy, as the king feared Mussolini's ambitions.