Philippe is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former’s abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999,with whom he has four children. Their eldest child,Princess Elisabeth,is first in the line of succession.
Prince Leopold of Bavaria was born in Munich,the second son of Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria (1821–1912) and his wife Archduchess Augusta of Austria (1825–1864). He was a Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) who commanded German and Austro-Hungarian forces on the Eastern Front in World War I.
Ugo Cavallero was an Italian military commander before and during World War II. He was dismissed from his command due to his lacklustre performance,and was arrested upon the fall of Benito Mussolini's regime. Cavallero was later freed by the Germans,but refused to collaborate and was found dead the following day.
Ettore Bastico was an Italian field marshal who served as the commander of Axis forces in North Africa from 1941 to 1943 during World War II. In addition to being a general of the Royal Italian Army,he served as the governor of the Italian held Aegean islands and of Libya. After his time in the army,he became a military historian and published several books.
Armando Diaz,1st Duke della Vittoria,was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy. He is mostly known for his role as Chief of Staff of the Regio Esercito during World War I from November 1917. He managed to stop the Austro-Hungarian advance along the Piave River in the First Battle of Monte Grappa. In June 1918,he led the Italian forces to a major victory at the Second Battle of the Piave River. A few months later,he achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto,which ended the war on the Italian Front. He is celebrated as one of the greatest generals of the war.
The Order of the Crown of Italy was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II,to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civilian and military merit. Today the Order of the Crown has been replaced by the Order of Merit of Savoy and is still conferred on new knights by the current head of the house of Emanuele Filiberto,Prince of Venice.
Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System,and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general,and normally below an army corps general.
The Ministry of Defence is the government body of the Italian Republic responsible for military and civil defence matters and managing the Italian Armed Forces. It is led by the Italian Minister of Defence,a position occupied by Guido Crosetto since October 2022.
Enrico Caviglia was a distinguished officer in the Italian Army. Victorious on the bloody battlefields of the Great War,notably the Battle of Vittorio Veneto,he rose in time to the highest rank in his country,Marshal of Italy;he was also a Senator of the kingdom.
Ubaldo Soddu was an Italian general and politician who held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army and Undersecretary of State for War during the initial phases of World War II. On 13 June 1940,immediately after the outbreak of hostilities with France and the United Kingdom,he assumed the position of deputy chief of the General Staff. Promoted to army general,he replaced general Sebastiano Visconti Prasca as commander of the Albanian Higher Troop Command during the Greco-Italian War on 8 November 1940. Because of the defeat Italian troops suffered between 22 and 23 November 1940,he was replaced after four weeks in command by the Italian Royal Army's chief of staff,General Ugo Cavallero.
Henri Bentégeat is a French Army general who served first as the Chief of the French Defence Staff between 2002 and 2006 and then as the chairman of the European Union Military Committee between 2006 and 2009.
Jean-Louis Georgelin was a French Army General who was Chief of the Defence Staff between 4 October 2006 and 25 February 2010. From 9 June 2010 until 2016 he served as Great Chancellor of the French national order,the Légion d'honneur.
Volker Wieker is the former Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr,the German armed forces,and a general of the German Army. Trained as an artillery officer,Wieker served in every major foreign Bundeswehr deployment since 1996,including Bosnia,Kosovo and Afghanistan.
The Italian honours system is a means to reward achievements or service to the Italian Republic,formerly the Kingdom of Italy,including the Italian Social Republic.
Salvatore Farina is an Italian Army general,and the former Chief of Army Staff. He previously served as commander of the Kosovo Force,the military attachéat the Embassy of Italy,London,and as the commander of Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum.
Domenico Rossi is an Italian general and politician.
Francesco Paolo Figliuolo is an Italian army corps general. On 1 March 2021,he was appointed by Prime Minister Mario Draghi as Extraordinary Commissioner for the Implementation of Health Measures to Contain the COVID-19 pandemic,to lead the vaccination campaign.
Claudio Trezzani was an Italian general during World War II,Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Italian East Africa. After the war he became the last Chief of General Staff of the Kingdom of Italy and the first Chief of the Defence Staff of the Italian Republic.
Francesco Della Valle was an Italian physician and general who served as General Director of Military Health from 1920 to 1925.
Melchiade Gabba was an Italian general during the Fascist period,who served as commander of the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops of Eritrea and Chief of Staff of the East Africa High Command during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. From 27 July 1943 to 24 February 1944 he was Minister of Italian Africa of the Badoglio I Cabinet. He was also a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy from 1939 to 1944.
Italy 
