Royal Italian Army The Regio Esercito ( English : " Royal Army " ) was the army of the Kingdom of Italy from the unification of Italy in 1861 to the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946 . After the monarchy ended , the army changed its name to become the Italian Army ( " Esercito Italiano " ) . History . Origins . The " Regio Esercito " dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy following the unification of Italy in 1861 after the Papal States were seized . The creation decree by which the new army replaced the previous Army of the Kingdom of Sardinia ( " Armata Sarda " ) and the Army of the Two Sicilies was signed by Manfredo Fanti on 4 May 1861 . The first task of the new organization were the repression of brigand age in southern Italy ( against irregular / guerrilla forces , mixed with bands of true criminals , which did not accept the suppression of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies ) and the Third War of Italian Independence . On 20 September 1870 , the IV Corps captured Rome , which had remained under Papal States till then . On 8 February 1885 a corps of less than 1 , 000 soldiers landed at Massaua , in Eritrea , starting the creation of an Italian colonial empire . The Italian advance was halted by the abysmal defeat at the Battle of Adwa against the Ethiopian forces . The following year , as part of the Italian collaboration with the international pacification program after the revolt against the Turkish domination in Cyprus , another corps disembarked at Candia . On 14 July 1900 another expedition force was constituted to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in China in defence of the European protectorates . On 3 October 1911 , Italy invaded Libya as part of the Italo - Turkish War . The war against the Ottoman Empire ended with the signing of a treaty in Ouchy near Lausanne ( the First Treaty of Lausanne ) . World War I . The army ' s first real taste of modern warfare was in World War I . The war was fought mostly in northern Italy , and during it Italians suffered millions of casualties including over 700 , 000 dead . Interwar Period . During the Interwar period , the army participated in the final subjugation of Libya , participated in the invasion of Ethiopia , provided troops and materials for the Corps of Volunteer Troops ( " Corpo Truppe Volontarie " ) to fight in the Spanish Civil War , and participated in the Italian invasion of Albania . World War II . The Royal Army was one of the largest ground forces in World War II during which it was one of the pioneers of the use of paratroopers . Many Italian divisions were reinforced by a MVSN " Gruppo di Assalto " of two battalions due to the small size of the divisions . In 1943 Italy surrendered and split into the Salò Republic , which fielded its own army which was called the " National Republican Army " ( Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano ) . On the other side there was the Italian Co - Belligerent Army ( Esercito Cobelligerante del Sud ) the army of the Italian royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies in southern Italy after the Allied armistice with Italy in September 1943 . The Italian soldiers fighting in this army no longer fought for Benito Mussolini as their allegiance was to King Victor Emmanuel and to Marshal of Italy ( Maresciallo d ' Italia ) Pietro Badoglio , the men had been called to replace Mussolini . The kingdom was replaced by a republic in 1946 and the Royal Army changed its name to become the Esercito Italiano .