Italian Government
History
This page outlines the last 100 years’ history of the technical-administrative structure of the Ministry of Defence, up to the current Secretariat General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate
From 1915 to 1920
Let us start from the First World War, an extraordinary event in the history of Europe and the whole world, and a pivotal landmark in the fields of strategic science and military doctrine. In that context, the steam engine and internal combustion engine made logistic transportation faster and more efficient, while army tanks and aircraft showed up on the battlefield for the first time. Moreover, chemical and biological weapons became deadly offensive combat means. As a consequence, the accumulation of raw materials and semifinished products to be supplied to the industry for producing vehicles, aircraft, ammunition, armaments and materials increased unprecedentedly.
On 9 July 1915, in order to meet the multiple new needs, Royal Decree No. 1065 established the Supreme Committee for Supply of Weapons and Ammunition (including the President of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Treasury, War, and Navy) and the Under-Secretariat of State for Weapons and Ammunition within the Ministry of War. The Under-Secretariat – which was upgraded to Ministry after two years – was headed by General Alfredo Dallolio, by whose request it became solely responsible for everything concerning ammunition, armaments and air force services of the Army and Navy during the war, according to the respective Ministries’ programmes. General Dallolio thus became the actual chief of the industrial mobilization, and gave the new body a streamlined and well-coordinated structure.
Since the national industry’s resources were not enough to cover all necessary supplies, General Dallolio established a Technical Office for Foreign Affairs, which set up permanent missions in France, USA, UK, Spain and Switzerland. The continuous flow of information coming from different sources allowed a better assessment of where procurement could be done, so as to meet the Supreme Command’s requests for armament material in the best way. General Dallolio remained in charge of the Ministry until the spring of 1918. The remarkable operation of his Ministry during the three years of war was a determining factor for the final result of the conflict.
From 1920 to 1947
At the beginning of the Twenties, the whole national military industry needed to be reorganized and restructured. This delicate task was assigned once again to General Dallolio, who was appointed by Mussolini as President of the Committee for Preparation of Civil Mobilization in February 1923. In this capacity, he actively participated in the development of the legal instrument that later became Law No. 969 of 1925 “The Nation’s Organization for War”.
In June 1928 the Defence Supreme Commission (CSD) was established, and General Dallolio started an intense period of study and consultations leading to the foundation of the General Commissariat for War Fabrications (COGEFAG). This new body, established in 1935 according to the CSD’s deliberations, contained irreconcilable contradictions within itself. Its scope was limited to receiving and classifying all requests from the different bodies, checking their consistency with the assigned lots of raw materials, and following their subsequent distribution, while having no role to play in controlling or incentivizing production.
Right before the start of the Second World War, COGEFAG became the Under-Secretariat for War Fabrications (FABRIGUERRA). General Dallolio resigned. Just like him, his successor General Carlo Favagrossa found it equally impossible to exert any control over production and to test products with a consistent method, while staying completely outside the network of orders. Therefore, it happened that identical products, even if fabricated by the same company, were supplied to different Ministries at different conditions; even worse, a Ministry could sometimes try to steal an ongoing order from another Ministry, also causing a price increase. Conscious of this, General Favagrossa made it possible for FABRIGUERRA in 1941 to start exploring the possibility of leading the whole war order system.
From 1947 to 1965
After the Second World War, the evolution of military doctrines and employment criteria of land, sea and air forces in most states led to a new way of dealing with national defence, with a unified vision including all its organizational aspects rather than based on separate sectors. This process started in Italy with Decree of the Provisional Head of State No. 17 of 4 February 1947, which merged the Ministries of War, Navy and Air Force into one single Ministry of Defence.
Subsequently, Decree of the Provisional Head of State No. 306 of 10 May 1947 established the positions of three Secretaries General, for the Army, Navy and Air Force respectively. Only in the early Sixties it was decided to rationalize the whole technical-administrative area of the Defence, establishing one single body that could manage economic, financial and productive aspects in a unified way.
From 1965 to 1978
Decree of the President of the Republic No. 1478 of 18 November 1965 reorganized the Defence sector, creating one joint technical-administrative area headed by one Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence (appointed by decree of the President of the Republic, subject to deliberation of the Council of Ministers, upon proposal of the Minister of Defence). The Secretary General of Defence was in charge of guiding, directing and coordinating all Defence technical-administrative activities, implementing the Minister’s political guidelines and programmes, and coordinating the administrative acts and affairs carried out by the General Directorates and joint central Offices. To perform these new tasks, the Secretary General had a specific structure at his disposal. The whole joint technical-administrative area had a workforce of 6,500 employees.
From 1978 to 1997
With the Ministerial Decree of 24 November 1978, the Ministry of Defence ratified the following: “The Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, while maintaining his previous functions, will also assume the role of National Armaments Director”. As a consequence, the Secretary General’s responsibilities increased substantially to include the following:
- Advising and collaborating with the Chiefs of Staff Committee in terms of research, development, production and supply of vehicles and materials, so as to prevent duplication of efforts and waste of resources;
- Monitoring the progress of joint and Armed Forces’ projects, coordinating all procurement programmes abroad and orders placed to the national industry;
- Carrying out coordination actions with reference to the country’s economic, industrial, technical and scientific policy, keeping contacts with the General Staffs, General Directorates, concerned Ministries and top national centres of technological culture;
- Orienting the national industry in the fields of research and study according to the modernization programmes and needs of the military instrument, taking special care of the indispensable cooperation relations with the relevant bodies of Allied countries.
From 1997 (after the reform of military institutions) to today
Law No. 25 of 18 February 1997 introduced a radical, effective simplification of the Defence organizational structure, placing under the direct authority of the Minister:
- The Chief of Defence Staff, responsible for implementing directives about planning, logistic support, training, funds allocation, employment of the national operational instrument and the Armed Forces’ personnel;
- The Secretary General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate, responsible for implementing directives concerning high administration and, in more general terms, the organization and operation of the whole technical-administrative and industrial sector of the Ministry of Defence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the structure of the Secretariat General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate resulting from the 1997 reform, as well as from the further substantial reorganization of the years 2023-2024, has optimized the use of resources by merging organizational units with similar functions. Moreover, bureaucratic procedures have been significantly streamlined; the Defence industry and technical-logistic support structures (arsenals, production and maintenance facilities) have been profoundly reorganized; new modern management and accounting tools have been introduced (for instance, the establishment of one single Administrative Responsibility Centre); and a strong impulse has been given to enhancing the role of civilian personnel.
