Honours and rejections

With the many successes of Marconis radio communications business he received many honours. The greatest of these was in 1909 when he was presented with the Nobel Prize in physics which shared with Karl Ferdinand Braun, who had modified Marconis transmitters to increase their range and practicality.In July 1914, Marconi was honoured in Britain by King George V with the honorary title of Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. However as war was declared his situation changed considerably. Being an Italian he was treated as an alien because Italy was diplomatically linked to Germany.After a time Marconi was able to move to Rome and as he was now over forty, the minimum age, he was able to take up his seat on the Italian Senate having been appointed as a Senator in the spring of that year.Later when Italy entered the war on the allies side he was able to return to Britain where he served as a radio communications consultant. Initially he was given the rank of Lieutenant, later being promoted to LieutenantCommander in the navy.