Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician and journalist who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 to 1943. He was the leader of the National Fascist Party.
Biography[]
He was born Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini on 29 July 1883 in the Kingdom of Italy. He was named after Benito Juarez, a Mexican opponent of the Roman Catholic Church. Before Mussolini was involved in politics, he learned all his propaganda skills as a newspaper editor, and he also taught elementary school.
At first, Mussolini was a socialist, but when he wanted Italy to join World War I, he was thrown out of the socialist party. As a result, he "invented" fascism much out of his nationalist and conservative views.
In 1922, he took to power by having a large group of men march on Rome and threaten to take over the government. He then became PM. In the next 5 years, he gained power and created his personal secret police force, which he used to arrest, scare, or murder people against his regime. Mussolini became the dictator of Italy by the end of 1927. Only the King and his own fascist party could challenge his power.
Mussolini's form of fascism was different than that of Adolf Hitler's. Although Mussolini was a believer in the superiority of the Italian nation and national unity, he disagreed with Hitler's and Nazism's racist ideologies.
Mussolini wanted Italy to become a new Roman Empire. In 1923, he attacked the island of Corfu, and in 1924, he occupied the city state of Fiume. In 1935, he entered Africa, and his forces took control of Ethiopia the following year. Italy was thrown out of the League of Nations because of this aggression. In 1936, he signed an alliance with Hitler. In 1939, he occupied Albania.
In 1940, he sent Italy into World War II on the side of the Axis countries. Mussolini invaded Greece, but failed to conquer it. In 1943, the Allies landed in Southern Italy. The Fascist party and King Vittorio Emanuel III deposed Mussolini and put him in jail, but he was set free by the Germans, who made him ruler of the Italian Social Republic puppet state in Central Italy. When the war was almost over, Mussolini tried to escape to Switzerland with his mistress, Clara Petacci, but they were both captured and shot by partisans. Mussolini's dead body was hanged upside-down, together with his mistress and some of Mussolini's helpers, on a pole at a gas station in the village of Milan.
Legacy[]
Mussolini's legacy is complex; he played a significant role in Italian history, but his association with fascism and authoritarianism has left a controversial mark. His policies had lasting effects, but they were often accompanied by suppression of dissent and human rights abuses.
His granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini, a politician and former model, has outspoken views similar to fascism and that of his. She was a member of the neo-fascist movimento Sociale Italiano political party.