The History of Mussolini
Known today as one of modern history's most villainous figures, Benito Mussolini was once known in Italy as Il Duce. As the founder of Fascism, Mussolini headed Italy's government single-handedly for over two decades from 1922 to 1943. His efforts to re-establish Italy as a world power ended in his country's defeat at the hands of the Allies and his own death in 1945.
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Early Life
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Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883, in Dovia di Predappio outside of Forli, a small town in the north central Italian province of Emilia-Romagna. His father was a blacksmith and his mother was a schoolteacher. Despite a delinquent childhood, Benito achieved good grades in school and qualified as an elementary schoolmaster in 1901. The next year he moved to Switzerland in search of other employment and spent two years working various jobs and becoming active in socialist politics. He returned in 1904 for Italian military service then returned to teaching in northern Italy. He married Rachele Guidi in 1910. She would bear his five children.
Beginnings of Italian Fascism
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After his release from a brief stint in jail in 1911 for his opposition to Italy's war in Libya, Mussolini became editor of a socialist periodical. His advocacy of joining WWI on the Allied side expelled him from the party, after which he began his own newspaper, "Il Popolo d'Italia" (The People of Italy), which event is often considered the beginning of the Fascist Movement. After serving in the war from 1916 to 1917, he returned to his paper and in 1919 founded Fasci di Combattimento, a Nationalist and anti-socialist movement. He organized his largely working followers, mostly composed of unemployed war veterans, into squads of Black Shirts to attack and intimidate socialist supporters, eventually gaining the support of Italy's King.
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Mussolini Becomes Dictator
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After the Black Shirts' 1922 march on Rome and King Victor Emmanuel's invitation for Mussolini to form a government, he began to incapacitate the parliament, censor the press and establish a dictatorship by 1925. He began to be known by his self-chosen title, "Il Duce" and went about building his own cult of personality.
Italian Empire
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A popular move throughout Italy, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1935. His decision to send troops to help Franco in Spain was less popular, as was his sudden break from the WWI Allies in that same year to link with Hitler's Germany in the 1939 Pact of Steel. Due to Hitler's influence, he also introduced anti-Jewish laws and attempted to invade Albania and Greece. In June 1940 he declared war on Britain and France and proceeded to lose successive battles in the Balkans as well as in North and East Africa. Economic troubles caused by the Allied blockade led to a rapid spread of discontent in Italy and the growing popularity of anti-fascist ideals. German troops were forced to greatly supplement Italy's military weakness while forcing Italy to supply increasing amounts of military assistance.
Il Duce's Demise
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When Allied troops landed in Sicily in July 1943, Mussolini was overthrown and put under military custody by King Victor Emmanuel and Mussolini's fellow Fascists, who then signed an armistice with the Allies. With German assistance, he escaped and gained nominal control of northern Italy, still occupied by Germany. On April 28, 1945, during the last days of the war, he was caught trying to escape to Switzerland with his mistress and was shot by Italian partisans.
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