The fascist leader Benito Mussolini ruled Italy for 21 years as a dictatorial prime minister. Being a difficult child from early childhood, he grew up naughty and hot-tempered. Duce, as Mussolini was nicknamed, made a career in the Italian Socialist Party. He was later expelled from this organization for supporting World War II. He then formed a fascist party to rebuild Italy with strong European power.
After the March to Rome in October 1922, Benito becomes Prime Minister and gradually destroys the entire political opposition. He strengthened his position through a series of laws and turned Italy into a one-party power. He remained in power until 1943, until he was overthrown. He later became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, which was justified in the northern part of the state, which Hitler fully supported. He held his post until 1945.
Let's find out more about such an eccentric and mysterious man as Mussolini, whose biography is quite interesting.
early years
Benito Mussolini Amilcare Andrea was born in 1883 in the village of Varano di Costa (Forlì Cisena province, Italy). Named after the President of Mexico, Benito Juarez, and his middle name was given to him in recognition of the Italian socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcar Cipriani. His father, Alessandro, was a blacksmith and passionate socialist who gave most of his free time to politics and spent the money earned on his mistresses. His mother, Rosa, was a devout Catholic and teacher.
Benito is the eldest son of three children in the family. Despite the fact that he will become a great orator of the twentieth century, he began to speak very late. In his youth, he hit many people with his mental abilities, but at the same time he was terribly naughty and capricious. His father instilled in him a passion for socialist politics and disobedience to power. Mussolini was expelled from school several times, ignoring all requirements for discipline and order. Once stabbed with a knife the oldest boy Mussolini (biography shows that he will once again show violence to people). However, he managed to get a teacher certificate in 1901, after which he worked for a while in his specialty.
Passion for socialism Mussolini. Biography and life
In 1902, Benito moved to Switzerland to develop a socialist movement. Quickly gained a reputation for wonderful rhetoric. Learned English and German. His participation in political demonstrations attracted the attention of the Swiss authorities, which is why he was expelled from the country.
In 1904, Benito returned to Italy, where he continued the advancement of the socialist party. He was imprisoned for several months to find out who Mussolini is ideologically. After his release, he became editor of the newspaper Avanti (which means "forward"). This position allowed him to increase his influence on Italian society. In 1915, he married Rachelle Gaidi. After a while, she gave birth to Benito five children.
Break with socialism
Mussolini condemned the participation of Italy in the First World War. But he soon realized that this was a great opportunity for his country to become a great power. Differences of opinion caused a quarrel between Benito and other socialists, and he was soon expelled from the organization.
In 1915 he joined the ranks of Italian troops and fought on the front line. The rank of corporal was dismissed from the army.
After the war, Mussolini resumed his political activities, criticizing the Italian government for displaying weakness during the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. He created his own newspaper in Milan - Il Popolo d'Italia. And in 1919 he formed the fascist party, which was aimed at combating social class discrimination and supporting nationalist sentiments. His main intention is to gain the trust of the army and the monarchy. Thus, he hoped to raise Italy to the level of its great Roman past.
Mussolini's rise to power
During the collective disappointment after the useless victims of the Great War, the discrediting of the parliament against the backdrop of the economic crisis and high social conflict, Mussolini organized a military bloc known as “black shirts” that terrorized political opponents and helped increase fascist influence. In 1922, Italy plunged into political chaos. Mussolini said that he could restore order in the country if he was given power.
Tsar Victor Emmanuel III invited Benito to form a government. And already in October 1922, he became the youngest prime minister in the history of the Italian state. He gradually dismantled all democratic institutions. And in 1925 he made himself a dictator, taking the title Duce, which means "leader."
Duce policy
He conducted an extensive public works program and reduced unemployment. Therefore, Mussolini's reforms were a great success. He also changed the country's political regime to a totalitarian one, in power of which was the Great Fascist Council, supported by national security.
Following the removal of Parliament, Benito founded the Chamber of Fascias and Corporations with simplified counseling. Within the corporate state, employers and workers were organized into controlled parties representing various sectors of the economy. The scope of social services expanded significantly, but the right to strike was abolished.
Mussolini’s regime reduces the influence of the judiciary, tightly controls the free press, and arrests political opponents. After a series of attempts on his life (in 1925 and 1926), Benito bans opposition parties, expels more than 100 members of parliament, restores the death penalty for political crimes, abolishes local elections and builds up the influence of the secret police. So Mussolini’s fascism strengthened power.
In 1929, he signed the Lateran Pact with the Vatican, after which the conflict between the church and the Italian state ended.
Feats of arms
In 1935, deciding to show the power and strength of his regime, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, violating the recommendations of the League of Nations. The poorly armed Ethiopians could not resist the modern tanks and planes of Italy, and the capital Addis Ababa was quickly conquered. Benito founded the New Italian Empire in Ethiopia.
In 1939, he sent troops to Spain to support Francisco Franco and the local fascists during the Civil War. Thus, he wanted to expand his influence.
Union with Germany
Impressed by the military successes of Italy, Adolf Hitler (German dictator) sought to establish friendly relations with Mussolini. Benito, in turn, was struck by Hitler’s brilliant political activity and his recent political victories. By 1939, the two countries signed a military alliance known as the Steel Pact.
Mussolini and Hitler purged in Italy, repressing all Jews. And from the beginning of World War II, in 1940, Italian troops invaded Greece. Then join the Germans in the division of Yugoslavia, the invasion of the Soviet Union and the declaration of war on America.
Many Italians did not support an alliance with Germany. But Hitler’s entry into Poland and the conflict with England and France forced Italy to take part in hostilities and thereby display all the shortcomings of his army. Greece and North Africa soon rebuffed Italy. And only the German intervention of 1941 saves Mussolini from a military coup.
The defeat of Italy and the decline of Mussolini
At a conference in Casablanca, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt devised a plan to pull Italy out of the war and force Germany to move its army to the Eastern Front against Russia. Allied forces provided a bridgehead in Sicily and began to advance to the Apennine Peninsula.
Growing pressure forced Mussolini to resign. After that, he was arrested, but German special forces soon saved Benito. Then he moved to northern Italy, which was still occupied by the Germans, in the hope of regaining the former power.
Public execution
On June 4, 1944, Rome was liberated by the Allied forces, which took control of the entire state. Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, tried to escape to Switzerland, but were captured on April 27, 1945. They were executed the next day near the city of Dongo. Their bodies were hung out on a square in Milan. Italian society did not express any regret for Benito's death. After all, he promised the people "Roman glory", but his megalomania overcame common sense, which led the state to war and poverty.
Mussolini was originally buried at the Musocco cemetery in Milan. But in August 1957, he was re-buried in a crypt near Varano di Costa.
Faith and Hobbies
As a young man, Mussolini recognized himself as an atheist and even tried several times to shock the public, urging God to instantly kill him. He condemned socialists who were tolerant of religion. He believed that science proved that there is no God, and religion is a mental illness, and accused Christianity of betrayal and cowardice. Mussolini's ideology was mainly in condemning the Catholic Church.
Benito was a fan of Friedrich Nietzsche. Denis Mac Smith stated that in him he found an excuse for his "crusade" against Christian virtues, mercy and goodness. He greatly appreciated his concept of superman. On the day of his 60th birthday, he received a gift from Hitler - a complete collection of Nietzsche’s works.
Personal life
For the first time, Benito married Ida Dalser in Trento in 1914. A year later, the couple had a son, who was named Benito Albino Mussolini. It is important to note that all information about his first marriage was destroyed and his wife and son were soon subjected to serious persecution.
In December 1915, he marries Rachelle Gaidi, who has been his mistress since 1910. In marriage, they had two daughters and three sons: Edda (1910-1995) and Anna Maria (1929-1968), Vittorio (1916-1997), Bruno (1918-1941) and Romano (1927-2006 gg.).
Mussolini had several lovers, among them Margarita Sarfatti and his last lover, Clara Petacci.
