Benito Mussolini Research Paper

The names Hitler and Mussolini strike a chord with anyone who has taken a world history class. These two names bring to mind great social changes. The political ideals and movements associated with these two historical figures attributed to their different lasting legacies. Images of a dictator controlling his army come to mind when either name is used. These two names have become synonymous with Europe’s history. Hitler and Mussolini attained complete social and political control through manipulation of the people of their countries. They succeeded in doing so by using unparalleled tactics and techniques.

As the war broke out in Europe in 1940, Mussolini did his best to stay away from the fighting. He preached to his people that his army was ready to fight in the war, and was prepared to defend himself, and conquer land for his country. (6) Benito Mussolini’s main objective in the war was to gain land, and claim the land for Italy. His idea was to create the ultimate empire, and rule over millions of people. "As World War II approached, Mussolini announced his intention of annexing Malta, Corsica, and Tunis." (7) His intentions increased as he captured Albania in April of 1939. His rise to the

Benito Mussolini and his creation of Fascism was the glue that held Italy together. Fascism promised national unity and condemned the Socialist party. To understand how Fascism became powerful within Italy, it is imperative to acknowledge the driving force behind this regime. To put it bluntly, violence played an essential role in the development of the Fascist party. Mussolini’s practice of fierceness was able to create a formidable system of government that did not tolerate weakness. In 1919, Benito Mussolini give an Afternoon speech, where he stressed the difference between Socialism and Fascism. Here, he states, “We declare war, against socialism, not because it is socialism, but because it opposes nationalism” (Stone 2013, 38).

-Italy gave the most assistance of all foreign powers. Mussolini wanted to be involved for a number of reasons. First, involvement would be in line with his anti-communist/socialist/democratic outlook and his pro-fascist stance. Second, he wished to enhance his influence as the key power in the Mediterranean and thereby demonstrate Italy’s

Benito Mussolini took control of the Italian government in 1922, and ruled until 1943. Under Mussolini’s rule, democratic institutions were shut down. The shutdown of democratic institutions resulted in a Fascist dictatorship. One of Mussolini’s main goals for Italy was to build a

"My objective is simple. I want to make Italy great, respected and feared," (UXL Biographies 1). This was a quote from one of the most famous dictators in Italy, Benito Mussolini. Before World War One, Mussolini was director of the Avanti, a socialist newspaper in Milan, but he began to disagree with socialists so he broke ties and joined the military, reaching the rank of corporal. After he was discharged from the army, he created the fascist party and worked towards dismantling all socialist institutions (UXL Biographies 1). Mussolini was a powerful public speaker and delivered speeches mainly about how great he would make Italy. This allowed him to gain the public’s trust, leading to him becoming Prime Minister and later the dictator of Italy (UXL Biographies 1). In April 1945, Mussolini and his mistress were fleeing anti-fascist partisans disguised as German soldiers. When they were crossing the Swiss border, him and his mistress were captured by partisans and the next day were shot and killed. (Klein 1). The assassination of Benito Mussolini was justified because of he adopted Nazi ideals about Jews and he ultimately initiated the demise of his country and followers. Despite this many believe that Mussolini actually helped Italy.

War is inevitable, as it is simply the manifestation of the strength and vigour of the Italian people that wishes to expand itself, never looking back. Peace was considered as merely a “mask to surrender and cowardice.” Mussolini stressed that Italians required “forces, duty, and sacrifice” in order to rise again to their former greatness, that of the Roman Empire. This is also Mussolini’s rationale for harsh and severe actions against any who would resist or try and undermine fascism.

Mussolini was one of the most feared and respected men in the 20th century. Not many more men have made such an impact on the world. Here are some facts about the leader that many people don't know. Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!

The economic instability of Europe developed totalitarian goverments that began rising during the depression in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Germany, Italy, and Japan all became countries subjected to the rule of dictated military rule leaving no room for opposition. Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922 (Calvocoressi, Wint, p 777, 1999). Mussolini had his own philosophy that his destiny was to rule over Italy as Caesar in a more modern version while re-creating the Roman Empire. In his attempts in

On October 28 1940, after Ioannis Metaxas rejected Mussolini’s ultimatum demanding that the Greek dictator allow the Italian army free passage in order to occupy strategic sites in the country, fascist Italy declared war on Greece. The Greco-Italian war lasted six months and ended with the invasion of Nazi Germany in Greece in April 1941 and the division of the country in three zones of occupation, with the Italian forces occupying almost two thirds of the country until September 1943 when the Italian-occupied territories were taken over by the Germans following the Italian armistice. Although the war crimes perpetrated against the civilian population by the Italian occupation forces in Greece were not less savage than those of their German allies, these memories somewhat disappeared from the mainstream narrative for a number of reasons that shall be explored as the discussion on the depiction of the Italians unfolds.

Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister in 1922 due to the depriving affects that world war one had on Italian society. The war destroyed Italy economically leading to a rise in socialism. This in turn lead to highlighting the weaknesses of the liberals as the country was torn apart in the red years. This strengthened the appeal of fascism as it was the cure that Italy needed to get rid of the socialists. The fascists needed only to organise their party and take advantage of the open opportunity to seize power in Rome.

In the early days of Mussolini’s regime (he came to power in 1922), Italian foreign policy seemed rather confused: Mussolini knew what he wanted, which was ‘to make Italy great, respected and feared.’ But he was not sure how to achieve this, apart from agitating for a revision of the 1919 peace settlement in Italy’s favour. At first he seemed to think an adventurous foreign policy was his best line of action, hence the Corfu Incident and the occupation of Fiume in 1923. By an agreement signed at Rapallo in 1920, Fiume was to be a ‘free city’, used jointly by Italy and Yugoslavia; after Italian troops moved in, Yugoslavia agreed that it should belong to Italy. After these early successes, Mussolini became

Another reason that led to Mussolini’s rise to power was the Biennio Rosso which took place in the years

In 1940 Italy was led by Benito Mussolini who was a man with big ambitions of his own and saw allying with Germany as a chance to achieve his goals. He ordered an attack on Greece but shortly after Italy needed the help of Germany to take over such a small country but this was no surprise as Italy had such old military technology and very little industry they went in under equipped. Soon after this blunder in 1943 the Italian people deposed Mussolini and signed a peace treaty with the Allies showing Italy as a weak country. (History.com, 2009)

The popularity of Mussolini’s fascism among returning veterans was not only because of the comradery that Mussolini shared with them, but also the role that veterans played in fascismo. Welk (1938, 8-9), notes a publication in which, Mussolini campaigned for the right of returned soldiers to lead Italy towards becoming a great nation and a new world power. In order to understand how powerful this image was, it is important to understand the Post-war Italian economy. Though Italy had claimed victory in 1918, it came at the cost of the lives of approximately 600 thousand Italian soldiers, and nearly everyone in Italy outside of war profiteers exited the war more impoverished. Particularly, the transition from war to peace time production was a slow and painful process. Thus, while Italy claimed military victory, the post-war economy was not only crippled but also disorganized. This left laborers eager to lend their ears to a solution, and two powerful but contrasting ideologies to vie for their support.