Benito Mussolini: biography, political activity, family. Key dates and events of his life

Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ruled Italy for 21 years as a dictatorial prime minister. A difficult child from early childhood, he grew up disobedient and hot-tempered. Buce, as Mussolini was nicknamed, made a career for himself in the Italian Socialist Party. He was later expelled from this organization for supporting the World War. He then formed a fascist party to rebuild Italy with a strong European power.

After the March on Rome in October 1922, Benito becomes prime minister and gradually destroys all political opposition. He strengthened his position through a series of laws and turned Italy into a one-party power. Remained in power until 1943, when he was overthrown. He later became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, which was founded in the northern part of the state, which was fully supported by Hitler. He held his post until 1945.

Let's find out more about such an eccentric and mysterious person as Mussolini, whose biography is quite interesting.

early years

Amilcare Andrea was born in 1883 in the village of Varano di Costa (province of Forli-Cisena, Italy). Named after Benito Juarez, his middle name and patronymic were given to him in recognition of the Italian socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani. His father, Alessandro, was a blacksmith and a passionate socialist who gave most of his free time in politics, and spent the money he earned on his mistresses. His mother, Rose, was a devout Catholic and teacher.

Benito is the eldest son of the family's three children. Despite the fact that he will become the twentieth century, he began to talk very late. In his youth, he amazed many people with his mental abilities, but at the same time he was terribly disobedient and capricious. His father instilled in him a passion for socialist politics and defiance of authority. Mussolini was expelled from schools several times, ignoring all demands for discipline and order. Once he stabbed an older boy, Mussolini, with a knife (his biography shows that he would show violence towards people more than once). However, he managed to obtain a teacher's certificate in 1901, after which he worked in his specialty for some time.

Mussolini's passion for socialism. Biography and life

In 1902, Benito moved to Switzerland to develop the socialist movement. He quickly gained a reputation as a wonderful rhetorician. Learned English and German. His participation in political demonstrations attracted the attention of Swiss authorities, which led to his expulsion from the country.

In 1904, Benito returned to Italy, where he continued to promote the Socialist Party. He was imprisoned for several months to find out who Mussolini was 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 Rachel Gaidi. After some time, she gave birth to Benito five children.

Break with socialism

Mussolini condemned the participation but soon realized that this was a great opportunity for his country to become a great power. Differences of opinion caused Benito to quarrel with other socialists, and he was soon expelled from the organization.

In 1915 he joined the ranks of the Italian troops and fought on the front line. With the rank of corporal, he was dismissed from the army.

After the war, Mussolini resumed his political activities, criticizing the Italian government for showing weakness during the signing. He created his own newspaper in Milan - Il Popolo d'Italia. And in 1919 he formed a fascist party, which was aimed at fighting against social class discrimination and supporting nationalist sentiments. His main intention was to win 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

At a time of collective disillusionment after the useless casualties of the Great War, the discredit of parliament amid economic crisis and high social conflict, Mussolini organized a military bloc known as the "Black Shirts" who 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 were given power.

King 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”.

Politics of the Duce

He implemented an extensive public works program and lowered the unemployment rate. Therefore, Mussolini's reforms were a great success. He also changed the country's political regime to a totalitarian one, ruled by a Fascist Grand Council backed by national security.

After the removal of the parliament, Benito founded the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations with simplified consultation. Within the corporate state, employers and workers were organized into controlled parties representing different 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, reinstates the death penalty for political crimes, and abolishes local elections and increases the influence of the secret police. This is how Mussolini's fascism consolidated power.

In 1929, he signed the Lateran Pact with the Vatican, which ended the conflict between the church and the Italian state.

Military exploits

In 1935, determined to demonstrate the power and strength of his regime, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, violating the recommendations of the League of Nations. The poorly armed Ethiopians were no match for Italy's modern tanks and aircraft, and the capital Addis Ababa was quickly conquered. Benito founded the New Italian Empire in Ethiopia.

In 1939, he sends troops to Spain to support Francisco Franco and the local fascists during the civil war. In this way he wanted to expand his influence.

Union with Germany

Impressed by Italy's military successes, Adolf Hitler (dictator of Germany) sought to establish friendly relations with Mussolini. Benito, in turn, was amazed by the brilliant political activity Hitler and his recent political victories. By 1939, the two countries had signed a military alliance known as the Pact of Steel.

Mussolini and Hitler carried out a purge in Italy, repressing all Jews. And since the beginning of World War II, in 1940, Italian troops invaded Greece. Then join the Germans in dividing Yugoslavia, invading the Soviet Union, and declaring 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 reveal all the shortcomings of its army. Greece and North Africa soon rebuffed Italy. And only the German intervention of 1941 saved Mussolini from a military coup.

Defeat of Italy and decline of Mussolini

In 1942, at the Casablanca Conference, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt develop a plan to take Italy out of the war and force Germany to move its army to the Eastern Front against Russia. Allied forces secured a bridgehead in Sicily and began to advance to the Apennine Peninsula.

Growing pressure forced Mussolini to resign. After this he was arrested, but German special forces soon rescued Benito. He then moves to northern Italy, which was still occupied by the Germans, in the hope of regaining his former power.

Public execution

On June 4, 1944, Rome was liberated by the Allied forces, who took control of the entire country. Mussolini and his mistress tried to flee to Switzerland, but were captured on April 27, 1945. They were executed the next day near the city of Dongo. Their bodies were hung in a square in Milan. Italian society did not express any regret at Benito's death. After all, he promised the people “Roman glory,” but his delusions of grandeur overcame common sense, which led the state to war and poverty.

Mussolini was originally buried in the Musocco cemetery in Milan. But in August 1957 he was re-interred in a crypt near Varano di Costa.

Faith and Hobbies

As a young man, Mussolini admitted to being an atheist and even tried several times to shock the public by calling on God to kill him instantly. He condemned socialists who were tolerant of religion. He believed that science had proven that there is no God, and religion is a mental illness, and accused Christianity of betrayal and cowardice. Mussolini's ideology mainly consisted of condemnation of the Catholic Church.

Benito was an admirer of Friedrich Nietzsche. Denis Mack Smith stated that in it he found justification for his "crusade" against Christian virtues, mercy and goodness. He highly valued his concept of the superman. On his 60th birthday, he received a gift from Hitler - a complete collection of Nietzsche's works.

Personal life

Benito first 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 severe persecution.

In December 1915 he married Rachel Gaidi, who had been his mistress since 1910. In their 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).

Mussolini also had several mistresses, among them Margherita Sarfatti and his last lover, Clara Petacci.

Heritage

Mussolini's third son, Bruno, died in a plane crash during a P.108 bomber flight on a test mission on August 7, 1941.

Sophia Loren's sister, Anna Maria Scicolone, married Romano Mussolini. His granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, was a member of the European Parliament and currently serves in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the People of Freedom.

Mussolini's National Fascist Party was banned in the post-war Italian Constitution. Nevertheless, several neo-fascist organizations emerged to continue Benito's activities. The strongest of them is the Italian Social Movement, which existed until 1995. But it soon changed its name to the National Alliance and radically separated from fascism.

So, we can say: Benito Mussolini was strong, determined to win, crazy and fanatical. His biography amazes with brilliant ups and merciless downs. He was head of the Italian government from 1922 to 1943. Became the founder of fascism in Italy. During his dictatorial rule, he treated his citizens harshly. He led the state into three wars, during the last of which he was overthrown.

Based on the above information, now everyone can find out who Mussolini is in ideology and what kind of person he was.

to topic:
Italian politician, writer, leader of the fascist party, nicknamed Duce, dictator, who led Italy from 1922 to 1943. It was he who coined the term “fascism.”

Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in the village of Predappio (Italian: Predappio) in the province of Forli-Cesena in Emilia-Romagna. He was named Benito in honor of the Mexican reformist president Benito Juárez; he received the names Andrea and Amilcare in honor of the Italian socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani. His mother Rosa Maltoni was a teacher. Father, blacksmith Alessandro Mussolini (1854-1910).

Mussolini played the violin from a young age. This was his favorite instrument

In 1902, to avoid military service, he emigrated to Switzerland. There he took part in the socialist movement and was deported to Italy, where he was to serve in the army. He immediately returned to Switzerland. The next attempt to deport him was suspended due to the fact that the Swiss socialists urgently brought the question of his treatment to parliament. In 1902, in Lausanne, he met the prominent economist and socialist Professor Vilfredo Pareto and attended his lectures (Pareto's theory teaches that power is always seized by a minority). Here he gets acquainted with the works of Nietzsche, Marx, Stirner, Babeuf. His articles are published by Proletario and Avvenire del Lavoratore; Mussolini, honing his style, becomes an unsurpassed polemicist. Here, it is partially formed Mussolini's ideology.

Mussolini's personal flag

He wrote the novel Claudia Particella, l'amante del cardinale - Claudia Particella, the cardinal's mistress, which was published with a sequel during 1910 (he later renounced the novel [source not specified 193 days]), the purpose of this novel was to discredit the religious authorities. By the time the novel began to be published, Mussolini had already returned to Italy. The preface to the first Russian edition of the novel states that “in 1927, a certain Italian lady, a fan of the Duce, found all the feuilletons, cut them out from the newspaper, bound them and presented them to the author as a gift. Mussolini was delighted." The Russian edition was published in Riga by the Literature publishing house in 1929.

In 1911, Mussolini opposed the colonial war in Libya, organizing strikes and demonstrations to prevent troops from being sent to the front: “the military continues to indulge in orgies of destruction and murder. Every day a huge pyramid of sacrificed human lives raises its bloody top more and more brazenly...” In November he goes to prison for 3 months for this.

With the outbreak of the First World War, in contrast to the official pacifist position of the socialists, he began campaigning for Italy to enter the war. Places in "Avanti!" an article in this spirit, which caused a scandal and led to expulsion from the party. However, in November Mussolini began publishing the newspaper Del popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy), which carried out active pro-war propaganda, and as a result became the most popular pro-war publicist in the country. After entering the war, in August 1915 he was drafted into the army, joined the regiment of barsaglieri and was sent to the front section near the river. Isonzo. Comrades in arms appreciate Mussolini for his responsiveness, optimism, and exemplary courage - during attacks, he is the first to jump out of the trench shouting “Long live Italy!” At the end of November he was hospitalized due to typhus. In February 1916, he received the rank of corporal (in the order: “... for exemplary service, high morale and courage ..."). In February 1917, while firing a mortar, a mine exploded in the barrel, and Mussolini was seriously injured, which is why he was demobilized.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs opens a case against him, which says in part: “Mussolini is a voluptuous person, as evidenced by his numerous relationships with women... Deep down, he is very sentimental, and this attracts people to him. Mussolini is not interested in money, which gives him a reputation as an unselfish person. He is very smart, kind and well versed in people, knows their shortcomings and strengths. He is prone to showing unexpected likes and dislikes, and is sometimes extremely vindictive.”

On October 27, 1922, the “black plague” begins its march on Rome. By the evening of October 30, with the permission of the frightened King Victor Emanuel III, Mussolini finished forming the cabinet of ministers.

“March on Rome” by Italian fascists led by Mussolini, 1922.

• On December 5, Mussolini in his speech on the Catholic religion: “Fascism respects the God of ascetics, saints, heroes and the faith that fills the hearts of ordinary people with prayer. Unlike Bolshevism, fascism does not try to expel God from human souls.”
• On December 31, the Duce gives the order to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (headed by Luigi Federzoni) to seize opposition journalists and conduct a search of the leading leaders of the anti-fascist movement. The police dissolve the Free Italy association, close more than 100 “subversive” institutions and arrest several hundred people. Mussolini gives a speech
• On January 31, 1926, a new law was issued giving the government the right to make laws without the consent of parliament. And on December 24, Justice Minister Alfredo Rocco issues a series of laws aimed at eliminating the administrative and political institutions of the democratic system. The Duce gains full executive power and will no longer answer to anyone except the king.
• April 7 Violeta Gibson (a British citizen) shoots Mussolini with a revolver. The bullet grazes his nose. Medical examination declares her insane. Wanting to save a good relationship with Great Britain, Mussolini orders her to be deported to her homeland.
• In October, anarchist Gino Luchetti (from France) threw a bomb at Mussolini's car, it injured 4 passers-by, but the Duce was not injured. On December 31, 15-year-old Anteo Zamboni fired at Benito's car, after which he was captured on the spot and torn to pieces by the crowd.
• In November, the Organization for Monitoring and Suppression of Anti-Fascist Activities was created. The Duce receives political police.

For a long time, Mussolini was very skeptical of Hitler’s ideas about the superiority of some races over others. In 1932, during a conversation with the German writer Emil Ludwig, Mussolini sharply condemned the Nazi theory of racism and anti-Semitism: “... I do not believe in any biological experiments that can supposedly determine the purity of a race, nor in the superiority of one race over others. Those who proclaim the nobility of the German race, by a funny coincidence, themselves have nothing in common with the German race... This cannot happen in our country. Anti-Semitism does not exist in Italy. Italian Jews have always behaved like true patriots. They fought bravely for Italy during the war..."...but after 6 years, for the sake of an alliance with Germany, his opinion will change to the opposite.

June 14, 1934 Mussolini receives Hitler in Venice. At the end of the visit, the Duce spoke of his guest as follows: “This annoying man... this Hitler is a ferocious and cruel creature. It makes me remember Attila. Since the time of Tacitus, Germany has remained a country of barbarians. She is the eternal enemy of Rome."

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Berlin.

• In October 1935, Italy launched a war of conquest against Ethiopia.
• In November, member states of the League of Nations (except the United States) undertake to boycott Italian goods, deny loans to the Italian government, and ban the import of strategic materials into Italy. Upon learning of this, the Duce becomes furious. Germany supports Italy.
• On May 8, 1936, in connection with the victory in Ethiopia, Mussolini proclaimed the rebirth of the Roman Empire. King Victor Emmanuel III assumed the title of Emperor of Ethiopia.
• On November 6, Benito Mussolini announced his country’s accession to the Anti-Comintern Pact, previously signed by Germany and Japan. He said that Stalin and the Communists posed a threat to Europe and that he was "tired of defending Austrian independence." On December 11, Italy leaves the League of Nations.
• On February 19, 1938, the Italian ambassador in London made a statement about the need to prevent the Anschluss - the seizure of Austria by the Nazis. Mussolini is trying to prevent the creation of a "Greater Germany", but no concrete statements have been given from Great Britain or France. On March 12, 1938, Hitler, confident that the Duce would not dare to act alone, gave the order to his troops to cross the border into Austria.
• Through the efforts of Mussolini and Hitler, the Munich Agreement on the division of Czechoslovakia was concluded in 1938.

Benito Mussolini on the cover of Time magazine

On March 18, 1940, the Duce meets with Hitler at the Brenner Pass. Mussolini promised to enter the war, but only after the main forces of France were defeated by the Germans. He laid claim to historically Italian lands that had once been seized by France - namely Corsica, Savoy and Nice, as well as Tunisia.

In May, the Germans launched a successful offensive on the Western Front, and Mussolini decided that the decisive hour had arrived. June 10, 1940 from the balcony of the Venice Palace, in front of a crowd of thousands Duce announces Italy's entry into the war. However, 32 Italian divisions were unable to significantly dislodge 6 French divisions from their positions in the Alps. As a result, Italy received nothing under the Compiegne Truce. Mussolini tried to compensate for this shame by conquering Greece, which he attacked without warning Hitler on October 28, 1940. However, even here he was never able to win laurels: after the first successes, the Italians were defeated in November and thrown back to Albania at the Lake Ohrid line - Mount Tamar. Only Germany's intervention in the war in the spring of 1941 made it possible to defeat Greece.

• On October 23, 1942, a counteroffensive by British troops began near El Alamein, ending in the complete defeat of the Italo-Germans. On November 8, the Americans began landing in Morocco.

On September 12, Mussolini, who was being held at the Albergo Rifugio Hotel in the Apennine Mountains, was freed by German paratroopers under the command of Otto Skorzeny. He was taken to a meeting with Hitler, from there to Lombardy, where he headed the puppet “Italian Social Republic” with its capital in the town of Salo (the so-called “Republic of Salo”). In fact, all power in this formation belonged to the German military.

On the morning of April 27, Mussolini, along with his mistress Clara (Claretta) Petacci and other leaders of the Republic of Salo, joined a convoy of German trucks heading north. At noon, the column was stopped by a picket of the 52nd Garibaldi Brigade (commander - “Pedro” - Count P. Bellini della Stelle, commissar - Bill - U. Lazzaro). After a shootout, the partisans agreed to let the convoy through on the condition that the Italian fascists be handed over to them. They tried to pass Mussolini off as a German by dressing him in the uniform of a Luftwaffe non-commissioned officer. However, Commissioner Bill and the communist partisan D. Negri identified Mussolini, after which he was arrested. Mussolini and Clara Petacci were sent to the village of Giulina di Mezzegra, where they spent their last night in a peasant house in strict secrecy. The allied command, having learned about Mussolini's arrest, persistently demanded that the National Liberation Committee hand over the dictator to him. For their part, the communist members of the KNO decided to shoot the dictator and all the fascist leaders arrested with him. For this purpose, Colonel Valerio (Walter Audisio) was sent with a detachment to Giulina di Mezzegra, equipped with a mandate vesting him with emergency powers on behalf of the CCNO. Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Villa Belmonte, near the fence of which it was decided to shoot Mussolini. Audisi invited Petacci to step aside, but she grabbed Mussolini’s sleeve and tried to shield him with her body. Mussolini and Petacci were executed by firing squad on April 28, 1945.

Clara Petacci - Benito Mussolini's lover, who chose the hard death of life without her lover

Moreover, there is a strange story about the place where the Duce was executed. 10 years before his death, he was driving near Mezere, and his car almost fell off a cliff. Mussolini then said: “Damn this place.” It was there, years later, that he was shot.

• The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were brought to Milan. At a gas station near Piazza Loretto, where 15 partisans were executed on August 10, 1944, they, along with the bodies of 5 other executed fascist party leaders, were hanged upside down. After this, the ropes were cut, and the bodies lay in the gutter for some time. On May 1, Mussolini and Petacci were buried in Milan's Musocco Cemetery (Simitero Maggiore), in an unmarked grave in a poor lot.

Benito and Clara hanging from meat hooks after execution

Benito Mussolini (1883-1943) - Italian politician, publicist, dictator, leader of the fascist party and Prime Minister of Italy.

The future Duce, who terrified half of Europe, was born in the small Italian village of Varano di Costa in the family of a blacksmith and carpenter by profession, the illiterate Alessandro Mussolini, and a rural primary school teacher, Rosa Maltoni. The boy's mother was a zealous Catholic, and his father was a convinced social-anarchist, so Benito remained unbaptized, unlike most of his peers.

Alessandro was distinguished by a hot-tempered and stubborn disposition, as well as considerable passion for politics, so it is not surprising that the guy adopted a love for socialist views at an early age. In addition to the desire to change the world for the better using the methods of socialism (in particular, Mussolini Sr. showed special respect for the ideas of Bakunin), the father passed on to his son an obstinate temperament and explosive temperament. From his mother, the boy inherited a love of science and a lively mind, which later helped him become a brilliant publicist and speaker, captivating the masses of people.

Benito Mussolini was a controversial personality, and it is unknown who this unbalanced but talented boy could have grown up under other life circumstances. At the age of four, Benito could already read fluently, and a year later he learned to play the violin. In 1892, the future leader and progenitor of Italian fascism was sent to a church school in Faenza.

The first year of study was marked by a terrible scandal: little Benito, who did not tolerate ridicule of himself and his small stature (as an adult, Mussolini’s height was only 169 centimeters), stabbed a classmate older than himself with a knife. The scandal was hushed up thanks to the tears of his mother and the patronage of the local bishop, but after three years Benito was transferred from a Catholic school with strict discipline to a more loyal gymnasium.

In 1900, not yet graduating from high school, Mussolini joined the Socialist Party of Italy, opening a new page in his biography. At the same time, Benito began collaborating with socialist newspapers, publishing sharp political articles with flashy headlines.

Policy

After graduating from high school in 1901, Benito Mussolini headed a committee of workers in the village of Pieve Saliceto, where he taught basic subjects in the primary classes of the village school. According to his political views, the young teacher was opposed to military action and decided to avoid compulsory military service by moving to Geneva in 1902.

In Switzerland, the future dictator first tried himself as a speaker, speaking to local residents in French and to fellow emigrants in Italian. In Lausanne, Mussolini attended lectures by Professor Pareto, a socialist and economist, and became imbued with his ideas, met Russian Marxists and Balabanova.

At the suggestion of Angelica Balabanova, young Benito became interested in the works of Sorel, and other philosophers, economists and political scientists. From that moment on, he became obsessed with the ambitious idea of ​​transforming modern Italy through the violent overthrow of capitalism, becoming a convinced Marxist-socialist.

In 1903, Mussolini was arrested by the Swiss authorities, and a year later he was deported to his homeland for military service. After serving, the future dictator returned to teaching at college, where he proved himself to be a talented teacher.

At the same time as teaching, the young professor managed to engage in politics, collaborating with the socialist publication La Lima as an editor. Mussolini continued to write and publish sharp political texts, criticizing the government of the Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican. In 1907, the “supporter of the proletariat” received the nickname “piccolo Duce” (which translates as “little leader”). Duce with a capital “M” Mussolini became a little later.

In 1908, Benito's incendiary speech made him the main organizer of a workers' strike, and the Duce went to prison for threats against the director of one of the leading companies. Then there was another imprisonment and a move to Austria-Hungary, where Mussolini again took up his favorite journalism, writing and propaganda.

At the beginning of the First World War, Benito Mussolini broke off relations with his former comrades from the Socialist Party and became a staunch supporter of dictatorship, not of the proletariat, but of a strong government united by the will of the leader. Mussolini wanted to become this leader, obsessed with the idea of ​​reviving the Roman Empire in all its glory.

He was prompted to abandon the ideas of socialism by life experience and disappointment in the effectiveness of mass protests against the existing regime. Benito advocated for Italy to take part in the war on the side of France and the Entente, and in 1915 he went to the front. During the war, the Duce showed miracles of courage, was awarded the rank of corporal and the respect of his colleagues, suffered from typhus and received a serious leg wound from an exploding mine.

In 1917, having returned to his homeland, Benito Mussolini continued his social and political activities, declaring in his articles and speeches that socialism, as a political doctrine, had completely outlived its usefulness. The time has come to move on to more radical measures to transform society and power structures.

Fascism

In 1919, Mussolini formed a new party - the Italian Union of Struggle. In the native language, the first word of the name Fasci italiani combattimento sounded like “fascis” and subsequently gave the name to the ideology of fascism. In the 1921 elections, 35 candidates from Mussolini's party entered the Italian parliament, and the "union of struggle" was soon renamed the "National Fascist Party".

The people, like their elected deputies, initially supported their favorite Mussolini, who was considered a symbol of the fight against injustice, with power, a war hero and a skilled speaker who knew how to infect the masses with his enthusiasm. In 1921, Benito Mussolini himself was elected to parliament, and more and more Italians joined the ranks of the Fascist Party.

The fascists managed to be both revolutionaries and supporters of strong government. The streets of Italian cities began to be patrolled by Blackshirt detachments created by Mussolini's comrade-in-arms, consisting of war veterans. They “maintained order” by engaging in battles with anarchists and socialists, while the police preferred to stay away.

In 1922, Mussolini, at the head of the fascist party and ordinary Italians who joined them, undertook the famous march on Rome with the aim of overthrowing the current king, Victor Emmanuel. The king could have suppressed the uprising with the help of government troops, but did not resort to force, fearing that a civil war would break out in the country or a revolution would break out.

The king met with the leader of the rebels and concluded an agreement with him, as a result of which Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy, and soon its dictator. The king remained out of work, but retained his life and formal title. Six months later, in April 1923, the Duce met with Cardinal Gasparri in the Vatican. Mussolini promised to expel all communists, atheists and freemasons from the country, and fascism in Italy enlisted the support of the church.

Dictatorship

In 1923, the fascist party won a majority of votes in parliament as a result of some fraud. These machinations were exposed by the socialist Giacomo Matteotti, for which he was kidnapped and killed on the orders of Mussolini. This murder opened the eyes of many to the essence of the fascist regime, but at that moment there were no strong leaders in the country who could carry out a coup and overthrow the prime minister and his government.

Delay and gullibility cost the Italian people dearly: during the Duce's reign, from 1927 to 1943, more than 21,000 people were arrested on political charges. Mussolini created a real totalitarian police state in which there was only one ruling party, professed the principles of racism and the superiority of Italians over “inferior” peoples: blacks, Arabs, Slavs, Jews.

Even before the start of World War II, Mussolini's troops captured Albania, Ethiopia and entered Greece, following the leader's idea of ​​​​restoring the Roman Empire. Unfavorable circumstances at the front soon forced the dictator to enter into a coalition with, although Benito had his own scores to settle with the German fascist. For a long time Mussolini could not forgive Hitler for the murder of his friend, the Austrian dictator Engelbert Dollfuss.

In 1937, Mussolini visited Nazi Germany and was delighted with the military power, discipline of the Germans and the power over the crowd that Hitler possessed. From that moment on, Italian and German fascism went hand in hand, but the Second World War ended in collapse for both dictatorships.

Personal life

Mussolini first married in 1914 to Ida Dalser. The dictator's wife gave birth to a son, but a year later he left her and legitimized his relationship with his long-time mistress Raquela Guidi. The couple had five children: two daughters and three sons. It is noteworthy that after coming to power, Benito hid the fact of his first marriage and subjected his ex-wife and son to severe repression.

Despite his official marriage, Mussolini did not disdain having connections on the side; he especially liked young girls. All this did not stop him from seducing the Italian aristocrat Clara Petacci, who loved the Duce to the point of unconsciousness and accepted death with him from the bullets of Italian anti-fascists.

Death

In 1943, British troops entered Italy and the Duce was arrested. On Hitler's orders, Mussolini was kidnapped by SS paratroopers, and the former dictator lived out his last days in northern Italy, as the leader of a puppet state controlled by the Germans.

Mussolini organized the Italian Socialist Republic on the territory under his control, which he ruled for almost two years, but the ring of anti-fascist forces around it inexorably narrowed. In April 1945, the Duce and his mistress Clara Petacci attempted to escape to neighboring Switzerland, but he was detained by partisans.

The former dictator has been identified. The execution followed at dawn next day, Mussolini and his girlfriend were shot on the outskirts of the village of Metsegra. The shameful death of Benito Mussolini is evidenced by photographs that have become history: the bodies of the Duce, Clara Petacci and six other top fascists were hung by their feet the next day from a gas station counter in Milan's Piazza Loreto. The people expressed in every possible way their hatred and contempt for the former idol, whose words once inspired millions of Italians.

Bibliography

• anti-clerical novel "The Cardinal's Mistress";
• essay on “The Doctrine of Fascism”;
• autobiography “My Life”;

The last two books were translated in our country and published under the general title “The Third Way. Without democrats and communists."

Mussolini, Benito (Mussolini) (1882-1945) - leader of the Italian fascists, fascist dictator of Italy in 1922-1943. Born into the family of an artisan blacksmith. In his youth he was a teacher rural school in the Romagna region. For his connection with a revolutionary organization he was persecuted by the police and fled to Switzerland. After the amnesty, he returned to Italy and settled in the mountains. Forli. Here he began to take an active part in the socialist movement and soon became secretary of the local federation of the socialist party. Translated from French Peter Kropotkin's book "History of the French Revolution". Thanks to his efforts, by 1912 in the city. Forlì, a strong socialist organization was created, which published the newspaper “Class Struggle” under the editorship of Mussolini. At the Congress of the Italian Socialist Party in Reggio Emilia (1912), Mussolini led the extreme left faction"irreconcilable". Thanks to the demands of this faction, the congress expelled right-wing reformists (Bissolati, Bonomi, Kobrik, etc.) from the party. At the same congress, Mussolini was elected editor central authority Italian socialist party "Avanti". Shortly before the World War, in July 1914, Mussolini led a mass uprising in Forlì and Ravenna. During the same period, he insisted on the expulsion of the Freemasons from the party. When the world war broke out, Mussolini initially spoke out in the pages of Avanti in favor of Italian neutrality. However, he soon began to be inclined to think that Italy should intervene in the world war on the side of the Triple Entente. In response to this, the Italian Socialist Party, which remained faithful to the principles of revolutionary internationalism, expelled Mussolini from its ranks in September 1914. Then Mussolini, with funds from a group of Italian capitalists, founded the social-chauvinist newspaper "Italian People" in Rome. Soon after, he volunteered to go to the front, where he was wounded. After the end of the war, Mussolini began to organize the first fascist detachments, initially putting forward extreme left-wing demagogic demands to attract the broad masses: land for the working people, a constituent assembly, confiscation of military profits, etc. In 1920, at the height of the revolutionary movement in Italy, the fascist detachments received strong financial support from the big bourgeoisie and farmers, who feared the strengthening of proletarian uprisings, and Mussolini, discarding demagogic demands, began to wage a fierce struggle against the communists and revolutionary workers. During this period, fascist troops were especially zealous in the villages, brutally suppressing peasant uprisings. In May 1921, Mussolini was elected to the Chamber. Supported by all layers of the reactionary bourgeoisie, a significant part of the intelligentsia, seduced by the slogan of “great Italy,” as well as some backward layers of workers, Mussolini made his famous “March on Rome” and on October 29, 1922, seized power from the insufficiently aggressive liberal government of Giolitti. Since the conquest of power, the fascist party under the leadership of Mussolini has been implementing a regime of iron bourgeois dictatorship in Italy: merciless persecution of the working class begins, the struggle against the 8-hour working day and for lower wages, etc. Disregarding any parliamentary conventions, Mussolini passes a new electoral law under which the party that receives the most votes receives 2/3 of all seats in the House. Mussolini's evolution towards full protection of the interests of the big imperialist bourgeoisie caused a process of internal decomposition among fascism. Recently, petty-bourgeois groups, disillusioned with Mussolini's policies, have been breaking away from the party. In 1926, 4 unsuccessful attempts were made on Mussolini’s life, to which the government responded each time with brutal terror. All 1000 biographies in alphabetical order:

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (Italian: Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, July 29, 1883 - April 28, 1945) - Italian politician, writer, leader of the Fascist Party (FNP), dictator ("Duce"), who led Italy (as Prime Minister) from 1922 to 1943. First Marshal of the Empire (March 30, 1938).

After 1936, his official title became "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism and Founder of the Empire." Mussolini remained in power until 1943, after which he was deposed and arrested, but released by German special forces and then headed the puppet Italian Social Republic in northern Italy until his death.

Mussolini was one of the founders of Italian fascism, which included elements of nationalism, corporatism, national syndicalism, expansionism and anti-communism, combined with censorship and state propaganda.

Among the achievements domestic policy Mussolini's government in the period 1924-1939 were: the successful implementation of a public works program such as draining the Pontine Marshes, improving employment opportunities, and modernizing the public transport system.

Mussolini also resolved the Roman Question by concluding the Lateran Agreements between the Kingdom of Italy and the Papal See. He is also credited with bringing economic success to Italy's colonies.

An expansionist foreign policy, initially culminating in the conquest of Abyssinia and Albania, pushed him into an alliance with Germany and participation in World War II as part of the Axis powers, which was the cause of his eventual demise.

Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in the village of Dovia, near the village of Predappio (Italian: Predappio) in the province of Forli-Cesena in Emilia-Romagna.

The father, who had no education but was actively interested in political life, gave his eldest son the name Benito in honor of the Mexican reformist President Benito Juarez, and also gave him two other names - Andrea and Amilcare, in honor of the socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani.

His mother Rosa Maltoni was a teacher and devout Catholic. Father, blacksmith Alessandro Mussolini (1854-1910), a militant anarchist (compiled texts of appeals and spoke at rallies), was imprisoned several times for his ideas, an ardent admirer of the Russian revolutionary Bakunin, was a member of the Second (Socialist) International.

As a young boy, Mussolini helped his father in blacksmithing. Under the influence of his father, Benito also becomes a socialist. Alessandro was a socialist and republican, but also had nationalist views on some issues, especially regarding Italians living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Due to conflict between his parents regarding religion, Mussolini, unlike most Italians, was never baptized.

In 1892, Benito's parents sent him to a private school of the monastic order of St. Francis de Sales. Mussolini celebrated his first year at school by stabbing an older boy. After his mother's tears and the intervention of the Bishop of Forli, the principal changed his decision to expel him from school. In 1895, due to his violent, uncontrollable behavior, he had to be transferred to another school.

Since 1900, Mussolini was actively interested in politics, writing articles for socialist newspapers in Forlì and Ravenna.

After graduating from high school in 1901, he received a teaching diploma junior classes and got a job in the village of Pieve Saliceto, where he soon led the socialists and became a member of the local workers' committee.

In 1902, to avoid military service, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland. He worked for some time as a mason in Geneva, but was unable to find a permanent job. professional work and wandered around. While in Switzerland, he developed a working knowledge of French and a smattering of German.

In 1902, in Lausanne, he met the prominent economist and socialist Professor Vilfredo Pareto and attended his lectures (Pareto's theory teaches that power is always seized by a minority).

At one of the political meetings, he met the Marxists Anzhelika Balabanova and Vladimir Lenin. Balabanova, who came from a wealthy Jewish family living in Ukraine, was forced to leave her homeland due to her communist beliefs. She forced Mussolini to read Nietzsche, Stirner, Marx, Babeuf, Sorel.

Mussolini was greatly impressed by Sorel's work, which emphasized the need to overthrow decadent liberal democracy and capitalism through violence, direct action and a general strike. During this time he joined the Marxist socialist movement.

In November 1904, after expunging his conviction for draft evasion as a result of an amnesty on the occasion of Prince Umberto's birthday, Mussolini was deported to Italy and subsequently volunteered to enlist in the Italian army. He arrived in the military district of Forli and on December 30, 1904 began his military service in the 10th Infantry Regiment in Verona.

On January 19, 1905, he received permission to return home and assist his dying mother. After this, he returned to the regiment for further military service, at the end of which he received gratitude for the good performance of his duties.

After two years of military service (from January 1905 to September 1906), Mussolini returned to Predappio on September 4, 1906 to continue teaching.

Soon after this, he went to work in Tolmezzo, where on November 15 he received a job as deputy director. He has excellent relationships with his students, but for his loud recitation of poetry he is considered an eccentric.

In November 1907, Mussolini received qualifications to teach French, and in March 1908 he became a professor at the French college, where he taught Italian language, history and geography.

In Oneglia he becomes editor of the socialist weekly La Lima. In it, he criticizes the Giolitti government and the Vatican, accusing them of defending the interests of capitalism rather than the proletariat. The newspaper arouses great interest and Mussolini understands that journalism can be a political tool.

Returning to Predappio, Mussolini organized a strike of agricultural workers. On July 18, 1908, he was arrested for threatening the director of an agricultural organization.

He was sentenced to three months in prison, but after 15 days he was released on bail. In September of the same year, he was again imprisoned for ten days for holding an unauthorized rally in Möldol.

In November he moved to Forli, where he lived in a rented room with his father, who then opened a restaurant with his partner Anna Lombardi. During this time, Mussolini published on the pages of the free magazine of revolutionary syndicalism, published in Lugano, the article “Philosophy of Force”, in which he expressed his attitude towards Nietzsche.

After a long search, in February 1909, Mussolini found a job in the Austro-Hungarian city of Trento, populated by Italians. On February 6, 1909, he moved to Trento, the capital of Italian irredentism, where he was elected secretary of the Labor Center, and became the director of his first daily newspaper: L'avvenire del lavoratore (The Worker's Future).

In Trento he met the socialist politician and journalist Cesare Battisti and began editing his newspaper Il Popolo (The People). For this newspaper, he co-authored with Santi Corvaia the novel Claudia Particella, l’amante del cardinale - Claudia Particella, the Cardinal’s Mistress, which was published with a sequel during 1910.

The novel was radically anti-clerical, and a few years later, after Mussolini's truce with the Vatican, it was withdrawn from circulation.

Returning to Italy, he spent some time in Milan, Italy, and then returned to his native Forlì in 1910, where he began editing the weekly magazine Lotta di classe (Class Struggle). During this time, he published the essay Il Trentino veduto da un Socialista in radical periodical La Voce.

By this time he was already known as one of the most prominent socialists in Italy. In September 1911, Mussolini opposed the colonial war in Libya, organizing strikes and demonstrations to prevent troops from being sent to the front: The military continued to indulge in orgies of destruction and murder. Every day, a huge pyramid of sacrificed human lives raises its bloody top more and more brazenly.

In November, he was jailed for five months for his anti-war activities. After his release, he helped expel two pro-war "revisionists", Ivanoe Bonomi and Leonid Bissolati, from the ranks of the Socialist Party. As a result of this, in April 1912 he was awarded the editorship of the Socialist Party newspaper Avanti! the position of editor. Under his leadership, circulation increased from 20,000 to 80,000 copies.

In December 1912, Mussolini was appointed editor-in-chief of Avanti! (“Avanti!”) is the official organ of the Italian Socialist Party.

After his appointment, he moved to Milan. In July 1912, he took part in the Socialist Party Congress in Reggio Emilia. At the congress, speaking about the failed assassination attempt on the king, he said: “On March 14, a simple mason shoots at the king. This incident shows us socialists the path we must follow." The audience stands up and gives him a standing ovation.

In 1913 he published Giovanni Hus, il veridico, a historical and political biography, describing the life and mission of the Czech church reformer Jan Hus, and his militant followers, the Hussites. During this socialist period of his life, Mussolini sometimes used the pseudonym Vero Eretico (true heretic).

Having initially defended Italy's neutrality, he suddenly changed his position and placed in "Avanti!" article, where he spoke out in favor of entering the war against Germany: Refusing to distinguish between one war and another war, allowing oneself to oppose all wars in general, is evidence of stupidity bordering on idiocy. Here, as they say, the letter kills the mind. A German victory would mean the end of freedom in Europe. It is necessary for our country to take a position beneficial to France.

The leadership of the Socialist Party summons Mussolini and demands an explanation from him. After controversy, Benito has to leave his post as editor-in-chief of Avanti! and end up, essentially, on the street.

Mussolini travels throughout Italy giving public appearances. He accuses the socialists of intending to strangle the national aspirations of the people, calls the Germans “European pirates” and the Austrians “the executioners of the Italian people.”

He claims that “the German proletariat, following the Kaiser, destroyed the International and thus freed the Italian workers from the obligation not to go to war.” Mussolini proclaims that “neutrality at its core is nothing more than outright selfishness.”

After Italy entered the war, in August 1915, Mussolini was drafted into the army and he was assigned to the Bersaglieri regiment, which was sent to the front near the Isonzo River. Comrades in arms appreciated Mussolini for his responsiveness, optimism, and exemplary courage - during attacks, he was the first to jump out of the trench with exclamations of “Long live Italy!” At the end of November, Mussolini was hospitalized due to typhus.

In February 1916, Mussolini received the rank of corporal (the order for conferring the rank stated: “for exemplary service, high morale and courage”). In February 1917, while firing a mortar, a mine exploded in the barrel, and Mussolini received severe leg wounds, which is why he was demobilized. For the rest of his life he had to walk in an orthopedic boot.

After the end of the First World War, Mussolini decided that socialism as a doctrine had failed. In 1917, Mussolini began his political activities by receiving £100 a week from MI5, the British security service; this assistance was authorized by Sir Samuel Hoare.

In early 1918, Mussolini declared that the revival of the Italian nation required a “cruel and energetic man.” Much later in life, Mussolini said that in 1919 he felt that “socialism, as a doctrine, was already dead; it continued to exist only as a discontent.”

On March 23, 1919, in Milan, Benito Mussolini held the founding meeting of the new organization “Italian Union of Struggle” (“Fasci italiani di combattimento”).

In the elections of May 1921, Mussolini supported the prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, Giovanni Giolitti. As a result, 35 fascist deputies led by Mussolini entered the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament. On November 7, 1921, the Italian Union of Struggle was transformed into the National Fascist Party.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs opens a case against him, which in particular says: Mussolini is a voluptuous person, as evidenced by his numerous relationships with women... Deep down, he is very sentimental, and this attracts people to him. Mussolini is not interested in money, which gives him a reputation as an unselfish person. He is very smart, kind and well versed in people, knows their shortcomings and strengths. He is prone to showing unexpected likes and dislikes, and is sometimes extremely vindictive.

On October 27, 1922, thousands of supporters of the fascist party began their march on Rome. However, there were significantly more government troops on which Rome could count.

Fearing a possible civil war, and, according to some sources, hints at his possible removal by a palace coup on the part of the economic elite, King Victor Emmanuel III did not sign the Prime Minister’s act of declaring state of emergency in the country and resistance to fascists. He met with Mussolini and appointed him Prime Minister of Italy.

Soon, Victor Emmanuel III and Mussolini met together the NFP troops entering the city. By the evening of October 30, Mussolini finishes forming the cabinet of ministers. The parliament, consisting mainly of liberals, under pressure, voted to trust the new government.

Prince Torlonia provides Mussolini with Villa Torlonia as his personal residence for a nominal fee of 1 lira per year.

On April 10, 1923, in the Vatican, at a meeting between Mussolini and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Mussolini promised to cleanse Italy of communists and freemasons, strengthen sanctions against those who insult religion, install images of the crucified Christ in schools and in judicial institutions, and introduce compulsory religious education in educational institutions and restore the position of military chaplains in the army.

The Italian electoral law of 1923, proposed by Baron Giacomo Acerbo and passed through the Italian parliament, according to which the party that received " greatest number» votes (at least 25% required), received 66% of the seats in parliament.

The remaining third of the seats were distributed among the remaining parties according to the proportional system. The law gave significant advantages to the fascist party.

Political assassination of socialist Giacomo Matteotti, who asked to annul the election results because of violations committed, caused an instant crisis for Mussolini's government. The killer, a scadristi named Amerigo Dumini, later reported to Mussolini about the murder.

The government was in a state of paralysis for several days, and Mussolini later admitted that several determined people could have raised the public and started a coup that would have destroyed the fascist government. Duminy was jailed for two years.

After his release, he said that he had served this term for Mussolini. Over the next 15 years, Dumini received income from Mussolini, the Fascist Party, and other sources.

Being unable to outline in general outline consistent program, fascism evolved into a new political and economic system that combined totalitarianism, nationalism, anti-communism, anti-capitalism and anti-liberalism into a state designed to unite all classes under a corporate system (the "Third Way").

This was a new system in which the state seized control of the organization of vital areas. Under the banner of nationalism and state power, Fascism seemed to synthesize the magnificent Roman past with a futuristic utopia.

The effectiveness of fascist propaganda was so high level that there was no serious opposition to the Mussolini regime in the country. On April 7, Violeta Gibson shot Mussolini with a revolver, the bullet only grazed his nose. A psychiatric examination found Gibson insane.

Wanting to maintain good relations with Great Britain, Mussolini ordered her to be deported to her homeland. On December 31, 1926, 15-year-old Anteo Zamboni fired at Benito Mussolini's car, after which he was captured on the spot and torn to pieces by the crowd.

Mussolini also survived a failed assassination attempt in Rome by anarchist Gino Lucetti, and a planned attempt by American anarchist Michael Schirru, which ended in Schirru's capture and execution. Members of TIGR, a Slovenian anti-fascist group, attempted to plot the assassination of Mussolini in Caporetto in 1938, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

After 1922, Mussolini took personal control of the ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Colonies, Corporations, Defense, and Public Works. There were periods when he headed seven ministries at the same time, and also served as the country's prime minister.

He was also the head of the all-powerful Fascist Party and the armed fascist Blackshirt militia, which suppressed in the bud all resistance to the regime in the cities and provinces.

He later formed OVRA, the Duce’s personal security service. His actions were aimed at keeping power in his hands and preventing the emergence of any competitor, in which the Duce succeeded.

Between 1925 and 1927, Mussolini gradually eliminated virtually all constitutional and customary restrictions on his power, thus building a police state. A law passed on Christmas Eve 1925 changed Mussolini's official title from "president of the council of ministers" to "head of government".

He was no longer responsible to parliament and could only be removed from further exercise of his powers by the king. Local autonomy was abolished and the podesta were replaced by mayors and consuls.

All other parties were banned only in 1928, although in practice Italy became a one-party state in 1925. In the same year, the electoral law abolished parliamentary elections.

Instead, the Fascist Grand Council selected a single list of candidates to be confirmed by plebiscite. The Grand Council had been created five years earlier as a party body, but was "constitutionalized" and became the highest constitutional body in the state.

The Grand Council had the right to discuss the issue of Mussolini's removal from office. However, only Mussolini could convene the Great Council and determine its agenda. To consolidate control over the South, especially Sicily, he appointed Cesare Mori as prefect of the city of Palermo, with the demand to destroy the mafia at any cost.

The new prefect did not hesitate to besiege cities, use torture, hold women and children as hostages, obliging suspects to surrender. Such brutal methods earned him the nickname “Iron Prefect.” Mussolini appointed Mori a senator, and fascist propaganda announced to the country that the mafia had been defeated.

Throughout Italy, Mussolini launched several public building programs and government initiatives to combat economic hardship and unemployment.

His earliest and most famous program was the Green Revolution, also known as the Bread Scramble, which saw the construction of 5,000 new farms and five new agricultural towns on land reclaimed from the drainage of the Pontic marshes.

On December 24, 1928, Mussolnia approved the “Comprehensive Land Reclamation Program,” thanks to which over 10 years the country received more than 7,700 thousand hectares of new arable land. Abandoned and uncultivated areas were quickly put in order and settled by 78 thousand peasants from the poorest regions of Italy.

Work began to be carried out on the banks of the Po River, on swampy plains along the shores of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. More than 60 thousand hectares of swamps, which had remained breeding grounds for molars for centuries, were drained and divided into 3 thousand plots for the poor. New cities were also built there. From 1922 to 1930, the number of clinics and hospitals quadrupled.

In Sardinia, the model agricultural city of Mussolinia was built in 1930, which was renamed Arborea in 1944. This city was the first of thousands that Mussolini hoped to build throughout the country to improve the country's agricultural production. This plan directed valuable resources toward grain production, away from other, less economically viable crops.

Huge tariffs associated with the project contributed to its inefficiency, and government subsidies provided to farmers pushed the country further into debt. Mussolini also launched the "Battle for the Land", a policy based on land development outlined in 1928. The initiative was carried out with varying degrees of success.

Mussolini hoped to improve the welfare of the peasants, but in reality, only the owners of large estates benefited from his policies.

While projects such as the drainage of the Pontic Marshes in 1935 were good for agriculture and for propaganda purposes, providing employment for the unemployed and allowing large landowners to control subsidies, other projects in the Battle for the Land were not very successful.

This program was incompatible with the Battle of the Grain (small plots of land were improperly allocated for large-scale wheat production) and the Pontine Marshes were lost during World War II. The Battle for Earth program was discontinued in 1940.

He also combated the economic downturn by introducing the "Gold for the Motherland" program, encouraging the public to voluntarily donate gold jewelry such as necklaces and wedding rings to government officials in exchange for steel bracelets with the inscription "Gold for the Motherland."

Even Raquela Mussolini donated her own engagement ring. The collected gold was melted down and turned into gold bars, which were then distributed to national banks.

Mussolini sought state control of business: in 1935, Mussolini claimed that three-quarters of Italian firms were under state control.

That same year, he issued several decrees to further control the economy, including forcing all banks, businesses and private citizens to divest all their foreign shares in favor of Bank of Italy bonds.

In 1938, he set wages and regulated prices. He also tried to turn Italy into a self-sufficient autarchy by imposing high tariffs on trade with most countries except Germany.

The social policy he pursued brings Mussolini recognition throughout the world. Gandhi and Freud respect him. In private life, Mussolini is unpretentious and simple. During conversations he is calm, knows how to control himself, and always tries to choose the most accurate word or expression. Sometimes he can be harsh, the Duce physically cannot stand people who are somehow unpleasant to him. He doesn't care about money or material possessions at all.

In 1943, he proposed the theory of economic socialization.

As the Italian dictator, Mussolini's primary concern was propaganda and winning the minds of the Italian people. The press, radio, education, films - everything was carefully controlled to create the illusion that fascism was a twentieth-century doctrine capable of replacing liberalism and democracy.

The principles of this doctrine were laid down in an article on fascism written by Giovanni Gentile and signed by Mussolini, which appeared in 1932 in the Enciclopedia Italiana.

In 1929, the Lateran Agreements were signed with the Vatican, according to which the Italian state was finally recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Vatican, in turn, was recognized by the Italian state; the agreement also included legal provisions under which the Italian government would protect the honor and dignity of the Pope by prosecuting those responsible.

In 1927, Mussolini was baptized by a Catholic priest to appease the Catholic opposition, who were still critical of the fascist regime, which removed papal property and effectively blackmailed the Vatican. Beginning in 1927, Mussolini, with his anti-communist doctrine, convinced many Catholics to support him.

The codes of the parliamentary system were rewritten under Mussolini. All teachers in schools and universities were required to take an oath that they would defend the fascist regime. On July 10, 1924, a decree with the force of law was issued, which introduced restrictions on freedom of the press.

Mussolini personally selected newspaper editors, and imposed a ban on journalistic activity without a certificate of approval from the Fascist Party. These certificates were issued secretly; In this way, Mussolini skillfully created the illusion of a “free press.”

On July 31, 1924, the Ministry of Press and Propaganda was created in Italy, and Dino Alfieri was appointed head of it. The measures he took led to the closure of most opposition newspapers. Trade unions were also deprived of any independence and were united into a “corporate system”. The goal was to place all Italians into various professional organizations or "corporations" that were under secret government control.

On December 31, the Duce gave an order to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, headed by Luigi Federzoni, to seize opposition journalists and conduct a search of the leading leaders of the anti-fascist movement. The police dissolve the Free Italy association, close more than 100 “subversive” institutions and arrest several hundred people.

Large sums of money were spent on public works, as well as on prestigious international projects such as the SS Rex Blue Riband of the Atlantic and aviation achievements such as the world's fastest seaplane, the MC72, and the transatlantic cruise of Italo Balbo's flying machine, which was greeted with much fanfare in United States when he landed in Chicago.

On October 31, 1926, a new law was passed giving the government the right to make laws without the consent of parliament. And on December 24, Justice Minister Alfredo Rocco issues a series of laws aimed at eliminating the administrative and political institutions of the democratic system. The Duce acquired full executive power and was no longer responsible to anyone except the king.

On September 2, 1928, the Fascist Grand Council compiled, at the proposals of trade unions and other associations, a pre-election list of candidates for parliament in accordance with the new electoral law, according to which voters vote for or against the entire list of deputies.

On March 24, parliamentary elections were held which showed that Italy voluntarily accepted fascism. (Upvote/downvote ratio = 8.51/0.13 million people). On July 20, 1932, Mussolini took over the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (his deputy Fulvio Suvic), Dino Grandi was sent as ambassador to London. During 1928 and 1938, the Foro Mussolini sports complex was built in Rome.

Mussolini's obelisk made of Carrara marble was also erected there, which is the largest monolith cut out in the twentieth century, weighing almost 300 tons and 17.40 meters high. In 1933, a stadium was built for the Turin World Cup games held in Italy in 1934, originally called "Mussolini".

In foreign policy Mussolini moved from pacifist anti-imperialism to aggressive nationalism. He dreamed of making Italy a country that would be “great, respected and feared” throughout Europe and the world.

A quick example was the bombing of Corfu in 1923. Soon after, he succeeded in creating a puppet regime in Albania and in ruthlessly consolidating Italian power in Libya, which had been free since 1912. His dream was to make the Mediterranean mare nostrum ("our sea" in Latin), and he created a large naval base on the Greek island of Leros to provide a strategic hold on the eastern Mediterranean.

To implement plans to create an Italian Empire, or the New Roman Empire as its supporters called it, Italy set its sights on an invasion of Ethiopia, which was quickly carried out.

In October 1935, Italy launched a war of conquest against Ethiopia. The Italian forces were vastly superior to the Abyssinian forces, especially in air power, and were soon declared victors.

In May 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie was forced to flee the country while Italian troops entered the capital, Addis Ababa, and declared Ethiopia to be part of Italian East Africa. Due to the victory in Ethiopia, Mussolini proclaimed the rebirth of the Roman Empire, and King Victor Emmanuel III assumed the title of Emperor of Ethiopia.

Although all the major European powers of the time also colonized Africa and committed atrocities in their colonies, the colonial division was completed only at the beginning of the twentieth century. International sentiment was now against colonial expansion and condemned Italy's actions in this regard. In hindsight, Italy was criticized for using mustard gas and phosgene against its enemies, supposedly authorized by Mussolini.

Fearing that the communists would win during the Spanish Civil War, the Duce actively supported the nationalists who fought against the republic. Since 1936, a rapprochement between Mussolini and Hitler began. The reason for this was the joint military and economic support for General Franco’s speech in Spain. Suvic was sent as ambassador to the United States, and Mussolini's son-in-law G. Ciano became minister of foreign affairs.

Relations between Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were initially contentious, especially deteriorating after the Nazis assassinated Italian friend and ally Engelbert Dollfuss, the Austrofascist dictator of Austria, in 1934.

With Dollfuss's assassination, Mussolini tried to distance himself from Hitler by rejecting much of racism (particularly Nordicism and Germanicism) and radical German anti-Semitism.

Mussolini, during this period rejected biological racism, according to at least in Nazi form, but instead emphasized the increased "Italianization" of parts of the Italian empire that he wanted to build. He stated that the ideas of eugenics and the racially sensitive concept of an "Aryan nation" could not be possible.

June 14, 1934 Mussolini receives Hitler in Venice. On July 25, 1934, while trying to carry out a coup d'etat, the Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. Mussolini hastily mobilizes four divisions, orders them to approach the border - to the Brenner Pass and be ready to go to the aid of the Austrian government.

Mussolini is counting on the support of Great Britain and France - but they are inactive. But Italy’s actions are enough for Hitler to retreat and the coup attempt to fail.

On January 4, 1937, Mussolini held negotiations with Goering, Hitler's emissary. In response to Goering's proposal to consider the annexation of Austria a settled matter, Mussolini shakes his head and decisively declares that he will not tolerate any changes in the Austrian question.

Mussolini declines the invitation to visit Germany, but sends his son-in-law in his place. From August 21 to 24, Ciano held negotiations with von Neurath, after which he was expected to receive a reception from Hitler.

After five refusals to visit Germany, the Duce finally accepted the Fuhrer's invitation in September 1937. Over the course of a week, Hitler, dressed in the uniform of assault troops, unveils a series of grandiose parades in front of his guests, gathers huge rallies, demonstrates all the brilliance of a well-oiled military machine, while at the same time demonstrating his amazing power over the crowd. The military power of Germany, the discipline and high morale of the soldiers amaze the Duce.

Mussolini had imperial plans for Tunisia and had some support in that country. In April 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, seeking to restore honor from past defeats, Italy invaded Albania. Italy defeated Albania in just five days, forcing the king to flee.

On May 22, 1939, the Italian and German foreign ministers Ciano and Ribbentrop signed the Italian-German Treaty on a Defensive and Offensive Alliance (the so-called “Pact of Steel”). King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy was wary of the treaty, favoring more traditional Italian allies such as France.

Hitler was determined to launch an invasion of Poland, although Galeazzo Ciano warned that this would likely lead to war with the Allies. Hitler rejected Ciano's comment, predicting that Britain and other Western countries would instead retreat, and he suggested that Italy launch an invasion of Yugoslavia.

Mussolini found the offer tempting, but declaring war would be disastrous for Italy due to the extreme shortage of weapons. Also, King Victor Emmanuel advocated Italian neutrality in this war.

However, contrary to Italy's obligations, after the outbreak of war between Germany, on the one hand, and Poland, France and Great Britain on the other, the Duce declared his neutrality.

He orders the acceleration of work on the construction of defensive structures on the border with Germany. In addition, Italy continues to supply France with aviation equipment and vehicles.

After the outbreak of World War II, Italian Foreign Minister Ciano and British representative Viscount Halifax held secret telephone conversations. The British wanted Italy on their side against Germany, as they had in the First World War.

The French government was cooler towards Italy. However, in September 1939, France decided to discuss controversial issues with Italy, but since the French did not want to discuss territorial disputes over Corsica, Nice and Savoy, Mussolini did not respond to the initiative of the French leadership.

On March 18, 1940, the Duce meets with Hitler at the Brenner Pass. Mussolini promised to enter the war, but only after the main forces of France were defeated by the Germans. He laid claim to historically Italian lands that had once been seized by France - namely Corsica, Savoy and Nice, as well as Tunisia.

Mussolini, convinced that the war would soon end with a German victory, decided to enter the war on the side of the Axis. Accordingly, Italy declared war on Britain and France on June 10, 1940.

Italy joined the Germans in the fight for France, fighting against a fortified Alpine line on the border. However, 32 Italian divisions were unable to significantly dislodge 6 French divisions from their positions in the Alps.

Only eleven days later, France surrendered to the Axis powers. Nice and other southeastern regions of France came under Italian control. Meanwhile, Italian East African forces attacked the British in Sudan, Kenya and the British colony of Somaliland. On August 3, 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and became part of Italian East Africa.

Only more than a month later, the Italian Tenth Army, commanded by General Rodolfo Graziani, moved from Italian Libya to Egypt, where British forces were located.

On October 25, 1940, Mussolini sent the Italian Air Corps to Belgium, where the air force fought against Britain for two months. In October, Mussolini sent Italian forces to Greece, starting the Italo-Greek War.

After initial successes, trouble followed as the Greek counterattack continued unabated, causing Italy to lose a quarter of Albania. Germany soon transferred some of its forces to the Balkans to fight the gathering Allies.

Events in Africa changed in early 1941 as Operation Compass held back the Italian push into Libya, resulting in huge casualties in the Italian army.

Also in the East African Campaign, an attack was launched against Italian forces. Despite resistance, they were defeated at the Battle of Keren, and the Italian defense suffered a final defeat at the Battle of Gondar.

In danger of losing control of all Italian possessions in North Africa, Germany finally sent the Afrika Korps to support Italy. Meanwhile, Operation Marita was underway in Yugoslavia, ending the Italo-Greek War, leading to Axis victory and the occupation of Greece by Italy and Germany.

With the invasion of the Soviet Union by Axis forces, Mussolini declared war on the Soviet Union in June 1941 and sent an army there. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he declared war on the United States.

In May 1941, the British, with the help of partisans, liberated Ethiopia and also occupied the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Somalia. By this time, the transfer of Rommel's Afrika Korps to Libya led to the fact that the advantage in North Africa was on the side of the Italian-German troops. Rommel managed not only to return Cyrenaica, but also to reach El Alamein (100 km from Alexandria) in the summer of 1942.

On October 23, 1942, a counteroffensive by British troops began near El Alamein, ending in the complete defeat of the Italians and Germans. On November 8, the Americans began landing in Morocco.

On May 13, 1943, Italian-German troops in Africa totaling 250 thousand people (about half of them Italians) capitulated in Tunisia.

On July 10, the Anglo-Americans landed in Sicily. On July 19-20, Mussolini met with Hitler in Feltre, asking him to organize the defense of Sicily; but Hitler, busy with the battle on the Kursk Bulge, was unable to help his ally and demanded that Mussolini evacuate.

By this time (1943), among the elite, including even the top of the Fascist Party, a conviction had formed about the need to remove Mussolini and withdraw from the war. Upon news of the landing in Sicily, the leaders of the Fascist Party, led by Dino Grandi, began to insist that Mussolini convene a Fascist Grand Council.

The Council, which had not met since 1939, convened on July 24 under the chairmanship of Grandi and passed a resolution demanding the resignation of Mussolini and the transfer of supreme command of the army to the hands of the king. Mussolini did not recognize this resolution as binding on himself, but the next day he was summoned to an audience with the king and was arrested there.

A government was formed led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, which began secret negotiations with the Anglo-Americans. The news of Mussolini's arrest caused violent anti-fascist protests, and on July 27 the dissolution of the fascist party was announced.

Badoglio began secret negotiations with the allies about leaving the war, and on September 3 a truce was signed, one of the points of which was the surrender of Mussolini. On the same day, the Anglo-Americans began landing in Italy. On September 8, Italy's withdrawal from the war was officially announced. In response, the Germans occupied Italy.

On September 12, Mussolini, who was being held at the Albergo Rifugio Hotel in the Apennine Mountains, was freed by German paratroopers under the command of Otto Skorzeny. He was taken to a meeting with Hitler, from there to Lombardy, where he headed the puppet “Italian Social Republic” with its capital in the town of Salo (the so-called “Republic of Salo”).

In fact, all power in this formation belonged to the German military. On September 18, 1943, Mussolini announced the creation of the Fascist Republican Party.

By this time, Mussolini was in very poor health and wanted to retire. However, he was immediately brought to Germany to speak with Hitler at his hideout in East Prussia.

There, Hitler told him that unless he agreed to return to Italy and create a new fascist state there, the Germans would destroy Milan, Genoa and Turin. Mussolini negotiated the creation of a new regime, the Italian Social Republic, informally known as the Republic of Salo due to its capital in the city of Salo.

Mussolini lived with Clara Petacci at Gargnano on Lake Garda in Lombardy during this period, but he was little more than a puppet in the hands of his German liberators.

Bowing to pressure from Hitler and the remaining loyal fascists who formed the government of the Italian Social Republic, Mussolini helped organize a series of executions of some of the fascist leaders who betrayed him at the last meeting of the fascist Grand Council. One of those executed was his son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano.

As head of state and foreign minister of the Italian Social Republic, Mussolini used much of his time to write his memoirs.

On April 17, 1945, Mussolini arrives in Milan. He planned to organize resistance in Valtellina, north of Bergamo, or take refuge in Switzerland. On the 25th, he holds long negotiations with the leader of the Resistance, General Cadorna, and members of KNOSI Marazza and Lombardi. Mussolini wants to remind you that German troops are still in the country, and was very upset to learn that the Nazis decided to lay down their arms.

Soon Mussolini and his associates head to Lake Como in the Valtellina Valley. Arriving at about 9 pm in the city of Como, they occupy the prefectural building. Here Raquela joined Mussolini, but the next morning the Duce said goodbye to her.

A small detachment advanced along Lake Como to Menaggio. From Menaggio the road goes to Switzerland. Marshal Graziani, fearing to fall into the hands of the partisans, prefers to surrender to the allies. On the night of April 26-27, the fugitives join a detachment of 200 Germans who are also planning to cross the border. A little later, Alessandro Pavolini and Clara Petacci meet them.

Near the small village of Musso, the column is stopped by a partisan barrier. The partisan commander invites the column to continue its journey, but only lets the Germans through. A German lieutenant, having put a soldier's overcoat on Mussolini, hides him in the back of a truck.

The partisans begin to inspect the cars, and one of them recognizes the Duce. Escorted to the village of Dongo, Mussolini spends the night in a peasant house. The message about his arrest reaches the command of the Allied forces.

A real competition is unfolding between the secret services of Great Britain and the United States to kidnap him. Winston Churchill, who would like to forget his admiration of Benito Mussolini in the 1930s, was not averse to removing him before he gave official testimony. This plan was not realized.

By order of the leadership of the CDS, a small detachment led by Colonel Valerio (Walter Audisio) takes Mussolini and Clara Petacci from the hands of the partisans. On April 28 at 16:10 they were shot on the outskirts of the village of Medzagra. The dead bodies of the Duce and his mistress, like the bodies of six other fascist hierarchs, are transported to Milan, where they are hung by their feet from the ceilings of a gas station in Piazza Loreto. The former dictator's face is disfigured beyond recognition.

Moreover, there is a strange story about the place where the Duce was executed. 10 years before his death, he was driving near Mezzegra, and his car almost fell off a cliff. Mussolini then said: “Damn this place.” It was there, years later, that he was shot.

The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were brought to Milan. At a gas station near Piazza Loretto, where 15 anti-fascist partisans were executed on August 10, 1944, they, along with the bodies of 5 other executed fascist party leaders, were hanged upside down.

After this, the ropes were cut, and the bodies lay in the gutter for some time. On May 1, Mussolini and Petacci were buried in Milan's Musocco Cemetery (Simitero Maggiore), in an unmarked grave in a poor lot.

Fascist loyalist Achilles Staras was captured and sentenced to death penalty, then taken to Piazzale Loreto and showed him Mussolini's body. Staras, who once said of Mussolini, “He is God,” saluted his leader before being shot. Staras's body was hung next to Mussolini's body.

On Easter 1946, Mussolini's body was exhumed and stolen by three neo-fascists led by Domenico Leccisi. The body was found in August of that year, but remained unburied for 10 years due to a lack of political consensus. Currently, Mussolini rests in the family crypt in his hometown of Predappio.

Mussolini first married Ida Dalzer in Trento in 1914. A year later, the couple had a son, Benito Albino Mussolini. In December 1915, Mussolini married Raquela Guidi, his mistress since 1910. After coming to power, all information about the first marriage was hushed up, and his wife and son were subjected to repression.

With Raquel, Mussolini had two daughters, Eddie and Anna Maria, and three sons Vittorio, Bruno, and Romano. Mussolini had many mistresses, including Margherita Sarfatti and his last companion, Clara Petacci.

In addition, Mussolini had countless brief sexual encounters with women, according to his biographer Nicholas Farrell. The third son, Bruno, was killed in a plane crash while flying a P108 bomber on a test mission, August 7, 1941.

The book, entitled The Unknown Mussolini, contains excerpts from Petacci's diaries, written between 1932 and 1938. In particular, the diaries say that the Duce considered Adolf Hitler an overly sentimental person, but was jealous of the fame and power of the Nazi dictator.

He emphasized that his racist and anti-Semitic beliefs originated in the 1920s, that is, before Hitler became famous.
Another diary entry indicates that Mussolini was extremely dissatisfied with the fact that Italians in African colonies were establishing relationships with local residents.
In 1923, Mussolini called Rome “the eternal heart of our race”, and in 1934 he banned the book “Black Love” about the romance of an Italian woman and an African man. In 1929, when the Italian Academy was founded, Jews were not included in it, and in 1934 an anti-Semitic campaign was carried out in newspapers. Mussolini passed a number of racist laws:

* April 19, 1937 - decree banning mixing with Ethiopians
* December 30, 1937 - decree banning mixing with Arabs
* November 17, 1938 - decree banning mixing with Jews and banning Jews from government and military service.
The Duce practiced fencing, swimming, skiing, horse riding, went for long runs along the beach, and participated in regattas. He was involved in flying sports. In his hobbies, Mussolini led the movement for a healthy lifestyle he promoted. The Duce's favorite football club was the Roman Lazio.

— Italian Awards
* Supreme Order of the Holy Annunciation - 1924
* Military Order of Italy - May 7, 1936
* Order of Saints Mauritius and Lazarus
* Civil and Military Order of the Roman Eagle
* Order of the Crown of Italy
* Colonial Order of the Star of Italy
* Medal of Honor"
* Commemorative Medal of the Italo-Austrian War 1915-18
* Commemorative medal of the Italian victory
* Medal in memory of the unification of Italy
* Medal in memory of the March on Rome
* Long Service Cross for 20 years in the Volunteer Militia for National Security Affairs
* Order of Malta
* Order of the Holy Sepulcher
* Insignia of the German Red Cross
* Grand Cross of the Order of Beza
* Order of Skanderbeg

— Awards from other countries
* Order of the German Eagle
* Order of the Golden Spur
* Military Order of Lachplesis
* Order of the Bath
* Cross of Liberty
* Order of the Seraphim
* Order of the Elephant
* Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross - 12 January 1934/XII

— Works of Mussolini
* Giovanni Hus, il Veridico (Jan Hus, True prophet), Rome (1913). Published in America as John Hus (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1929). Republished by the Italian Book Co., NY (1939) as John Hus, the Veracious.
* The Cardinal's Mistress (trans. Hiram Motherwell, New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1928)
* There is an essay on “The Doctrine of Fascism” written by Benito Mussolini that appeared in the 1932 edition of the Enciclopedia Italiana, and excerpts can be read at Doctrine of Fascism. There are also links to the complete text.
* La Mia Vita (“My Life”), Mussolini’s autobiography written upon request of the American Ambassador in Rome (Child). Mussolini, at first not interested, decided to dictate the story of his life to Arnaldo Mussolini, his brother. The story covers the period up to 1929, includes Mussolini’s personal thoughts on Italian politics and the reasons that motivated his new revolutionary idea. It covers the march on Rome and the beginning of the dictatorship and includes some of his most famous speeches in the Italian Parliament (Oct 1924, Jan 1925).
* From 1951 to 1962 Edoardo and Duilio Susmel worked for the publisher “La Fenice” in order to print opera omnia (the complete works) of Mussolini in 35 volumes.