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Benito Mussolini 1883 - 1945
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Mussolini's full name was
Benito
Amilcare Andrea Mussolini. His friends called him
Il
Duce, which means The Leader in Italian.
As his
nickname suggests,
il Duce
was good friends with Der Fuehrer, which means The
Leader in German, and of course we are talking about
nut Adolf.
Benito
Mussolini was a fascist.
What in the world is a fascist?
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Benito
Mussolini's Family
Benito was married to
Rachele Guidi, the daughter of his father's mistress.
Apparently, he was also married to
Ida Dalser.
With Ida
he had a son, Benito Jr.
According to the Guardian, there was a movie in the makes about
Ida.
Benito
Mussolini — The Early Years
Benito was a kid who loved his penknife. Preferably on
other kids. As he grew up, his talent to magnetize crowds
became obvious.
Benito Mussolini soon was the center of all sorts
of troubles and went in and out of jail time and again. He
liked the ideas of
Karl Marx
and became a Socialist.
Predappio, Italy -
Mussolini's birthplace
Google Map
Benito
Mussolini and World War I
Benito Mussolini was 100% against
World
War I and made his opinion known with his, by then
notorious, noise and intensity.
Being against everything was Mussolini's nature. However, being
against war meant being for peace. On second
thought, that was no fun at all. Thus, Benito changed his mind and
went to fight in the war.
Onlooking therapists
saw a
vulnerable child trying to reach out.
Benito
Mussolini — The Dictator Years
Coming home from war, Benito
Mussolini was ready for more action. With
his gift for bombastic speeches he rallied many discontented
individuals. His words didn't make a lot of sense most of the
time, but Mussolini had the crowds fired
up effortlessly.
A momentum was created. People
started wearing black shirts and raided governmental
institutions as well as belongings of Communists, Catholics,
and others.
By October 1922, the
Blackshirts were on
the roll but rather toothless. However, after their infamous
March on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III chose
not to fight for his throne and Mussolini became Prime
Minister of Italy on October 31, 1922, or in effect dictator.
Please note that Emmanuel had
the choice whether or not to activate his armed forces
against Mussolini's ill-equipped black shirts, but he felt
it prudent to pass.
At the blackshirt propaganda
desk, the March on Rome was
of course completely blown out of portion and sold as a
heroic and patriotic act. But it
impressed the dickens out of the Nazi propaganda desk, which
went to work immediately. Right away, in November 1922, they had a new
slogan:
"Germany's Mussolini is called Adolf Hitler."
These
guys had found their ultimate marketing tool — the Führer
cult.
Benito
Mussolini — Controversy and World War II
When Mussolini came to power, Italy's economy was in dire
straits. Many
people credit Mussolini for re-structuring and reinvigorating
the country.
However, there was too much Napoleon in Mussolini and it went
downhill soon. But not before Italy had invaded Ethiopia in
October 1935
Let
Haile Selassie explain. Mussolini had declared
the Italian Empire on May 9, 1936.
On May 22, 1939, and together with his buddy, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini formed the
Pact of Steel.
Here you can read the Pact of Steel.
Benito Mussolini was sadly aware of the fact that Adolf
Hitler was
calling all the shots. Case in point was Austria. Mussolini
told Hitler to stay away from Italy's direct neighbor.
Hitler replied that he never even thought of annexing it.
Mussolini told Hitler again to keep his hands off Austria,
this time with a pout because that's pretty much all he
could do. Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. Some insist
that Adolf snickered.
Nevertheless, Mussolini sang Hitler's
song and Italian Jews were transported to German concentration
camps.
Benito Mussolini and Adolf
Hitler
in Munich, Germany, 1940
National Archives.gov
[+] CLICK TO ENLARGE
Italy entered
World War II in 1940.
On July 9, 1943, the Allies landed
in
Sicily and all of a sudden the Italian Fascists felt very
close to their king and voted for
Mussolini's retirement.
Red Beach, Gela, Sicily - July 10, 1943
U.S. Navy
Benito Mussolini didn't hear well on that ear,
so the King had Mussolini arrested on July 25, 1943.
Two months later the Germans
helped him escape to Munich, Germany. Mussolini later went back to northern Italy where he
tried to regain his power.
Benito
Mussolini's Death
The stronger the Allies became, the more Mussolini's life was
in danger. On his way to the Brenner Pass in order to escape
to Switzerland, his enemies finally caught up with Mussolini and his
travel companion, Claretta Petacci
near Dongo.
Both, Claretta and Benito,
were shot and hung upside down in Milan, Italy. That was on
April 28, 1945, just two days before Adolf Hitler went on his honeymoon
with Eva Braun in a petrol-soaked ditch and someone lit a
match.
Benito
Mussolini's Short Biography
1883 Birth in Predappio, Italy
1902 Travels Switzerland
1904 Back to Italy
1922 - 1943 Prime Minister, Italy
1935 Invasion of Ethiopia
1940, June 10 - Italy enters WWII
1943, July - Allies invade Sicily
1945, April 28 - Death near Dongo, Italy
Benito
Mussolini — Trivia
Mussolini was founder of the socialist newspaper
The Class
Struggle (La Lotta di Classe).
Claudia Cardinale was Claretta Petacci in the 1984 movie
Claretta.
On your next trip to Rome keep your eyes peeled for the
Mussolini obelisk. Here she stands:
MUSSOLINI OBELISK ROME
EvaK / Anthony M / Wiki
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