Benito Mussolini

After a turbulent youth and school years, Mussolini drew attention for his violent tendencies, which prevented him from pursuing a career as a schoolteacher. A radical socialist activist, he went into exile in Switzerland. After a brief stint as a bricklayer—an experience he would later highlight in his personal myth-making to portray himself as a man of the people—Mussolini became editor-in-chief of the Socialist Party’s newspaper, *Avanti!*. In 1912, he was prosecuted for inciting violence. During World War I, he supported intervention on the side of the Allies. This led to his expulsion from the Socialist Party. Italy then entered the war, and Mussolini served on the front lines from 1915 to 1917.

He then worked for the newspaper *Popolo d’Italia*, where he denounced the settlement of the conflict, which he saw as disadvantageous to his country. He founded the Italian Combat Groups in 1919, a nationalist group that he transformed into the National Fascist Party in 1921. Thirty-five of its members were then elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Bolstered by his growing popularity, the Duce (the Leader) hardened his party’s stance, and repression became more violent, particularly against the communists.

In 1922, his men marched on Rome, and Mussolini took the helm of the government. He then established a military dictatorship in which he held absolute power and severely cracked down on opponents. He set out to turn Italy into a totalitarian state. He entered the war alongside the Nazis in 1940 but quickly suffered a crushing defeat.

In July 1943, he was removed from office by the Council and dismissed by King Victor Emmanuel II, who ordered his arrest and imprisonment: the fascist regime was overthrown. Mussolini was executed in 1945.