Benito MussoliniBackground
Benito Mussolini was born in 1883 in Italy. Growing up he had a blacksmith for a father who was a very strong socialist. His mother was a Catholic school teacher paying for all the bills. His family made him study the way of a socialist, and in 1901, he became a teacher just like his mother. The next year he moved to Switzerland, and while he was there, he tried to persuade people to become socialists. He portrayed such convincing and informative facts that he gained a reputation in Switzerland. By having a substantial reputation for spreading socialism, he was reprimanded by a variety of Switzerland authorities and was punished by being expelled from the country. However, being evicted from one country didn't stop him. He traveled back to Italy and continued persuading people to be a socialist. He became head of a newspaper that many people read and persuaded people through media. Mussolini changed his mind about WW2 and decided it could be a good opportunity to rise to power.
Timeline
In 1915 Benito joined the army and only was discharged when he got wounded.
In 1919, he organized several right-wing groups into a single force. By proceeding with this action he created the National Fascist Party. The party supported nationalist sentiments. Mussolini created a group known as the “Black Shirts” which tormented other political groups. His actions resulted in making the Fascist popularity increase. In 1922 Mussolini claimed, protested, and pleaded that he was the only person that could save Italy from all the political chaos. He quickly got rid of democratic groups and made himself a dictator over Italy in 1929. While being prime minister/dictator, he retitled himself and took the name “II Duce”. The name can be translated from “II Duce” to "the leader." Mussolini was somewhat correct about being able to help Italy because he reduced unemployment. In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, had no competition, and won. In 1939 he sent troops to Spain to see if he could increase his power in the world. In 1940, Italy invaded Greece with some initial success. Mussolini accepted the offer to become an ally of Hitler and Nazi Germany by the late 1930's. This then inducted Italy into World War II and resulted in the country to opt to fight on the side of the Axis Powers in 1940. |
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