In one of his last interviews, Mussolini was extremely frank: “My star has fallen. I work and I try, but I know that all this is just a farce... I am waiting for the end of the tragedy, and I am no longer one of the actors, but the last of the spectators.”
Images of the Duce
A small man with an extremely expansive demeanor, speaking from the balcony of the royal palace. A mutilated corpse hanging head down in a Milan piazza, to the universal jubilation of thousands gathered.
These are, perhaps, the two most striking images remaining in newsreels of the 20th century from a man who led Italy for more than two decades.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Benito Mussolini was admired by American and European politicians, and his work as head of the Italian government was considered a role model.
Later, those who had previously taken off their hats to Mussolini hastened to forget about it, and the European media assigned him exclusively the role of “Hitler’s accomplice.”
Actually, such a definition is not so far from the truth - in recent years, Benito Mussolini really ceased to be an independent figure, becoming the shadow of the Fuhrer.
But before that there was the bright life of one of the most extraordinary politicians of the first half of the 20th century...
Little Chief
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in the village of Varano di Costa near the village of Dovia in the province of Forli-Cesena in Emilia-Romagna.
His father was Alessandro Mussolini, a blacksmith and carpenter who had no education, but was actively interested in politics. His father’s passion affected his son immediately after birth - all three of his names were given in honor of left-wing politicians. Benito - in honor of the Mexican reformist president Benito Juarez, Andrea y Amilcare - in honor of the socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani.
Mussolini Sr. was a radical socialist who was imprisoned more than once for his beliefs, and he introduced his son to his “political faith.”
In 1900, 17-year-old Benito Mussolini became a member of the Socialist Party. The young Italian socialist is actively engaged in self-education, demonstrates excellent oratory skills, and in Switzerland meets like-minded people from other countries. It is believed that among those whom Benito Mussolini met in Switzerland was a radical socialist from Russia, whose name was Vladimir Ulyanov.
Mussolini changed jobs, moved from city to city, considering politics to be his main activity. In 1907, Mussolini began his career in journalism. His colorful articles in socialist publications brought him fame, popularity and the nickname “piccolo Duce” (“little leader”). The epithet “small” will soon disappear, and the nickname “Duce” received in his socialist youth will carry with Mussolini throughout his life.
Knowing who Benito Mussolini would become just a decade later, it is difficult to believe that in 1911 he denounced the unjust, predatory Italian-Libyan war in the press. For these anti-war and anti-imperialist speeches, Mussolini ended up in prison for several months.
But after his release, his party comrades, appreciating the scope of Benito’s talent, made him editor of the newspaper “Forward!” - the main printed publication of the Socialist Party of Italy. Mussolini fully justified his trust - during his leadership, the publication's circulation increased fourfold, and the newspaper became one of the most authoritative in the country.
Man changes skin
Mussolini's life was turned upside down by the First World War. The leadership of the Italian Socialist Party advocated the country's neutrality, and the editor-in-chief of the publication suddenly published an article in which he called for taking the side of the Entente.
Mussolini's position was explained by the fact that in the war he saw a way to annex to Italy its historical lands that remained under the rule of Austria-Hungary.
The nationalist in Mussolini prevailed over the socialist. Having lost his job at the newspaper and broken with the socialists, Mussolini, with Italy’s entry into the war, was drafted into the army and went to the front, where he established himself as a brave soldier.
Corporal Mussolini, however, did not serve until victory - in February 1917 he was demobilized due to a serious leg wound.
Italy was among the victorious countries, but the enormous costs of the war, material losses and human casualties plunged the country into a deep crisis.
Returning from the front, Mussolini radically revised his political views, creating the “Italian Union of Struggle” in 1919, which a couple of years later would be transformed into the National Fascist Party.
The former fierce socialist declared the death of socialism as a doctrine, saying that Italy could only be revived on the basis of traditional values and tough leadership. Mussolini declared his yesterday's comrades - communists, socialists, anarchists and other left parties - to be his main enemies.
Climbing to the top
In his political activities, Mussolini allowed the use of both legal and illegal methods of struggle. In the 1921 elections, his party sent 35 deputies to parliament. At the same time, Mussolini's comrades began to form armed groups of party supporters from among war veterans. Based on the color of their uniforms, these units were called “Black Shirts.” The symbol of Mussolini's party and its fighting units became the fasces - the ancient Roman attributes of power in the form of a bundle of tied rods with an ax or ax stuck in them. The Italian "fascio" - "union" - also goes back to the fascia. It was the “union of struggle” that Mussolini’s party was originally called. From this word the ideology of Mussolini's party - fascism - got its name.
The ideological formulation of the doctrine of fascism will occur almost a decade later than the fascists led by Mussolini come to power.
On October 27, 1922, the mass march of the Black Shirts on Rome ended with the actual capitulation of the authorities and the provision of Benito Mussolini as prime minister.
Mussolini enlisted the support of conservative circles, big business and the Catholic Church, who saw in the fascists a reliable weapon against communists and socialists. Mussolini built his dictatorship gradually, curtailing the rights of parliament and opposition parties, without encroaching on the formal supreme power of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III.
The curtailment of political freedoms lasted for six years, until 1928, when all parties except the ruling one were officially banned.
Mussolini managed to overcome unemployment through the implementation of large projects to develop the country's agriculture. In place of the drained swamps, new agricultural regions were created, where the labor of the unemployed from other regions of the country was used. Under Mussolini, the social sphere was significantly expanded through the opening of thousands of new schools and hospitals.
In 1929, Mussolini succeeded in what none of his predecessors succeeded in regulating relations with the papal throne. Under the Lateran Agreements, the Pope finally officially recognized the existence of the Italian state.
Overall, by the mid-1930s, Benito Mussolini was considered one of the most successful politicians in the world.
Broken bet
Mussolini's bright appearance in the eyes of the West was spoiled only by his desire for territorial conquests. The establishment of control over Libya, the seizure of Ethiopia, the creation of a puppet regime in Albania - all this was met with hostility by the USA, Great Britain and France.
But the rapprochement with the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler that came to power in Germany became fatal for Benito Mussolini.
Initially, Mussolini was extremely wary of Hitler and strongly opposed attempts to annex Austria to Germany, since he had friendly relations with the Austrian authorities.
The real rapprochement of the two regimes began during the Spanish Civil War, where Germany and Italy jointly supported General Franco in the fight against the Republicans.
In 1937, Mussolini joined the Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan. This spoiled relations between Italy and the USSR, which were at a fairly high level in the 1930s, despite all the ideological differences, but in the eyes of the West it was not a great political sin.
France and Great Britain desperately tried to persuade Entente veteran Benito Mussolini to join their side in the upcoming war, but the Duce made a different choice. The "Pact of Steel" of 1939 and the "Tripartite Pact" of 1940 forever linked Benito Mussolini's Italy with Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan.
Mussolini, who never hid his penchant for adventurism, this time bet on the wrong horse.
In alliance with Hitler, Mussolini became a junior partner, whose fate depended entirely on the fate of the elder.
The Italian army was unable to independently resist the Allied forces; almost all of its operations were in one way or another connected with the operations of the German troops. Italy’s entry into the war with the USSR and the sending of Italian units to the Eastern Front in 1942 ended in disaster - it was the Italian troops that received a powerful blow from the Soviet armies at Stalingrad, after which Paulus’s 6th German Army found itself surrounded.
By July 1943, war had come to Italy: Anglo-American troops landed in Sicily. Mussolini's once unquestioned authority in Italy collapsed. A conspiracy matured, among the participants of which were even the Duce’s closest associates. On July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini was removed from his post as Prime Minister of Italy and arrested. Italy began negotiations to exit the war.
Last of the Spectators
In September 1943, German saboteurs under the command of Otto Skorzeny kidnapped Mussolini on Hitler's orders. The Fuhrer needed the Duce to continue the fight. In northern Italy, in areas remaining under the control of German troops, the so-called Italian Social Republic was created, the head of which was declared to be Mussolini.
However, the Duce himself devoted most of his time to writing memoirs and performed his leadership functions formally. Mussolini was aware that from the all-powerful leader of Italy he had turned into a political puppet.
In one of his last interviews, the Duce was extremely frank: “My star has fallen. I work and I try, but I know that all this is just a farce... I am waiting for the end of the tragedy, and I am no longer one of the actors, but the last of the spectators.”
At the end of April 1945, with a small group of associates who remained faithful to him and his mistress Clara Petacci, Benito Mussolini tried to hide in Switzerland. On the night of April 27, the Duce and his entourage joined a detachment of 200 Germans who were also trying to escape to Switzerland. Compassionate Germans dressed Mussolini in the uniform of a German officer, however, despite this, he was identified by Italian partisans who stopped the German column.
The Germans, who wanted to escape to Switzerland without losses, left the Duce to the partisans without much mental anguish.
On April 28, 1945, Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci were shot on the outskirts of the village of Mezzegra. Their bodies, as well as the bodies of six other high-ranking Italian fascists, were brought to Milan, where they were hung upside down at a gas station near Piazza Loreto. The choice of place was not accidental - in August 1944, 15 partisans were executed there, so mocking the Duce’s body was seen as a kind of revenge. Then Mussolini's corpse was thrown into a gutter, where he lay for some time. On May 1, 1945, the Duce and his mistress were buried in an unmarked grave.
There was no peace for Mussolini even after his death. Former supporters found his grave and stole his remains, hoping to interred them in a dignified manner. When the remains were found, the debate about what to do with them lasted for a whole decade. Ultimately, Benito Mussolini was buried in the family crypt in his historical homeland.
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) - Italian politician, leader (Duce) of the Fascist Party of Italy, Prime Minister of Italy (1922-1943). He began his political career in the Socialist Party, from which he was expelled in 1914. In 1919 he founded the fascist party. Having carried out the “March on Rome” (October 28, 1922), Mussolini seized power in the country and on November 1, 1922 headed the government of Italy. Being at the same time the leader (Duce) of the fascist party, Mussolini had dictatorial powers. Mussolini's government introduced a regime of fascist terror in the country, pursued an aggressive foreign policy (occupation of Ethiopia in 1936, Albania in 1939, etc.), and together with fascist Germany unleashed World War 2. In 1945 he was captured by Italian partisans and executed.
Whoever gives up the fight is the executioner.
Mussolini Benito
The beginning of Mussolini's political activity
Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883, in Dovia. His father was a blacksmith, and his mother was a primary school teacher. After graduating from high school in 1901, he received a diploma as a primary school teacher.
In 1903, Benito joined the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). He served in the army and was a teacher. In the early 1910s, he actively participated in the actions of the socialist movement, was engaged in journalism, and was arrested several times.
At the beginning of World War I, Mussolini called for Italy to enter the war on the side of the Entente. In this regard, he was expelled from the party and left the post of editor of the newspaper Avanti.
After Italy entered the war (1915), Mussolini was drafted into the army, participated in hostilities, and was wounded.
Religion is a disease of the soul that only a psychiatrist can cure.
Mussolini Benito
In 1919, relying on the nationalist sentiments of former front-line soldiers, Mussolini created the fascist movement “Combat Union”, which began to carry out pogroms.
Fascist dictatorship
The fascist organization of Benito Mussolini soon received the support of the ruling circles and quickly gained popularity among those sections of the population who longed for order. In the elections of 1921 he was elected as a member of parliament, and in 1922 he was appointed Prime Minister of Italy. In the elections of 1924, the fascists won a majority of seats in parliament. However, the murder of Socialist deputy Giacomo Matteoti, who publicly exposed the falsified voting results, brought the fascist government to the brink of collapse. Deputies from other parties left parliament and created the opposition Aventine Bloc. After the assassination attempt on the Duce in 1926, a state of emergency was introduced in the country, all political parties except the fascist one were banned. A fascist dictatorship was established in the country. The secret police (OVRA) and the Special Fascist Tribunal were created. The personal cult of the dictator was implanted. In addition to the post of Prime Minister, Mussolini simultaneously held the posts of Minister of the Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of War and Navy, was the head of the fascist militia, the first marshal of the empire, an “honorary academician” of the Bologna Philharmonic, and had many other titles.
Even the best blood can sometimes end up in a fool or a mosquito.
Mussolini Benito
Mussolini sought to create an empire. In 1935-36, Ethiopia was captured by Italian troops; in 1936-1939, he assisted Franco during the Spanish Civil War. In November 1937, Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact concluded between Germany and Japan. Following in the wake of German policy, Italy captured Albania in 1939. In May 1939, Italy and Germany concluded the Pact of Steel.
During the Second World War
In June 1940, Italy entered World War II on the side of Germany. Corruption, economic difficulties and military defeats led to the growing crisis of Mussolini's regime from the mid-1930s. In January 1943, the Italian army was defeated in Russia, and in May Mussolini's troops surrendered in Tunisia. On July 25, 1943, after the landing of Allied troops (US and Great Britain) in Sicily, Mussolini was arrested and forced to resign.
If I advise, follow the advice, if I renounce, kill me, if I die, avenge me.
Mussolini Benito
On September 3, 1943, the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allied command. In response, Germany occupied large parts of Italy. Hitler ordered Mussolini to be kidnapped and taken to Germany. As a result of a daring attack by a detachment of SS men under the command of Otto Skorzeny, the Duce was freed. Until 1945, Mussolini headed the fascist puppet government in the town of Salo. He was captured by partisans and executed on April 28, 1945.
Benito Mussolini - quotes
On the spring morning of April 29, 1945, crowds of people flocked to Piazza Loreto in Milan. A terrible and unprecedented picture was revealed to their eyes - eight corpses were suspended by their feet from the metal beams that served as ceilings of the gas station located there. The face of one of them was disfigured beyond recognition, but those gathered in the square knew that it once belonged to the all-powerful dictator Benito Musolini.
Son of an unapologetic socialist
The founder of the Italian fascist party, Benito Mussolini, whose brief biography formed the basis of this article, was born on July 29, 1883 in the small village of Varano di Costa. His father could barely read and had difficulty writing his own signature, but this did not prevent him from being one of the militant socialists of those years.
Participating in all anti-government rallies and being the author of the most radical appeals, he was repeatedly imprisoned. It is not surprising, therefore, that under the influence of his father, Benito from an early age became imbued with the ideas of universal happiness and social justice, which were obscure but attractive to the young man.
By nature, Benito Mussolini was an unusually gifted child. For example, from the memoirs of contemporaries it is known that at the age of four the future Duce (leader) was already reading fluently, and a year later he was playing the violin quite confidently. But the violent and cruel character he inherited from his father did not allow the boy to graduate from the church school in Faenza, where his parents placed him with great difficulty.
One day, Benito resolved his dispute with one of the high school students by stabbing him, and only the intervention of the local bishop saved him from inevitable prison. Already in those years, the teenager acted as the leader of his comrades, but due to his character traits he never enjoyed their love, which, however, worried him little.
Young and active socialist
In 1900, Benito Mussolini, while still a student at the gymnasium where he was transferred after a scandal at a Catholic school, joined the Socialist Party of Italy. Here he first showed his abilities as a publicist, publishing sharp political articles on the pages of the newspapers Ravenna and Forlì that belonged to her. After finishing his studies and receiving a diploma as a primary school teacher, Benito worked for some time in a village school, while at the same time heading the organization of local socialists.
Since active military service was not part of his plans, upon reaching the appropriate age in 1902, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland, where a large colony of Italians lived in those years. Soon, thanks to his skill in speaking in front of a street audience and good knowledge of the French language, he stood out from the general mass of his compatriots. According to his biographers, here the future Duce, having experienced success for the first time, fell in love with the attention of the crowd and the sound of applause.
At one of the political meetings held in Lausanne, Benito Mussolini met the Russian emigrant Vladimir Lenin, as well as his ally, Angelica Balabanova, thanks to whom he began to read such authors as Marx, Sorel and Nietzsche. Under the influence of their ideas, throughout his life he became an ardent supporter of direct and sometimes violent actions, not constrained by any moral restrictions.
Talented journalist and active politician
However, very soon his emigrant life, filled with idle talk about the general well-being, ended. In 1903, at the request of the Italian government, Benito was arrested for evading conscription. However, this time, happily avoiding prison, he limited himself to deportation to his homeland.
Having returned to Italy and having served in the army for the required two years, Mussolini Benito resumed his teaching activities, achieving very noticeable success in this field. Having received the proper qualifications, he became a professor at a French college. This occupation brought him a livelihood, but the young teacher still considered politics to be his true destiny.
Realizing that a newspaper article can be as effective a weapon of revolutionary struggle as a rifle, he actively published in a number of left-wing radical newspapers, and eventually became the editor of the socialist weekly La Lima. In 1908, for organizing a strike of agricultural workers, Mussolini was sentenced to three months in prison, but fate, always favorable, did not abandon its favorite this time - after two weeks he was free again.
Well-deserved success in the literary field
The next three years of his life were devoted almost exclusively to journalistic activities, which he was engaged in both in his homeland and in the Austro-Hungarian city of Trento, where he published his first own newspaper, “The Future of the Worker.” During this period, in collaboration with another figure of the Socialist Party - Santi Carvaia - Benito Mussolini wrote a sharp anti-clerical novel “Claudia Particella, the Cardinal's Mistress”, which, having subsequently reconciled with the Vatican, he himself ordered to be withdrawn from sale.
A truly talented journalist who uses a simple, accessible language, he quickly gained popularity among ordinary Italians. Knowing how to choose catchy and vivid headlines for his articles, he touched on the most pressing topics that concerned every average person.
Personal life of a dictator
It is known about Mussolini’s personal life that in 1914, while in Trento, he married Ida Dalser, who bore him a son. However, literally a year later he divorced her and entered into a second marriage with his former mistress Raquele Guidi, with whom he had been in a relationship for many years.
The new wife turned out to be fertile and gave birth to two daughters and three sons. However, Mussolini's personal life was never limited to the family circle. Throughout his adult years, he had countless relationships, sometimes short-term, sometimes lasting for years.
Departure from socialist ideology
However, at the beginning of the First World War, his break with his fellow party members unexpectedly occurred. Actively advocating the participation of Italy, which was neutral at that time, in military operations on the side of France, he went against the general line of his former comrades. After Italy finally entered the war on the side of the Entente in 1915, rejected by his former comrades, the Duce found himself at the front. Awarded the rank of corporal for his bravery, he was forced to leave service in 1917 due to a serious injury he received during one of the combat operations.
Returning from the front, Mussolini continued his political activities, but holding completely different views. In his articles and public speeches, he stated that socialism had completely outlived its usefulness as a political doctrine. According to him, at this stage only a strong, cruel and energetic person can serve the cause of the revival of Italy.
Creation of a fascist party
On March 23, 1919, an event occurred that became truly important not only in his life, but also in the entire history of the country - Benito Mussolini held the first meeting of the party he founded, Fasci italiani combattimento - “Italian Union of Struggle”. It was the word “fasci”, meaning “union”, that caused the members of his organization, and then everyone who shared their inherent ideology, to be called fascists.
Their first serious success came in May 1921, when in the elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, Mussolini and 35 of his closest associates received mandates, after which their organization was officially transformed into the National Fascist Party. From that time on, the word “fascism” began its dark march across the planet.
One of the manifestations of the “strong hand” policy was the appearance on the streets of Italian cities of “Black Shirts” units - assault squads made up of veterans of the last war. Their task was to restore order and forcefully counteract various political opponents who tried to organize demonstrations, rallies and demonstrations. They became the prototypes of future German stormtroopers, differing from them only in the brown color of their robes. The police, sensing the growing political influence of these groups, tried not to interfere with their actions.
By 1922, the number of supporters of the fascist party in Italy had increased so much that in October they were able to organize a multi-thousand march on Rome. Aware of their strength and fearing the outbreak of civil war, King Victor Immanuel III was forced to accept Mussolini and appoint him prime minister. On the same day, the newly appointed head of government formed a cabinet of ministers, which, as you might guess, included his most prominent supporters.
The fascists' rise to power in Italy was marked by numerous crimes, secretly or openly committed on political grounds. Among them, the kidnapping and murder of prominent socialist Giacomo Matteotti caused the greatest public outcry. In general, as statistics show, during the period from 1927 to 1943, charges of illegal actions of a political nature were brought against 21 thousand people.
At the pinnacle of power
After 1922, Benito Mussolini, whose biography by this time was replete with more and more new appointments, managed to take personal control over almost all aspects of public life. Suffice it to say that he managed, one after another, to subjugate seven ministries, including the main ones - internal and foreign affairs, as well as defense.
By 1927, Benito Mussolini (Italy) created a real police state in the country, eliminating constitutional restrictions on his arbitrariness. At the same time, all other political parties were banned and parliamentary elections were cancelled. The free expression of the people was replaced by the Great Fascist Council, which soon became the country's highest constitutional body.
The economic rise of Italy in those years
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the creation of a rigid totalitarian state in Italy was accompanied by its sharp economic rise. In particular, for the needs of agriculture during the reign of Benito Mussolini, whose photos from those years are presented in the article, 5 thousand farms were created. Five new cities were built on the territory of the Pontic swamps drained by his order; the total area covered by reclamation amounted to 60 thousand hectares.
His program to combat unemployment and create new jobs also became widely known, as a result of which thousands of families began to have a solid income. In general, during the years of rule of Benito Mussolini (Italy), he managed to raise the country’s economy to an unprecedented level, thereby further strengthening his position.
Imperial ambitions and their results
Dreaming of restoring the Roman Empire and considering himself the chosen one of fate who was entrusted with this great mission, the Duce pursued a corresponding foreign policy, which resulted in the conquest of Albania and Ethiopia. However, this forced him to enter World War II on the side of his former enemy Hitler, to whom he could not forgive the murder of his friend, the Austrian dictator Engelbert Dollfuss.
Military operations developed very unfavorably both for the Italian army as a whole and for Benito Mussolini personally. Briefly describing the situation that developed at that time, it is enough to say that the troops he led suffered a crushing defeat in Greece, Egypt and Libya in a short time. As a result, the arrogant and ambitious Duce was forced to ask for help from his allies.
The final collapse came after the defeat of the German-Italian troops at Stalingrad and in North Africa. The failure of these two major military operations resulted in the loss of all previously captured colonies, as well as the corps that fought on the Eastern Front. In the summer of 1943, the disgraced dictator was removed from all positions he held and arrested.
From dictators to puppets
But Benito Mussolini and Hitler - two people who became a symbol of fascism and violence - did not end their cooperation yet. By order of the Fuhrer, in September 1943, the Duce was released by a detachment of paratroopers under the command of Otto Skorzeny. After that, he headed the pro-German puppet government in northern Italy, created as an alternative to King Victor Emmanuel III, who had sided with the anti-fascist forces.
And although the story of Benito Mussolini at that time was already approaching its sad end, he still managed to create the Italian Socialist Republic on the territory under his control, which, however, did not receive recognition at the international level and was completely dependent on the Germans. But the days of the once all-powerful dictator were numbered.
Bloody epilogue
In April 1945, the same tragedy occurred with the mention of which this article began. Trying to take refuge in neutral Switzerland and crossing the Valtellino valley, Musollini, his mistress - the Italian aristocrat Clara Petacci - and about a hundred Germans ended up in the hands of partisans. The former dictator was identified and the next day he and his girlfriend were shot on the outskirts of the village of Metsegra.
Their dead bodies were transported to Milan and hung by their feet at a gas station in Piazza Loreto. That day, next to them, the remains of six more fascist hierarchs swayed in the fresh April wind. Benito Mussolini, whose death was a natural stage of many years of activity aimed at suppressing civil liberties in the country, by that time had turned from a popular idol into an object of universal hatred. Perhaps that is why the face of the defeated Duce was disfigured beyond recognition.
On April 29, 2012, a memorial plaque appeared on the wall of the house in the village of Metsegra, near which his life was cut short. It depicts Clara Petacci and Benito Mussolini. Books, films, historical works, and most importantly time, have done their job, and for all his odiousness, the dictator in the minds of people has turned into only one of the pages of their history, which, like any other, is treated with respect by true citizens.
The future great dictator was born on July 29, 1883 in the village of Dovia, in the province of Emilia-Romagna. Rosa Maltoni, Mussolini's mother, was a rural teacher. Benito's father, Alessandro, made money as a blacksmith and metalworker. Two years after the birth of the first child, another son, Arnaldo, appeared in the family, and five years later, a daughter, Edwidje.
Mussolini had an average income and could afford to pay for his eldest son’s education at the school of monks in Faenza. Benito grew up obstinate, stubborn, aggressive and often violated the strict rules established by the monks. The father had a noticeable influence on the formation of his son. An atheist and a rebel who sympathized with the ideas of M. Bakunin, Alessandro knew firsthand about Marxism and considered himself a socialist.
After graduating from high school, Mussolini taught in junior classes, but not for long - in 1902 he went to seek his fortune in Switzerland. Benito even then called himself a socialist and often spoke to small audiences. His popularity among expatriate workers grew, and his name became well known to the Swiss police, who arrested him several times for “inflammatory speech.” In those years, Mussolini became acquainted with the works of K. Kautsky and P. Kropotkin, R. Stirner and O. Blanca, A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche, and read the “Manifesto” of K. Marx and F. Engels. Mussolini took from theories only what he liked and understood; he easily assimilated other people's ideas, and had the habit of passing them off as his own after some time.
Like many other socialists of his generation, Mussolini was strongly influenced by the ideas of the French syndicalist Georges Sorel.
He was first called the “Little Leader” (“piccolo Duce”) in 1907 after being expelled from the canton of Geneva. A few years later, this title, but without the definition of “piccolo,” appeared in the newspaper of the revolutionary faction of the Italian socialists “La Soffitta” (“Cherevik”) and since then has been firmly entrenched in Mussolini, who did not hide his satisfaction on this occasion.
The Duce preached his ideas in the small newspaper “Lotta di classe” (“Class Struggle”), which he acquired with the help of the socialists of the province of Emilia-Romagna. He was certainly a gifted journalist. The small-format paper, which became the daily organ of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) in Forlì, consisted almost entirely of his articles. Mussolini attacked the monarchy and militarism, scolded the rich and priests, socialist reformists and republicans. His articles were angry and merciless, their tone was peremptory and aggressive, their phrases were categorical and assertive. The popularity of the newspaper grew, its circulation doubled, reaching 2,500 copies, and the Duce, having become secretary of the Socialist Party in Forlì, in October 1910, for the first time attended the next congress of the ISP, held in Milan.
Mussolini felt that the crisis brewing in the party, caused by the intensification of the struggle between supporters of reformist and revolutionary tactics, could be used to move up. And he plays this card at the next congress of the ISP in Emilia-Romagna in July 1912.
This congress was of particular importance for Mussolini's political career. The "irreconcilable" figures of the "revolutionary faction" and among them Mussolini managed to achieve the expulsion of right-wing reformists from the ISP. Mussolini's speech at the congress was a resounding success. It was commented on and quoted in the press, but this could not fully satisfy the ambition of the Duce. For a person abundantly endowed with the abilities of a publicist, the most reliable way to the top was the central all-Italian newspaper ISP. His dream came true: in November 1912 he was entrusted with heading the editorial office of the newspaper Avanti! ("Forward!").
Mussolini knew the craft of a reporter. He loved the newspaper and was a virtuoso of journalism. After a year and a half, the newspaper's circulation increased from 20 to 100,000 copies, and it became one of the most read in Italy.
And then the world war broke out, and the Socialist Party, true to its long anti-militarist tradition, addressed the masses with an anti-war manifesto and put forward the slogan of “absolute neutrality.” However, as the conflict developed, the tone of publications in Avanti! acquired a pronounced anti-German and anti-Austrian character, and Mussolini’s pro-Entente sympathies became an “open secret.” October 18, 1914 in "Avanti!" An editorial was published, “From absolute neutrality to active and real neutrality,” and although this formula contradicted the anti-war course of the socialists, Mussolini tried to impose it on the party leadership. He demanded that the party hold a referendum on this issue. After a long and fierce debate at a meeting of the ISP leadership, Mussolini’s resolution was rejected, he himself was relieved of his duties as editor-in-chief, and a month later he was noisily expelled from the party.
Mussolini played a win-win game, since back in the spring of 1914 he received an offer from F. Naldi, the publisher of a Bolognese newspaper. Naldi had connections at the royal court and had friends among major industrialists and financiers. The Duce could not resist the temptation to have his own large newspaper, which would become in his hands a powerful political weapon, enabling further struggle for power. The first issue of "Popalo d'Italia" ("People of Italy") was published on November 15. Although the newspaper was initially called a "daily, socialist", it was the leadership of the ISP and the Socialist Party as a whole that were subjected to vicious, bitter attacks on its pages. Mussolini advocated the immediate entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Entente countries. His supporters hoped, with the help of war, to bring the revolution closer and make Italy great. The idea of a “revolutionary war for a place in the sun” found a response among wide sections of small property owners. Mussolini became the spokesman for their sentiments. His extremism was easily understandable to ordinary people and lumpen people. “I am increasingly convinced,” he wrote, “that for the good of Italy it would be useful to shoot... a dozen deputies and send at least a few ex-ministers to hard labor... The parliament in Italy is a plague-ridden an ulcer that poisons the blood of the nation. It needs to be cut out."
Italy officially entered World War I on May 23, 1915. Mussolini did not follow the example of many nationalists and did not rush to sign up as a volunteer. Newspapers accused him of cowardice, but he insisted that he was waiting for the draft of his year. The summons arrived only at the end of August, and since mid-September he had been in the active army. The legend of Mussolini's reckless bravery at the front was created by himself after the end of the war. In fact, he didn't do anything remarkable. The Duce wore a military uniform for 17 months, but spent only a third of this time in the trenches, the rest of the time he was in the rear - in hospitals, on vacation. In February 1917, he became the victim of an accident: during instruction on the use of a mortar, one of the mines exploded in a trench. Four soldiers were killed outright, and Mussolini was wounded in the right leg. Six months later, he was demobilized and returned to the editorial office of Pololo d'Italia, and two months later, the tragedy of Caporetto broke out, where the Italian army was completely defeated by Austrian troops. Along the roads of Northern Italy, hundreds of thousands of exhausted, embittered people, until recently called soldiers.
Mussolini managed not only to understand the interests of front-line soldiers, but also to express in a simple and accessible form the innermost thoughts and aspirations of these people. Gradually he became their idol. Mussolini was subject to sudden outbursts of anger, vengeful and cruel, but these qualities only complemented his image of a “man of action”, ready to do anything for the sake of an idea. However, Mussolini soon realized that a strong, militant organization was needed to seize power. On March 21, he gathered former interventionists, nationalists, and futurists in Milan. There are about 60 people in total. They decided to create a “Combat Union” (“Fascio de combattimento”, hence the name of the new movement) and for this purpose to convene a kind of constituent assembly. A little more than a hundred people responded to the call published in the newspaper Pololo d'Italia.On March 23, 1919, these people settled in the mansion of the Milanese Commercial and Industrial Club in Piazza San Sepolcro.
For two days there were calls for the restoration of Italy's greatness, and there were debates about foreign policy. 54 people signed a declaration in which the fascists - that’s how members of the new organization began to call themselves - pledged to defend the demands of front-line soldiers and sabotage former neutralists. They declared themselves opponents of any, in particular Italian, imperialism and immediately demanded the annexation of the regions of Dalmatia and Fiume, disputed with Yugoslavia. Soon their program was supplemented by an extensive list of social slogans that sounded very radical: the abolition of the Senate, the police, castes, privileges and titles, universal suffrage, guarantees of civil liberties, the convening of a Constituent Assembly, the establishment of an 8-hour working day and a minimum wage for everyone, transfer of land to peasants, universal education and much more. Thus, the fascists did not appeal to any specific social stratum, but to all Italians who longed for tangible social and political change.
Mussolini did not hide his intentions. In the conditions of the decline of the revolutionary movement, when the immediate threat to the existing system had passed, he openly declared his claims to gain political power. “Fascism is a gigantic mobilization of moral and material forces,” he wrote on March 23, 1921. “What are we trying to achieve? We talk about it without false modesty: governing the nation.” In May 1921, Mussolini was elected to the Italian parliament. The 35 mandates received by the fascists allowed them to participate in the parliamentary game, behind-the-scenes combinations and deals. And although Mussolini called all this a “mouse race”, and the parliamentary group of fascists - a “punitive platoon”, he nevertheless looked closely at the internal parliamentary kitchen, calculated the chances of success. In November 1921, at the time of the creation of the fascist party, he defiantly refused the post of General Secretary: he should have been above current party affairs. This gesture was typical of Mussolini, who became a member of the party leadership, but in fact had full power. In the fall of 1922, dual power was actually established in Italy: the fascists captured more and more cities and provinces Mussolini relied on an armed coup.On October 24, the next congress of fascist unions opened in Naples, at the San Carlo Theater.
Mussolini made an aggressive speech at it, with an ultimatum demanding that the government provide the fascists with five ministerial portfolios and an aviation commissariat. At the same time, he declared his devotion to the monarchy, for he was aware of the power of the monarch.
In the evening of the same day, at the Vesuvius Hotel, where the Duce was staying, his closest associates and quadrumvirs (I. Balbo, C. M. De Vicchi, E. De Bono, M. Bianchi) - members of the operational leadership of the fascist detachments - gathered. After some debate, a decision was made: October 27 - general mobilization of the fascists, October 28 - attack on the main centers of the country. Three columns of squadrists - members of fascist combat detachments (squads) - were supposed to enter Rome from Perugia, present an ultimatum to the government of L. Fact and take possession of the main ministries. If the operation failed, it was planned to proclaim the creation of a fascist government in Central Italy and prepare a new “march on Rome.”
Blood began to flow immediately: in Cremona, Bologna and Alessandria the squadrists became uncontrollable. The Cabinet of Ministers decided to resign, but first approved and even sent out a decree on the state of siege, according to which the army received the necessary powers to restore order. However, at the last moment, King Victor Emmanuel III, summoned from his country residence, refused to sign this decree.
New order.
On the afternoon of October 29, Mussolini, who was in Milan, received the much-desired notification of his appointment as prime minister and in the evening of the same day he departed for Rome on a special train in a sleeping car. Dressed in a fascist uniform (black shirt, dark green trousers and leggings), the Duce came to the king. A few years later, in a conversation with the German writer E. Ludwig, he admitted that on the way to Rome he felt like a patriot. Walking out onto the balcony with the king, he greeted the jubilant crowds of Blackshirts. Thus ended the fascist coup, ironically called by the people “the revolution in the sleeping car.”
Having become prime minister, Mussolini retained many of the habits of a provincial populist.
Mussolini was forced to interrupt the work of parliament. Never before had he been so shocked and confused. According to the testimony of his assistants, during those days of crisis the Duce was seized with panic: he rushed around the office, beat himself on the head with his fists, shouted that fascism in Italy was over forever. And then he fell into prostration. This is how he was found by the leader of the Bologna fascists L. Arpinati and four squadrists who had specially come to Rome to support their Duce. A few years later, the Duce admitted to his attending physician that “in those days, the onslaught of 50, no, even 20 determined people would have been enough,” and he would have resigned.
Gradually, the peak of the crisis passed, the bourgeoisie again rallied on the platform of fascism. On January 3, 1925, the Duce made a speech in parliament, which meant that fascism was going on the offensive. In a short period of time, a series of “emergency laws” were issued in Italy, which led to the elimination of democratic institutions of society and the establishment of a fascist dictatorship.
Mussolini assigned himself a new official title - “head of government” and from now on had to formally account for his actions only to the king, who, in turn, could sign decrees only with the knowledge and consent of the Duce. The traditional separation of legislative and executive powers was largely eliminated, as the government gained the right to make laws even without the formal consent of parliament. The Duce firmly adopted the habit of announcing his decisions from the balconies of official residences: the Chigi palace, and later Venice. The Blackshirts gathered in front of the palace, and those simply curious, enthusiastically shouted “yes!” in response to the Duce’s question whether this or that decree is needed. The official organs of information only had to present this “popular approval” in an appropriate manner.
For Italy, the 30s were a time of consolidation and dominance of the Mussolini regime. The Duce was a sophisticated and intelligent dictator. He understood that it was impossible to create a solid foundation of political power through violence alone, so fascism actively implanted in society its own system of ideological, political and moral “values”, based on unconditional recognition of the authority of the leader. Any dissent was suppressed by force. In the conditions of Catholic Italy, ensuring public harmony largely depended on the state's relations with the Vatican. Of course, Mussolini really wanted to solve the “Roman question.” Back in September 1870, when the royal troops occupied Rome, the high priest cursed the Italian state and forbade Catholics to participate in political life.
Mussolini in his youth was a militant atheist and even signed some of his articles as a “true heretic.” Vicious attacks on Christian teaching and the cult of its ministers continued until the early 20s, but soon the tone of Mussolini’s speeches changed dramatically. In his first speech in parliament, he had the courage to mention the “Roman question,” which had not been raised for decades, and after becoming prime minister, he allocated funds for the restoration of destroyed churches, returned the crucifix to schools and hospitals, recognized the Catholic University in Milan and increased the salaries of sixty thousand parish priests.
Mussolini's actions were dictated by the needs of political strategy and tactics. The "Roman Question" was settled in 1929. In exchange for official recognition of the Kingdom of Italy, the Vatican received the status of an independent state with a territory of 44 hectares and a population of about a thousand people. However, relations between the Holy See and the fascist regime remained difficult and subsequently worsened several times. While keeping the secret police under control, the Duce constantly demanded from agents the most complete information about the state of mind in the country, both about the activities of the highest hierarchs and about the statements of former political opponents who were in prison and in exile.
From the pages of newspapers, Mussolini appeared as the author of all the “great achievements” of the nation, its pride and symbol. He accompanied the average person everywhere; portraits of the leader were pasted on the walls of houses and trams, his busts filled city squares and public gardens, his statements “decorated” advertising posters, the pediments of residential buildings and government institutions, and were printed along highways and railways. It seems that at some point Mussolini himself believed that he was a man “sent to Italy by providence”, that all its successes were the fruit of his brilliant creativity. “Italians, rest assured,” he once said during a trip to Reggio Emilia, “I will lead you higher and further.”
The inflation of the myth of the “superman” leading the nation to a “bright future” reached its apogee in the second half of the 30s. In honor of the Duce, they composed poems and songs, made films, created monumental sculptures and stamped figurines, painted pictures and printed postcards. Endless praise flowed at mass rallies and official ceremonies, on the radio and from the pages of newspapers. Since 1933, the new official chronology began to count the years of the “fascist era.”
Fascism introduced a series of rituals into the daily life of Italians, conventionally united by the concept of “fascist style.” “The whole complex of our daily habits must be transformed: our manners of eating, dressing, working and sleeping,” Mussolini declared in 1932. Mussolini's regime began to introduce new norms of behavior into society. Among the fascists, handshakes were abolished, women were prohibited from wearing trousers, and one-way traffic was established for pedestrians on the left side of the street.
By government decision, all Italians, regardless of age, social status and gender, were required to engage in military, sports and political training on Saturdays. Mussolini himself set an example to follow, organizing mass swims, hurdles and horse races. Mass gymnastic exercises became fashionable and widespread, because movements in a single rhythm, according to the fascists, contributed to the development of a sense of collectivism.
In the 1930s, another new mass ritual appeared: “fascist weddings,” at each of which Mussolini was considered the imprisoned father. He elevated stimulating population growth to the rank of state policy and attached special importance to it, expressing his plan in a concise formula: “More population - more soldiers - more power.”
A significant part of ordinary people, especially in the mid-30s, judged Mussolini approximately this way: he established order in the country, gave jobs to many unemployed, sincerely cares about the greatness of the nation and is trying to establish “social justice.” Talk about “social justice” was stimulated by the implantation of a corporate system in the country, aimed, according to the Duce’s plan, at overcoming class antagonisms. The Duce was surrounded by many illiterate people. The principle of personnel selection was ridiculously simple - personal sympathy or hostility of the Duce. Often the choice of the lucky person was determined by his appearance, ability to present himself, a successful joke, or something else of the like. On May 26, 1927, speaking in the Chamber of Deputies, Mussolini spoke about his apparatus as follows: “All ministers and their deputies are soldiers. They go where the Head of Government directs them, and stop if I order them to stop.”
The Duce did not hide the fact that the OVRA, on his instructions, controls the private life and correspondence of the hierarchs. Each of them did not leave for a minute a feeling of uncertainty and fear for their career, because Mussolini often and carefully “shuffled the deck” of his entourage, reporting displacements and movements through the media.
Many appointments were formally carried out on behalf of the king, to whom the Duce regularly appeared on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Legally, Victor Emmanuel the Third remained the head of state, which created the appearance of dualism in governing the country. From time to time, disagreements arose between the Duce and the king, but in all fundamental issues Mussolini won. He even managed to make the fascist song "Gio Vinezza" the national anthem along with the "Royal March". This was perhaps the only time in history when a country had two official anthems.
Earthly passions.
Unlike his son-in-law G. Ciano, Mussolini did not strive for unbridled personal enrichment. He was indifferent to money, but not to the benefits it provided. A fanatical car enthusiast, he bought several of the most prestigious cars for his own pleasure and used them often. His other hobby was horses - there were more than a dozen of them in his stable.
The Duce always lived for himself. He did not belong to the family - not because of excessive workload, but because of his character. Communication with children (Edda, Vittorio, Bruno, Romano, Anna Maria) was superficial; the Duce never had close friends. He had a good relationship with his brother and sister, and in December 1931, when Arnaldo died, Mussolini experienced genuine grief. The Duce suffered another personal blow in connection with the death of his son Bruno, who crashed during a training flight in August 1941.
For the crowd, the leader is a superman, alien to earthly passions. But behind the monumental facade, of course, there is always a mere mortal, with all human weaknesses. Neither Hitler, nor Lenin, nor Stalin were ascetics. However, Mussolini, with his southern temperament, far surpassed them in love affairs.
The future dictator lost his virginity at the age of 16 with a cheap street prostitute. By his own admission, he then “undressed every woman he saw with his eyes.” But in reality, it was rarely possible to undress a woman.
In 1909, Benito fell in serious love for the first time. Raquel Guidi, his former student (Mussolini was then a teacher at the school), worked in the bar of a local hotel. She did not reject the advances of a respectable admirer, but she did not say “yes” to him either. By that time, the young teacher had firmly decided to devote himself to politics and feared that family ties might interfere with his ambitious plans. He proposed a civil marriage to Raqueli, but this did not suit her parents. And then Benito played a melodramatic scene. During his next visit to Raquel’s house, he pulled out a pistol and announced: “You see this pistol, Signora Guidi? It has 6 cartridges. If Raquel refuses my offer, the first bullet will go to her, and the second to me. Choose.” It made an impression. Mussolini took his daughter away from her parents' home without officially registering his marriage.
However, later he had to back down. The fact is that his next mistress, Ida Dalser, gave birth to a son from him and began to introduce herself everywhere as Signora Mussolini. This did not suit the future dictator in any way, and he formalized his marriage to Raquel. The First World War was going on. And even later, in 1937, the Duce put Ida Dalser in a psychiatric hospital, where she would end her earthly journey. Her son Albino would die during the Second World War.
Raquel gave birth to Mussolini's four children - daughter Edda in 1910, son Vittorino in 1918, another son, Romano, in 1927, and daughter Anna Maria in 1929. For a long time, the wife and children lived separately, and not even in Rome. The Duce visited them three or four times a year. But after the fascists declared that family life was sacred, Mussolini had to move his family to his place. However, in fact, Benito and Raquel lived separately. Even among her own family, Raquel addressed her husband only as “Duce.” Mussolini's wife was a woman of a sober peasant mind and practical savvy. She did not interfere in her husband’s state affairs, knew about many of his amorous adventures, but actively entered into battle only when she felt a threat to family well-being.
Mussolini himself admitted that he was not a very attentive father. He justified himself by saying that government concerns did not leave him any free time. Nevertheless, the dictator always found time for lovemaking. Many of the Duce's female visitors experienced his irrepressible masculine temperament - either on the wide carpet that covered the floor of the huge office, or standing at the windowsill. The leader was so busy with the affairs of the party and the state that sometimes he did not have time to take off not only his shoes, but also his trousers.
His sexual behavior sometimes showed sadistic tendencies. He often beat Raquel, and once lightly strangled the French journalist Magda Fontange, who considered the Duce a “fatal man,” during sexual intercourse with her own scarf. The Frenchwoman was madly in love with Mussolini, and when he, having decided to get rid of the annoying fan, ordered her to be given 15 thousand francs and escorted to the border, she even tried to commit suicide.
Duce met the beautiful Claretta Petacci when he was already over fifty. Their relationship acquired almost official status, and Raquel had to come to terms with it. Claretta is probably the only woman that Mussolini truly loved. He groomed and cherished her, gifted her with precious apartments and luxurious villas. One day, Raquel threw in her rival’s face: “Someday you’ll cum on Piazza Loreto, whore!” Prostitutes of the lowest caliber gathered in this Milan square. The prophecy came true, but everything turned out to be much worse.
Claretta Petacci and Benito Mussolini meet for the first time on April 24, 1932. She was 20 years old and he was 51 years old. Claretta was at that time engaged to a young air force officer, whom she would soon marry. In 1936, they filed for official divorce.
Claretta was born on February 28, 1912 and grew up, like the entire young Italian generation of that time, with the cult of the unattainable and adored Duce - Mussolini. Therefore, there is nothing strange that at their very first meeting she completely loses her head and gives all of herself, soul and body, to the person she has long chosen. She will carry this love and devotion throughout her short life, which she will associate entirely with Mussolini until her death hour. It was no secret to anyone in the State Palace that the Duce loved untouched virgins. There were rumors that he even interrupted government meetings to meet with some of them. There were even claims that 400 fans passed through the sofas of the Venice Palace. But Claretta kept all her jealousy inside and was proud of her constant intimacy with the Duce and did not pretend to break Mussolini with his wife.
In order to legitimize their relationship in any way, Mussolini asks Claretta’s mother for permission for their official relationship. Numerous newspapers and film magazines of the time begin to mention Petacce, and she becomes a famous character.
MUSSOLINI BENITO
(b. 1883 – d. 1945)
The founder of European fascism, dictator of Italy.
Many decades have passed since the end of World War II, but interest in the personality of Benito Mussolini has not waned. There are too many secrets around his name; his archives have not yet been found. In Rome, in front of the Olympic stadium, there is a stone wall on which is carved: “Duce Mussolini”; The city museums contain gifts that were given to him at one time. A museum has been opened in Predappio, where the Mussolini family crypt is located and the ashes of the Duce rest. The grave is guarded. Tens of thousands of tourists come here every year.
Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in the small village of Dovia, province of Forli, Emilia-Romagna region. “I am a man of the people,” he said. “I understand the people because I am part of them.” His grandfather was a farmer, his father was a blacksmith and owner of a threshing machine, and his mother was a school teacher. In addition to Benito, the family also had a younger brother and sister. My father was more interested in political discussions than work. He wrote articles for various socialist magazines, participated in the work of the local branch of the International, and even served time in prison for his beliefs.
Mussolini's full name is Benito Amilcare Andrea. The revolutionary father gave his eldest son the name of the Mexican revolutionary Benito Juarez and two more names in honor of the anarchist Amilcar and Andrea Costa, one of the founders of the Italian Socialist Party.
Benito was a difficult child: disobedient, quarrelsome, sullen, poorly controlled, and over the years, arrogant. At the age of nine he was sent to school in Faenza, but there he stabbed his opponent in a fight and was expelled. The same thing happened at the school in Forlimpopoli. But there he was allowed to complete his studies, pass exams and receive a diploma giving him the right to engage in teaching. At this time, the young man discovered a passion for recitation. He loved to recite lyrical and patriotic poems at the top of his voice, standing on a hill.
In February 1902, with the help of socialist members of the city council who were satisfied with Benito's political views, he received a position in a school in the commune of Gualtieri. But work here didn’t work out for him. Soon Mussolini moved to Switzerland. Having no means of subsistence, Benito slept in cardboard boxes under a bridge and public restrooms. At that time he had nothing but a nickel medallion with the image of Karl Marx. He took on any job: he worked as a mason's assistant, as a digger, as a laborer in a butcher's shop, as a messenger in a liquor store and in a chocolate factory. The workers considered him an intellectual and offered him a post in the secretariat of the branch of the masons' trade union. Here Benito was responsible for propaganda. In addition, he earned extra money by teaching Italian and received money for articles in which he outlined a special form of anarchist socialism. The articles were permeated with the spirit of anticlericalism and a perverted sense of social justice. They seethed with vicious hostility towards those people and classes for whom Benito had a personal dislike. He began to read a lot and unsystematically: Lassalle, Kautsky, Kropotkin, Marx; Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Stirner, Proudhon, Kant, Spinoza, Hegel. Most of all, he liked the views of the French revolutionary Blanca and the Russian anarchist Prince Kropotkin. But above all, Mussolini placed Gustave Le Bon’s book “The Psychology of the Crowd.”
In the summer of 1903, his call for a general strike resulted in arrest and expulsion from Switzerland. True, Mussolini soon returned. He returned in order to avoid conscription into the Italian army, as he became an ardent opponent of the war. A week later there was another arrest. But this time he was not expelled, and Benito settled in Lausanne. By this time, he had mastered French and German well, and knew a little English and Spanish. This gave him the opportunity to attend courses at the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, earning money from articles and translations of philosophical and political books. All his activities at this time created Mussolini’s reputation as a political extremist of a far from local scale. In 1904, an amnesty was declared for deserters in Italy, and Benito returned home. But this was a different Benito: in April, an article appeared in the Rome newspaper Tribuna in which he was called the “Great Duce” of the local Italian socialist club.
After the death of his mother in February 1905, Benito began teaching in Caneva, a town in the commune of Tolmezzo. But he never turned out to be a teacher. The frantic temperament was constantly looking for a way out: Mussolini studied Latin, took notes on history and philosophy, criticism of German literature, gave private lessons; all the remaining time was spent on drinking, entertainment and satisfying sexual needs. Benito made love to every girl who was available, and did not even stop at rape if anyone resisted his wishes. In the end, he contracted syphilis and had difficulty getting him to the doctor.
The following year, Benito became involved in the agrarian conflict in Romagna on the side of day laborers opposed to the landowners, and served three months in prison for this. He began to gain fame: newspapers wrote about him, people talked about him, “Comrade Mussolini” addressed him. At first, Benito collaborated with the weekly Future of the Worker, then with the newspaper Popolo (People). In his articles, he attacked landowners, trade unions, and the church.
In 1909, Mussolini met Raquele, the youngest daughter of his father's mistress. She was 16 years old then. Although the parents were against it, he threatened them with a gun and forced them to agree to the marriage. The following year, their daughter Edda was born. (In addition to her, Raquele would give him three more sons and a daughter.) At this time, Benito worked in the secretariat of the Socialist Federation of Forli and edited his own newspaper, “Class Struggle”; his ambitions and energies were now devoted to politics. The newspaper became popular and very influential, and Mussolini himself grew into a good speaker, able to speak authoritatively and convincingly, and arouse the emotions of listeners. A group of admirers formed around him. And during this period, he came to the conviction that the existing order could only be overthrown by the revolutionary “elite”, which should be led by himself - Benito Mussolini. He attacked the moderate leadership of the Socialist Party, which was already wary of his propaganda of violence. But when the government sent troops in 1911 to seize Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (now Libya), which were in the Turkish sphere of influence, Mussolini strongly opposed it. “International militarism continues to indulge in orgies of destruction and death,” he shouted. – As long as fatherlands exist, militarism will exist. The Fatherland is a ghost... like God, and like God it is vengeful, cruel and treacherous... Let us demonstrate that the Fatherland does not exist, just as God does not exist.”
As a sign of protest against this war, Mussolini called the people to arms and, together with the Republican Pietro Nenni, began to rouse people to revolution. He personally led a gang that used pickaxes to destroy tram tracks during the two-week riots in Forlì. This was followed by a trial, in which Benito defended himself, and a 15-month imprisonment. After his release, he began to even more actively seek leadership in the socialist party, trying to turn it into a revolutionary republican one. Mussolini demanded that all moderates be expelled from the party and that no compromises be made with the authorities. Soon he was appointed to the post of editor of the Avanti newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Socialist Party, and in 1913 he was elected a member of the Milan municipality.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Mussolini denounced militarism in his articles and demanded that Italy remain neutral, but when the government declared the country's neutrality, his views began to change. Now he is in favor of war on the side of France, claiming that this will help solve the problem of Trentino and Trieste, which were under the domination of the Austrians, and will strengthen Italy’s position in the Adriatic. Increasingly at odds with the socialists, Benito left Avanti and began editing his own newspaper, Popolo d'Italia (People of Italy). Near the title of the newspaper were placed statements by Blanqui and Napoleon: “Whoever has iron has bread,” and “Revolution is an idea that has found bayonets.” In the editorial of the first issue, Mussolini wrote: “...There is a word that is frightening and captivating... - “War.” For calls for war, the socialists expelled him from the party, and when Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente on May 24, 1915, Mussolini happily welcomed this step. In August he was enlisted in the 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment, and he found himself on the front line, where he proved himself to be an exemplary soldier and even rose to the rank of corporal. But many colleagues noted that “he constantly showed off and talked too much.” And Hemingway, who closely observed Mussolini, wrote: “This is his whole nature and essence, which created in the country and abroad the aura of a risky, unpredictable person, leader, dictator, favorite of women, behind whom everyone around him should feel like behind a stone wall.” . In 1917, Benito was wounded when an overheated mortar exploded. There were 43 fragments in his body, but not a single wound was fatal. After leaving the hospital, he again headed Popolo d'Italia.
Meanwhile, social tension in the country increased: demonstrations, strikes. Mussolini stood up for those who were returning from the front, seeing in them support for his future party. He demanded the participation of front-line soldiers in the government of the new Italy, in a strong and uncompromising government, headed by a dictator, a cruel and energetic man, “capable of cleaning everything out.” On March 23, 1919, in Milan, Mussolini founded the “union of struggle”, the emblem of which, coming from ancient Rome, was a bunch of rods with an ax in the middle - fascia. In his program, he stated that it “will have a clearly expressed socialist orientation, but at the same time will have a patriotic, national character.” Although “unions of struggle” arose throughout the country, the fascists had few allies and they lost the 1919 elections miserably. The socialist newspaper Avanti declared Mussolini a political corpse.
However, starting next year the situation changed. Crisis phenomena have intensified: unemployment, inflation, increased crime. The government was unable to control the situation. In addition, the allies unexpectedly stopped providing economic assistance to the country, and the Adriatic problem remained unresolved. Against this background, revolutionary strikes and riots spread, workers seized factories. They were led by communists and socialists. The danger of “Bolshevisation” alienated the middle class from the government. This greatly contributed to the strengthening of fascism. The fascists began to promote themselves as the only force capable of stopping Bolshevism. Fascist troops, dressed in black shirts and armed with bladed weapons and firearms, attacked communists and their sympathizers. A situation was created that resembled a civil war. The government did not prevent the spread of fascism. Mussolini found support in all segments of the population and in some trade unions. The fascist program was very attractive and did not differ much from the plans of the socialists: land to the peasants, factories to the workers, a progressive tax on capital, expropriation of large landholdings, nationalization of factories, confiscation of excessive profits received from the war, the fight against corruption and banditry, the spread of social freedoms .
In the 1921 elections, 35 fascists, including Mussolini, entered parliament. Now he became a national figure, the leader of a party whose numbers and influence were constantly growing. Many city councils came under the control of his party. And then it was decided to carry out a fascist revolution. On October 28, 1922, the Nazis began their march on Rome in four columns. The army and police did not interfere in the course of events. Mussolini was in Milan and was waiting for the result. And he waited: they called from Rome and summoned him to the king for a consultation. He was offered to head the government. From this moment on, a regime of personal power began to be established in Italy. In addition to the premiership, Mussolini retained the ministries of foreign and internal affairs and forced the deputies by an overwhelming majority to grant him full power for a period of 1 year in order to implement what he considered deep reforms. “Mussolini saved Italy from socialism...” – Popolo d’Italia noted with delight.
At the beginning of his premiership, Mussolini shocked many with his extravagance. He could come to the royal reception unshaven, in a smaller suit, in a dirty shirt, in unclean shoes; he had no interest in fashion. All his energy was devoted to work. Although the Duce was a gourmet, he ate little - mainly spaghetti, milk, vegetables, fruits; I hardly drank wine and quit smoking. He practiced boxing, fencing, swimming and playing tennis. His family lived on the money received for articles, since the Duce refused his salary - both the prime minister's and the deputy's; children studied in public schools. But Mussolini also had whims. Having qualified as a pilot, he got his own plane; ordered himself an expensive red racing car; had a stable, his own zoo, a cinema; loved to organize military parades. And he also liked women, indiscriminately, especially if they smelled of sweat. He boasted that in the 20s. he had more than 30 mistresses, to whom he periodically returned. But from 1932 until the end, Claretta Petacci would become his official mistress.
A few months after Mussolini came to power, some stabilization began in Italy. Government spending was sharply reduced, thousands of officials were fired, the 8-hour working day, the work of post offices and railways were restored. The demonstrations and strikes stopped, and students went back to their studies. Mussolini skillfully took advantage of the situation, creating the impression among the population that it was he who saved Italy from chaos and Bolshevism. He traveled a lot around the country, talked with people, and they were constantly told that, despite his genius, the Duce was a simple and kind person. And people believed it and relied on it. For so many, especially young Italians, Mussolini was a model. Indeed, there were no mistakes on his part. He seized power so slowly that it went unnoticed. But soon an attack on press freedom began, censorship was introduced, and then all non-fascist newspapers were closed; a regular “fascist police” was created (up to 200 thousand people); Parliament was reduced to the position of a powerless assembly: deputies, by their votes, gave only the appearance of legality to fascist decrees; trade unions were placed under state control; strikes and lockouts were prohibited; even 4-year-old children were forced into fascist youth organizations and had to wear black shirts; laws were introduced against Freemasonry and anti-fascists. Opponents of Mussolini were beaten and even killed, as happened with the socialist deputy Matteoti. The Duce now ruled, relying only on the Great Fascist Council, of which he was chairman. From that moment on, the party became one with the state. But the people reacted calmly to all this. “For all the time of my countless communications and contacts with the people,” Mussolini declared, “he has never asked me to free him from tyranny, which he does not feel because it does not exist.” At this time, the country's economy began to strengthen, the United States wrote off most of Italy's war debt, prosperity began to grow, productivity increased, irrigation systems were created, and forests were planted. Huge amounts of money were invested in construction: bridges, canals and roads, hospitals and schools, train stations and orphanages, universities. Construction took place not only on the peninsula, but also in Sicily, Sardinia, Albania, and Africa. Beggars were removed from the streets, and farmers were given medals for record harvests. Mussolini during this period was not just a dictator - he became an idol. He achieved even greater popularity when he signed the Lateran Agreement with the Vatican, which regulated relations between church and state. All his past anti-clerical attacks were forgiven and forgotten. It is interesting that in Italy neither racism nor anti-Semitism became the main elements of fascist ideology. Although confiscations of Jewish property were widespread by 1939, only 7,680 people were repressed.
But despite universal love, several attempts were made on Mussolini's life. The former socialist deputy Zaniboni tried to do the first on April 4, 1925, but he was arrested in time; five months later, Irishwoman Gibson shot the Duce five times, but he received only a scratch on his nose; in October 1926, a young anarchist threw a bomb after Mussolini's car, but missed, and then some young man tried to shoot at him from the crowd, but was torn to pieces by the crowd. The courage and composure shown by the Duce during each assassination attempt was a subject of admiration.
Since 1936, the doctrine of “unification” has prevailed in domestic politics. The fascists had to set an example in everything, they had to be ardent, decisive, purposeful, and selflessly serve the ideals of fascist morality. In international politics, Mussolini followed the same course of disrespect for the rights of others.
Italy took the path of territorial conquests in 1923, having occupied the Greek island of Corfu. In 1935, Italian troops invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia), where gases were widely used. This led to the League of Nations Assembly adopting a resolution on sanctions against Italy in October. But this did not stop Mussolini from interfering in the internal affairs of Spain, or from actions in North Africa, or from an alliance with Hitler.
Relations with Hitler were initially hostile. This was due to the actions of the Germans in Austria in 1934, in which the Duce saw a threat to the security of Italy. He even ordered three divisions to be moved to the border. About Hitler, Mussolini then said that he was a “terrible, degenerate creature”, “an extremely dangerous idiot”, that he created a system capable of “only murder, robbery and blackmail”. Even their first meeting in June 1934 did not change anything. But the hostile attitude of England and France towards Italy because of the war with Abyssinia pushed Mussolini to friendship with Hitler. It was strengthened during joint actions in Spain. As a result, Hitler declared that he was ready to recognize the Italian Empire, i.e., Italy's status as a world power. Then the Duce proclaimed the creation of the Berlin-Rome axis, and in 1937 he paid an official visit to Germany, after which he advised Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg not to oppose Hitler’s desire to annex Austria. In November, the new allies signed the Anti-Commintern Pact, which committed them to "fight side by side against the Bolshevik threat." And the very next year, Italians were declared Nordic Aryans, and mixed marriages were prohibited.
Mussolini's participation in the Munich Conference elevated him in his own eyes, but Hitler's successes in Europe aroused burning envy. Then he captured Albania, and then signed the Pact of Steel with Germany. This was a prelude to war. In May 1940, Italy took part in the bombing of France. But the country was not ready for a large-scale war, and as commander-in-chief, Mussolini left much to be desired. The Italian offensive in Africa against Egypt and the attempt to capture Greece would have ended in failure if German troops had not intervened. The joint aggression against the USSR with Germany did not bring anything good to Italy - it lost an entire army at Stalingrad. The country was on the brink of famine and poverty, sentiments against the regime were growing, and even mass arrests did not help. And the German allies began to treat the “pasta makers” with increasing contempt.
Mussolini was transported from place to place and was eventually placed in a mountain hotel in the Alps. Hitler ordered the Duce to be found and released. A selected SS detachment under the command of Otto Skorzeny, landing from gliders, managed to repel Mussolini. He was taken by plane to Germany, and the “rebellious” Italy was occupied by German troops. On their bayonets, a puppet “Social Republic” was proclaimed especially for Mussolini. But she was not destined to have a long life - the Allied troops were already advancing along the Apennine Peninsula. In April 1945, Mussolini, who was in Milan, tried to evacuate with a retreating German column. On April 25, her path was blocked by a large partisan formation. The partisans said that they would let the Germans through if they handed over the Italians in the column. Among those left behind, Mussolini and Clara Petacci were immediately identified. They were arrested and executed on April 28 without trial. The next day the bodies were brought to Milan's Piazza Loreto. There the corpses were kicked, shot at, and then hanged by their feet. The current “resurrection” of Mussolini was predicted by one of the witnesses to this procedure: “We all realized... that he was executed without trial and that the hour would come when we all... would honor him as a hero and praise him in prayers as a saint.”
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