Another Benito Mussolini :: essays research papers

Benito Mussolini was born in Predappio on July29, 1883, the son of a socialist blacksmith.Largely self-educated, he became a schoolteacherand socialist journalist in northern Italy. In 1910he married Rachele Guidi, who bore him fivechildren. Mussolini was jailed for his opposition toItalys war in Libya. Soon after that, he wasnamed editor of Avanti, the state-controlled Partynewspaper in Milan. When World War I began, in1914, Mussolini first denounced it as imperialist,"but he soon reversed himself and called for Italysentry on the Allied side. Expelled from theSocialist Party, he started his own newspaper inMilan, // Popolo dltalia, which translates ThePeople of Italy, which later became the organ ofthe Fascist movement.When Fascists marched on Rome, King VictorEmmanuel cardinal invited Mussolini to form a coalitiongovernment on October 28, 1922. By 1926 theFascist leader had transformed the country into asingle-party, totalitarian regime. In his new"corporative state,&qu ot employers and workers were nonionized into party-controlled groups representingdifferent sectors of the economy. The systempreserved capitalism and expanded social services,but abolished free trade unions and the right tostrike. The Lateran pacts with the Vatican ended ahalf-century of friction between church building and stateand proved to be long lasting. Another enduringlegacy of fascism was a system of industrialholding companies financed by the state.Adopting an aggressive foreign policy, Mussolinidefied the confederacy of Nations and conqueredEthiopia in 1936. This won him acclaim in almostevery sector of the populace. II Duces popularitydeclined, however, after he sent troops to helpGeneral Francisco Franco in the Spanish CivilWar, this linked Italy to Nazi Germany, enactedanti-Jewish laws, and invaded Albania.Because of military unpreparedness, Mussolini didnot enter World War II until June 1940, when theGermans had overrun France. Italy fought theBritish in Africa, inva ded Greece, and joined theGermans in carving up Yugoslavia, attacking theSoviet Union, and declaring war on the UnitedStates. After Italys many military defeats, KingVictor Emmanuel dismissed Mussolini on July 25,1943, and in September obtained an armistice with