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Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini Benito Mussolini - Rise to Power, Fall From Power: With pounding fists and brutal charisma, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) invoked the myth of a new Roman Empire...and made himself its Caesar. The father of Italian Fascism, Mussolini seized power through a potent combination of terror and persuasion. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * © Copyright DueNow.com Inc. * [Category]: Social Issues [Paper Title]: Benito Mussolini - Rise to Power, Fall From Power [Text]: With pounding fists and brutal charisma, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) invoked the myth of a new Roman Empire...and made himself its Caesar. The father of Italian Fascism, Mussolini seized power through a potent combination of terror and persuasion. Promising glory while crushing his enemies, he held Italy firmly in his grasp from 1922 to 1943. Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, named after the left-wing Mexican revolutionary Benito Juarez as well as two Italian revolutionaries, was born in Predappio on July 29, 1883, as the son of a socialist blacksmith (1). He grew up to be a self-proclaimed “anti-patriot,” a socialist like his father. He became an elementary school teacher in 1901, and immigrated to Switzerland to avoid being enlisted in the war in 1902. During this period, he was influenced by the writings of Nietzsche, Hegel, and Karl Marx (2). It was in Switzerland that Mussolini was arrested for vagrancy, and expelled back to Italy to finally perform his required military service (3). After being wounded in the trenches, he was sent home on crutches, only to become the editor of his own newspaper, called IL Popolo d’Italia (or The People of Italy) after changing his pacifist views and being dismissed by the Socialist Party. He used his newspaper to spread his new ideas and gain support. He also organized a pro-war group called Fasci d’Azione Rivoluzionaria. After the war, Mussolini joined a different group called the Arditi Association, a military assembly composed of World War I veterans. Both associations contributed to the beginning of fascism (4). On March 23, 1919, Mussolini founded the Fasci de Combattimento, the skeletal structure for what was to become the organized political movement of Fascism (5). This anti-socialist activity attracted support from the people of the lower-middle class with its nationalistic, anti-liberal ideals. During the 1920s, fascism spread into the Italian countryside. It was there that the Black Shirt Militia arose. This militia was formed to rid Italy of all socialist groups, in order for fascism to rise. The group would torture Socialists by forcing them to drink castor oil and swallow live frogs (6). Mussolini then began to slowly break away from the Arditi Association as his Fascist movement became more powerful. At first, the Fascist Party failed during the 1919 elections, but they soon gained thirty-five seats in 1921, Mussolini being one of the Fascists elected into the Parliament. All of this was done in order to help anti-socialist leader, Giovanni Giolitti, gain more political power (7). Soon after, Giolitti’s coalition began to break apart. Mussolini seized this opportunity to start talking to the opposition. The Socialists then proclaimed a strike in August 1922. Mussolini intervened while the government did nothing, earning him large amounts of support from the people (8). Soon after the Socialist strike, Mussolini organized the “March on Rome,” which took place on the 28th of October, 1922. It included over forty thousand armed Fascists, and in order to avoid a brutal civil war, King Victor Emmanuel III invited Mussolini to form a new government. Two days later, at age 39, Benito Mussolini was the new Prime Minister of Italy- his largest step towards dictatorship (9). Between 1922 and 1926, Mussolini was able to take over all dictatorial powers, naming himself as “head of government,” deeming the King and the Parliament powerless. He dissolved the other political parties through threats and torture. Fascists now made up sixty-five perc... This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Academic Library. Please register below now!
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