Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini(Italian: Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini; July 29, 1883, Predappio, Emilia-Romagna - April 28, 1945, Giulino di Medzegra, Medzegra, Lombardy) - Italian politician and statesman, publicist, leader of the National Fascist Party (NFP), dictator , leader (“Il Duce”) who led Italy as prime minister from 1922-1943. First Marshal of the Empire (30 March 1938). After 1936, his official title became "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism and Founder of the Empire." After the overthrow in 1943-1945, he headed the puppet Italian Social Republic, which controlled part of the territory of Italy with the support of the Germans.

Mussolini was one of the founders of Italian fascism, which included elements of corporatism, expansionism and anti-communism, combined with censorship and state propaganda.

Among the domestic policy achievements of Mussolini's government during the period 1924–1939 were the successful implementation of a public works program such as the drainage of the Pontine marshes; liquidation of the southern Italian mafia; improving employment, as well as modernizing the public transport system. Mussolini also resolved the Roman Question by concluding the Lateran Agreements between the Kingdom of Italy and the Papal See. He is also credited with bringing economic success to Italy's colonies.

During the reign of Mussolini, some of the rights and freedoms of the population were limited, and a totalitarian regime was established. There are known cases of political repression. Heading seven ministries (including the ministries of defense and internal affairs) and being at the same time prime minister, he eliminated almost all restrictions on his power, thus building a police state. On his orders, the mafia in Sicily was practically destroyed, cities were besieged, torture was used, and women and children were held as hostages.

An expansionist foreign policy motivated by the need to restore the Roman Empire initially culminated in the conquest of Ethiopia and Albania and forced an alliance with Nazi Germany and participation in World War II as part of the Axis powers, which Italy entered on June 10, 1940, by attacking France. The war was extremely unsuccessful for Italy, which in 1940-1941 suffered a series of crushing defeats in Libya, Egypt and Greece, forcing Germany to constantly come to the aid of its ally. Mussolini's position was finally undermined in the spring of 1943 after the defeat of German-Italian forces in northern Africa and Stalingrad, as a result of which Italy lost all its colonies and corps on the Eastern Front. After the Allied invasion of Italy in the summer of 1943, Mussolini was removed from power and arrested by the Fascist Grand Council with the support of King Victor Emmanuel III, but was soon released as a result of a German special operation. Under pressure from Hitler, Mussolini, as an alternative to the royal government that had sided with the Allies, proclaimed the Italian Social Republic in northern Italy, completely dependent on German support and unrecognized internationally, which continued the war on the German side. In April 1945, German and Mussolini-loyal troops in Italy were finally defeated by the Allies, and Mussolini himself was captured and executed by Italian partisans two days before Hitler's death.

early years

Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in the village of Varano di Costa near the village of Dovia, near the village of Predappio (Italian: Predappio) in the province of Forli-Cesena in Emilia-Romagna. The father, who had no education but was actively interested in political life, gave his eldest son the name Benito in honor of the Mexican reformist President Benito Juarez, and also gave him two other names - Andrea and Amilcare, in honor of the socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani.

Benito Mussolini's family occupied three small rooms on the second floor of a three-story house. His mother Rosa Maltoni was a teacher and devout Catholic. Father, Alessandro Mussolini (1854-1910), made a living as a blacksmith and carpenter. He is a militant socialist (he composed texts of appeals and spoke at rallies), was imprisoned several times for his ideas, an ardent admirer of the Russian revolutionary Bakunin, and was a member of the Second (Socialist) International. He introduced his son to anarcho-syndicalist, anti-clerical and anti-militarist ideas. As a young boy, Mussolini helped his father with blacksmithing. Under the influence of his father, Benito also became a socialist. The father was a socialist and a republican, but also held nationalist views on some issues, in particular regarding the Italians living in the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Due to a conflict between his parents regarding religion, Mussolini, unlike most Italians, was not baptized immediately after birth, but much later.

In the series of documentaries “Dictators. Secrets of the Great Leaders” it is mentioned that Benito learned to read at the age of 4, and at the age of 5 he played the violin. Despite the fact that the Mussolinis did not live well, they could afford to pay for the education of their eldest son, who was sent to a church school in Faenza in 1892. Life at school was strictly regulated different rules and regulations. Mussolini celebrated his first year at school by stabbing an older boy. After his mother's tears and the intervention of the Bishop of Forli, the principal changed his decision to expel him from school. In 1895, due to his violent, uncontrollable behavior, he had to be transferred to another school. Even then, the future Duce tried to lead his comrades, was vindictive and cruel, and often got into fights. Mussolini adopted his father's character.

Since 1900, Mussolini was actively interested in politics, joined the Socialist Party, and wrote articles for socialist newspapers in Forlì and Ravenna.

After graduating from high school in 1901, he received a diploma as a primary school teacher and got a job in the village of Pieve Saliceto (Municipality of Gualtieri), where he soon led the Socialists and became a member of the local workers' committee.

Political journalist and soldier

To avoid military service, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland in 1902. He worked for some time as a mason in Geneva, but was unable to find permanent professional work and became a wanderer. Benito quickly stood out from the mass of Italian emigrants, as he could read, write, speak fluently and express himself tolerably in French. Even during his studies, Mussolini became addicted to public speaking and fell in love with applause and the attention of the crowd. He tried himself as a speaker from the age of 18, speaking to small audiences.

In 1902, in Lausanne, he met the prominent economist and socialist Professor Vilfredo Pareto and attended his lectures.

At one of the political meetings, he met the Marxists Anzhelika Balabanova and Vladimir Lenin. Balabanova came from a wealthy Jewish family living in Ukraine. Thanks to her, Mussolini began to read Nietzsche, Stirner, Marx, Babeuf, Sorel. Mussolini was greatly impressed by Sorel's work, which emphasized the need to overthrow decadent liberal democracy and capitalism through violence, direct action and the general strike. During this time he joined the Marxist socialist movement. Mussolini forever remained an ardent supporter of direct action, unfettered by any moral barriers.

In 1903, at the request of Italy, Mussolini was arrested by the Swiss police for draft evasion, but already in November 1904, after expunging his conviction as a result of an amnesty on the occasion of the birthday of Prince Umberto, he was deported to Italy and subsequently volunteered to enlist in the Italian army. He arrived in the military district of Forlì and on December 30, 1904, began his military service in the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment in Verona. On January 19, 1905, he received permission to go home and help his dying mother. After this, Mussolini returned to the regiment for further military service, at the end of which he received gratitude for the good performance of his duties. After two years of military service (from January 1905 to September 1906), Mussolini returned to Predappio on September 4, 1906 to continue teaching.

Soon after this he went to work in Tolmezzo, where on November 15 he received the position of deputy director of the school. He had excellent relationships with his students, but for his loud recitation of poetry he was considered an eccentric. In November 1907, Mussolini received qualifications to teach French, and in March 1908 he became a professor at a French college, where he taught Italian, history and geography. In Oneglia he became editor of the socialist weekly La Lima, in which he criticized the Giolitti government and the Vatican, accusing them of defending the interests of capitalism rather than the proletariat. Mussolini understood that journalism could be a political tool. In 1907, Mussolini began to be called “piccolo Duce” - the little leader. He received this honor 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 Italian socialists “La Soffita” (“The Attic”).

Returning to Predappio, Mussolini organized a strike of agricultural workers. On July 18, 1908, he was arrested for threatening the director of an agricultural organization. He was sentenced to three months in prison, but after 15 days he was released on bail. In September of the same year, he was again imprisoned for ten days for holding an unauthorized rally in Möldol.

In November he moved to Forli, where he lived in a rented room with his father, who then opened a restaurant with his partner Anna Lombardi.

Political journalist and socialist

After a long search, in February 1909, Mussolini found a job in the Austro-Hungarian city of Trento, populated by Italians. On February 6, 1909, he moved to Trento, the capital of Italian irredentism, where he was elected secretary of the Labor Center and became the head of his first daily newspaper, "L" avvenire del lavoratore ("The Worker's Future"). In Trento, he met the socialist politician and journalist Cesare Battisti and began editing his newspaper "Il Popolo" ("The People"). For this newspaper he co-authored with Santi Corvaia the novel "Claudia Particella, l'amante del cardinale", which was published with continued throughout 1910. The novel was radically anti-clerical, and was withdrawn from circulation a few years later, after Mussolini's truce with the Vatican. Returning to Italy, he spent some time in Milan, and then returned to his native Forlì in 1910, where became the editor of the weekly magazine Lotta di classe (Class Struggle), during which time he published the essay "Trentino through the eyes of a socialist" ("Il Trentino veduto da un Socialista") in the radical periodical La Voce.

Mussolini's radicalism and anti-clericalism were only echoes of his early environment and a reflection of his own rebellious egoism, rather than the result of understanding and conviction. His hatred of oppression was not the faceless hatred of the system that all revolutionaries shared. It arose from his personal feeling of humiliation and dissatisfaction, from his passion for self-affirmation and from his determination to take personal revenge.

Anzhelika Balabanova

The Duce rapidly gained popularity in the Italian Socialist Party. His talent as a journalist helped him in this. He wrote articles in large quantities easily, without tension, using simple language accessible to the masses, often crossing the boundaries of decency in his vocabulary. He knew how to come up with catchy headlines, choose the most pressing topics that most worried the reader, felt the mood of the masses and knew in advance what they wanted to hear.

In September 1911, Mussolini spoke out against the colonial war in Libya, organizing strikes and demonstrations to prevent troops from being sent to the front:

The military continues to indulge in orgies of destruction and murder. Every day, a huge pyramid of sacrificed human lives raises its bloody top more and more brazenly.

In November, he was jailed for five months for his anti-war activities. After his release, he helped expel two pro-war "revisionists", Ivanoe Bonomi and Leonid Bissolati, from the ranks of the Socialist Party. As a reward for this, in April 1912, Mussolini was appointed editor of the Socialist Party newspaper Avanti! ("Forward!"). Under his leadership, the newspaper's circulation increased from 20 thousand to 80 thousand copies and it became one of the most read in Italy.

After his appointment, Mussolini moved to Milan. In July 1912, he took part in the Socialist Party Congress in Reggio Emilia. At the congress, speaking about the failed assassination attempt on the king, Mussolini said: “On March 14, a simple mason shoots the king. This incident shows us socialists the path we must follow." The audience stood up and gave him a standing ovation.

In 1913, Mussolini published the pamphlet "Righteous Jan Hus" ("Giovanni Hus, il veridico"), a historical and political biography describing the life and mission of the Czech church reformer Jan Hus and his militant followers, the Hussites.

According to the Italian artist Gerardo Dottori, who visited Mussolini in 1933 (already a dictator) to paint his portrait, Marxism had a significant influence on the formation of the founder of fascism as not just an ideologist, but a practitioner:

Mussolini received me in the well-known large and long hall, where there was no furniture except his desk. Mussolini stood behind this desk in his usual position: with his arms crossed and a Caesar-like face. I had to walk quite a long distance from the door to the desk. Mussolini invited me to sit down, but he himself remained standing. After a few formal words about my person, he asked me how I came into politics. I replied that I was a social democrat, then worked in trade unions and was strongly influenced by Marxism. My answer had a strange effect on him. His tense features smoothed out, his face acquired some kind of youthful and cheerful expression. He quickly sat down and leaned across the desk and said: “Isn’t it true that you need to go through the school of Marxism in order to gain a true understanding of political realities? Anyone who has not gone through the school of historical materialism will remain just an ideologist.”

Gerardo Dottori

Participation in the First World War and break with the socialists

Having initially defended Italy's neutrality, he suddenly changed his position and placed in "Avanti!" article where he spoke out in favor of entering the war against Germany:

To refuse to distinguish between one war and another, to allow oneself to oppose all wars in general, is evidence of stupidity bordering on idiocy. Here, as they say, the letter kills the mind. A German victory would mean the end of freedom in Europe. It is necessary for our country to take a position beneficial to France.

Mussolini in Italian military uniform, 1917

The leadership of the Socialist Party summoned Mussolini and demanded an explanation from him. After controversy, Benito had to leave his post as editor-in-chief of Avanti! and he ended up, essentially, on the street.

Mussolini traveled throughout Italy giving public appearances. He accused the socialists of intending to strangle the national aspirations of the people, called the Germans “European pirates” and the Austrians “the executioners of the Italian people.” He argued that “the German proletariat, following the Kaiser, destroyed the International and thus freed the Italian workers from the obligation not to go to war.” Mussolini proclaimed that “neutrality at its core is nothing more than outright selfishness.”

After Italy entered the war, in August 1915, Mussolini was drafted into the army and he was assigned to the Bersaglieri regiment, which was sent to the front near the Isonzo River. Comrades in arms appreciated Mussolini for his responsiveness, optimism, and exemplary courage - during attacks, he was the first to jump out of the trench with exclamations of “Long live Great Italy!” At the end of November, Mussolini was hospitalized due to typhus.

In February 1916, Mussolini received the rank of corporal (the order for conferring the rank stated: “for exemplary service, high morale and courage of a true Bersagliier”).

In February 1917, while shooting a mortar, a mine exploded in the barrel, and Mussolini received severe leg wounds, which is why he was demobilized.

The creation of fascism

After the end of the First World War, Mussolini came to the conclusion that socialism as a doctrine had failed. In 1917, Mussolini began his political activity. In early 1918, Mussolini declared that the revival of the Italian nation required a “tough and energetic man.” Much later in life, Mussolini said that in 1919 he felt that “socialism as a doctrine was already dead; it continued to exist only as a discontent.”

On March 23, 1919, in Milan, Benito Mussolini held the founding meeting of the new organization “Italian Union of Struggle” (Italian: “Fasci italiani di combattimento”). From the speech:

We will allow ourselves the luxury of being simultaneously aristocrats and democrats, revolutionaries and reactionaries, supporters of legal and illegal struggle, and all this depending on the place and circumstances in which we will have to be and act.

In the elections of May 1921, Mussolini supported the prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, Giovanni Giolitti. As a result, 35 fascist deputies led by Mussolini entered the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament. On November 7, 1921, the Italian Union of Struggle was transformed into the National Fascist Party.

Mussolini and the fascists managed to be both revolutionaries and traditionalists. This was significantly different from anything else going on in politics at the time and is sometimes described as the "Third Way". The fascists, under the leadership of one of Mussolini's close associates, Dino Grandi, formed armed groups of war veterans called "Blackshirts" (or squadristi) with the goal of restoring order on the streets of Italy with a strong hand. Clashes occurred between Blackshirts, communists, socialists and anarchists, including at parades and demonstrations. The government rarely interfered with the Blackshirts, partly because of the looming threat and widespread fear of communist revolution. The number of fascists grew so quickly that within two years the National Fascist Party was formed in Congress in Rome. In addition, in 1921, Mussolini was elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies. During the same period, from approximately 1911 to 1938, Mussolini's comrade-in-arms, lover and biographer was Margherita Tsarfati.

March on Rome and first years in power

On October 27, 1922, thousands of supporters of the fascist party began their march on Rome. However, there were significantly more government troops that Rome could count on. Fearing a possible civil war, and, according to some reports, hints of his possible removal by a palace coup on the part of the economic elite, King Victor Emmanuel III did not sign the act of the Prime Minister declaring a state of emergency in the country and resisting the fascists. He held a meeting with Mussolini and appointed him Prime Minister of Italy. Soon, Victor Emmanuel III and Mussolini met together the NFP troops entering the city. By the evening of October 30, Mussolini finishes forming the cabinet of ministers. The parliament, consisting mainly of liberals, under pressure, voted to trust the new government.

Prince Torlonia provides Mussolini with Villa Torlonia as his personal residence for a nominal fee of 1 lira per year.

On April 10, 1923, in the Vatican, at a meeting between Mussolini and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Mussolini promised to cleanse Italy of communists and freemasons, strengthen sanctions against those who insult religion, install images of the crucified Christ in schools and in judicial institutions, and introduce compulsory religious education in educational institutions and restore the position of military chaplains in the army.

Acerbo's Law

Italian electoral law of 1923, proposed by Baron Giacomo Acerbo and passed through the Italian parliament, according to which the party with the "largest number" of votes (a minimum of 25% was required) received 66% of the seats in parliament. The remaining third of the seats were distributed among the remaining parties according to the proportional system. The law gave significant advantages to the fascist party.

Political repression

The political assassination on June 10, 1924 of the socialist Giacomo Matteotti, who demanded the annulment of the election results due to violations committed, caused an instant crisis for the Mussolini government.

The government was in a state of paralysis for several days, and Mussolini later admitted that a few determined people could rouse the public and start a coup that would destroy the fascist government. Fascist activist Amerigo Dumini, who directly oversaw Matteotti's kidnapping and murder, was jailed for two years. Over the next 15 years, Dumini received income from Mussolini, the Fascist Party and other sources.

From 1927 to 1943, the Special State Security Tribunal brought charges of political crimes against approximately 21,000 people; of these, 15,381 were acquitted by the preliminary investigation, 5,584 (including 162 women) ended up in court (988 people were acquitted). 4,596 people (mostly communists, but also socialists, anarchists, etc.) were sentenced to a total of 28,116 years in prison.

Racist views

In 1923, Mussolini called Rome "the eternal heart of our race."

The book, entitled The Unknown Mussolini, contains excerpts from Petacci's diaries, written between 1932 and 1938. In particular, the diaries say that the Duce considered Adolf Hitler an overly sentimental person, but was jealous of the fame and power of the Nazi dictator.

He emphasized that his racist and anti-Semitic beliefs originated in the 1920s, that is, before Hitler became famous.

I became a racist back in 1921. Some people think that I am trying to imitate Hitler in this matter, but this is not so. It is necessary that Italians respect their race.

Another diary entry indicates that Mussolini was extremely dissatisfied with the fact that Italians in African colonies were establishing relationships with local residents.

Every time I receive a report from Africa, I get upset. Just today, for example, five more people were arrested for cohabiting with blacks. Oh, those dirty Italians, they can destroy the empire in less than seven years. They are not deterred by their sense of racial identity.

In February 1922, during a visit to Pula, Mussolini called the Slavs "inferior and barbaric" and stated that "it would be easy to sacrifice 500,000 barbarian Slavs for 50,000 Italians."

However, with the assassination of Dollfuss, Mussolini tried to distance himself from Hitler by rejecting much of racism (particularly Nordicism and Germanicism) and radical German anti-Semitism. Mussolini during this period rejected biological racism, at least in the Nazi form, and instead emphasized the increased "Italianization" of parts of the Italian empire he wanted to build. He stated that the ideas of eugenics and the racially sensitive concept of an "Aryan nation" could not be possible.

When German-Jewish journalist Emil Ludwig asked Mussolini about his views regarding race, Mussolini exclaimed:

Race! It is a feeling, not a reality: ninety-five percent, at least, is a feeling. Nothing will ever make me believe that biologically pure races exist today. Funnily enough, none of those who proclaimed the “greatness” of the Teutonic race were Germans. Gobineau was a Frenchman, Huston Chamberlain was an Englishman, Woltman was a Jew, Lapouge was a Frenchman.

Original text(English)
Race! It is a feeling, not a reality: ninety-five percent, at least, is a feeling. Nothing will ever make me believe that biologically pure races can be shown to exist today. Amusingly enough, not one of those who have proclaimed the "nobility" of the Teutonic race was himself a Teuton. Gobineau was a Frenchman, Houston Chamberlain, an Englishman; Woltmann, a Jew; Lapouge, another Frenchman.

Benito Mussolini, 1933.

Mussolini was especially sensitive to German accusations that Italians were a mixed race. Discussing the Nazi ruling that Germans must have a passport identifying them as either an Aryan race or a Jew in the summer of 1934, Mussolini asked how they would determine membership in the "German race":

But what race? Does the German race exist? Did it ever exist? Will it exist? Reality, myth or deception of theorists? Well, we answer - the Germanic race does not exist. Curious. Stupor. We repeat. Does not exist. We don't say that. Scientists say so. Hitler says so.

Original text(English)
But which race? Does there exist a German race? Has it ever existed? Will ever exist? Reality, myth, or hoax of the theorists? Ah well, we responded, a Germanic race does not exist. Various movements. Curiosity. Stupor. We repeat. Does not exist. We don't say so. Scientists say so. Hitler says so.

Benito Mussolini, 1934

Nevertheless, in 1934, Mussolini banned the book “Black Love” about the romance of an Italian woman and a black man. In 1929, when the Italian Academy was founded, Jews were not included in it, and in 1934 an anti-Semitic campaign was carried out in newspapers. Later, Mussolini issued a number of racist laws:

• April 19, 1937 - decree banning mixing with Ethiopians
• December 30, 1937 - decree banning mixing with Arabs
• September 5, 1938 - decree limiting the rights of Jews

Construction of a dictatorship

Assassination attempts

The effectiveness of fascist propaganda was at such a high level that there was no serious opposition to the Mussolini regime in the country. Socialist Tito Zaniboni planned to shoot Mussolini on November 4, 1925 with a telescopic rifle in Rome during a parade to mark the seventh anniversary of the end of the First World War, but was caught by police on the appointed day with the weapon in his hotel room Dragoni, from the window of which he was going to fire. Zaniboni was sentenced in 1927 to a camp on the island of Ponza and was released in 1943 after the fall of Mussolini.

On April 7, 1926, Violeta Gibson shot Mussolini with a revolver, the bullet only grazing his nose. A psychiatric examination found Gibson insane. Wanting to maintain good relations with Great Britain, Mussolini ordered her to be deported to her homeland.

On September 11, 1926, the young Italian stonemason Giovanni, who arrived that morning from Marseille (France), where he moved in anti-fascist circles, threw a bomb at the car of Mussolini, who was returning from his dacha, but it hit the frame of the car window and bounced off to the ground, where it exploded after the car had already driven a long distance. Several bystanders were slightly injured by shrapnel. Giovanni was immediately detained at the scene of the assassination attempt.

On October 31, 1926, at 17.40 in Bologna, 15-year-old Anteo Zamboni fired a revolver at a passing car of Benito Mussolini, after which he was captured on the spot and torn to pieces by the crowd.

Mussolini also survived a failed assassination attempt in Rome by anarchist Gino Lucetti and a planned attempt by American anarchist Michael Schirru, which ended in Schirru's capture and execution.

Members of TIGR, a Slovenian anti-fascist group, attempted to plot the assassination of Mussolini in Caporetto in 1938, but this attempt was unsuccessful.

Police State

After 1922, Mussolini took personal control of the ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Colonies, Corporations, Defense, and Public Works. There were periods when he headed seven ministries at the same time, and also served as the country's prime minister. He was also the head of the Fascist Party and the armed fascist Blackshirt militia, which suppressed all resistance to the regime in the cities and provinces. Later he formed OVRA - the Duce's personal security service. His actions were aimed at keeping power in his hands and preventing the emergence of any competitor, in which the Duce succeeded.

Between 1925 and 1927, Mussolini gradually eliminated virtually all constitutional and customary restrictions on his power, thus building a police state. A law passed on Christmas Eve 1925 changed Mussolini's official title from "president of the council of ministers" to "head of government". He was no longer responsible to parliament and could only be removed from further exercise of his powers by the king. Local autonomy was abolished, and mayors were replaced by podestà and consuls.

All other parties were banned only in 1928, although in practice Italy became a one-party state in 1925. In the same year, the electoral law abolished parliamentary elections. Instead, the Fascist Grand Council selected a single list of candidates, who were approved by plebiscite. The Grand Council had been created five years earlier as a party body, but was "constitutionalized" and became the highest constitutional body in the state. The Grand Council had the right to discuss the issue of Mussolini's removal from office. However, only Mussolini could convene the Great Council and determine its agenda. To consolidate control over the South, especially Sicily, he appointed Cesare Mori as prefect of the city of Palermo, with the demand to destroy the mafia at any cost. In a telegram, Mussolini wrote to Mori:

Your Excellency has carte blanche. State power must be unconditionally, I repeat, unconditionally restored in Sicily. If existing laws interfere with you, this will not be a problem. We will publish new ones.

Original text(Italian)
Vostra Eccelenza ha carta bianca. L "autorità dello Stato deve essere assolutamente, ripeto assolutamente ristabilita in Sicilia. Se le leggi attualmente in vigore la ostacoleranno non costituirà un problema. Noi faremo nuove leggi.

The new prefect did not hesitate to besiege cities, use torture, hold women and children as hostages, obliging suspects to surrender. Such brutal methods earned him the nickname “Iron Prefect.” Mussolini appointed Mori a senator, and fascist propaganda announced to the country that the mafia had been defeated.

Economic policy

Throughout Italy, Mussolini launched several public building programs and government initiatives to combat economic hardship and unemployment. His earliest and most famous program was the Green Revolution, also known as the Bread Struggle, which saw the construction of 5,000 new farms and five new agricultural towns on land reclaimed from the drainage of the Pontine Marshes.

On December 24, 1928, Mussolini approved the “Comprehensive Land Reclamation Program,” thanks to which over 10 years the country received more than 7,700 thousand hectares of new arable land. Abandoned and uncultivated areas were quickly put in order and settled by 78 thousand peasants from the poorest regions of Italy. Work began to be carried out on the banks of the Po River, on swampy plains along the shores of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. More than 60 thousand hectares of swamps, which had been breeding grounds for malaria for centuries, were drained and divided into 3 thousand plots for the poor. New cities were also built there. From 1922 to 1930, the number of clinics and hospitals quadrupled. A model agricultural town was built in Sardinia in 1930. Mussolinia, which was renamed Arborea in 1944. This city was the first of thousands that Mussolini hoped to build throughout the country to improve agricultural production. This plan diverted valuable resources to grain production at the expense of other, less economically viable crops. Huge tariffs associated with the project contributed to its inefficiency, and government subsidies provided to farmers pushed the country further into debt. Mussolini also launched the "Battle for the Land", a policy based on land development outlined in 1928. The initiative was carried out with varying degrees of success. Mussolini hoped to improve the welfare of the peasants, but in reality, only the owners of large estates benefited from his policies. While projects such as the drainage of the Pontine Marshes in 1935 were good for agriculture and for propaganda purposes, providing employment for the unemployed and allowing large landowners to control subsidies, other projects in the Battle for the Land were not very successful. This program was incompatible with the Battle of the Grain (small plots of land were incorrectly allocated for large-scale wheat production) and the Pontine Marshes were lost during the Second World War. The Battle for Earth program was discontinued in 1940.

He also combated the economic downturn by introducing the Gold for the Motherland program, encouraging the public to voluntarily donate gold jewelry. Even Raquela Mussolini donated her own engagement ring. The collected gold was melted down and turned into gold bars, which were then distributed to national banks.

Mussolini sought state control of business: in 1935, Mussolini claimed that three-quarters of Italian firms were under state control. That same year, he issued several decrees to further control the economy, including forcing all banks, businesses and private citizens to divest all their foreign shares in favor of Bank of Italy bonds. In 1938, he set wages and regulated prices. He also tried to turn Italy into a self-sufficient autarchy by imposing high tariffs on trade with most countries except Germany.

The social policy he pursued brought Mussolini recognition throughout the world. Gandhi and Freud respect him. In private life, Mussolini is unpretentious and simple. During conversations he is calm, knows how to control himself, always tries to choose the most accurate word or expression, although sometimes he can be harsh. The Duce physically cannot stand people who are somehow unpleasant to him. He doesn't care about money or material possessions at all.

In 1943, he proposed the theory of economic socialization.

Government

As the Italian dictator, Mussolini was primarily concerned with propaganda and winning the minds of the Italians. The press, radio, education, films - everything was carefully controlled to create the impression that fascism was a twentieth-century doctrine capable of replacing liberalism and democracy.

The principles of this doctrine were laid down in an article on fascism written by Giovanni Gentile and signed by Mussolini, which appeared in 1932 in Encyclopedia Italiana. In 1929, the Lateran Agreements were signed with the Vatican, according to which the Italian state was finally recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Vatican, in turn, was recognized by the Italian state; the agreement also included legal provisions under which the Italian government would protect the honor and dignity of the Pope by prosecuting those responsible.

Before coming to power in 1922, Mussolini made thunderous speeches against the Chamber of Deputies (for example, during the First World War, he called parliament “a fetid plague stain poisoning the blood of the nation”), but he was not an unconditional principled denier of the parliamentary system: Mussolini did not care about the form, he was worried about the internal content. He believed that the parliamentary system in itself is neither good nor bad, and in a given historical situation the parliamentary system can give miraculous results or lead the country to destruction. The codes of the parliamentary system were rewritten under Mussolini. In his battles with the parliamentary opposition, Mussolini repeatedly knocked down his opponents with a well-aimed and strong blow:

Who, gentlemen, acts as such an ardent, such a passionate defender of the parliamentary system, defender of constitutional legality, of all institutions? Yes, after all, this is my old acquaintance, a former socialist, and now a communist, Tale-Kvale? Do you understand, gentlemen?! The senior “comrades”, the fathers and mentors of this old friend of mine, his inspirers, the Russian Bolsheviks, who, without any hesitation, crushed the parliamentary system that was born in Russia and all democratic institutions into a cake, and stubbornly demand from our communists that they do the same and here. And my old friend Tale-Kvale is working diligently in this direction. But, intending to blow up the entire system in order to build a Soviet paradise on its ruins, he furiously attacks us for our insufficiently respectful attitude towards parliamentarism, he furiously protests against the violations of constitutional legality that we are committing! I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, to evaluate the efforts of the opposition representative...

Pervushin M.K. Thoughts on fascism.

All communists and socialists, far-left clerics, as well as republicans and radicals who had allied with them, were removed from parliament. The parliament turned out to be thoroughly “cleansed”, and, strictly speaking, only the fascists and those who sympathized with them remained in it. On July 31, 1924, the Ministry of Press and Propaganda was created in Italy, and Dino Alfieri was appointed head of it. The measures he took led to the closure of most opposition newspapers. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper could now only be a member of the fascist trade union, which united journalists with party cards. Trade unions were also deprived of any independence and were united into a “corporate system”. The goal was to place all Italians into various professional organizations or "corporations" that were under secret government control.

Large sums of money were spent on public works, as well as on prestigious international projects such as the Atlantic Blue Riband winning Rex and aviation achievements such as the world's fastest seaplane, the MC72, and Italo Balbo's transatlantic flight, which was greeted with much fanfare in the United States. when he landed in Chicago.

On October 31, 1926, a new law was passed giving the government the right to pass laws without the consent of parliament. And on December 24, Justice Minister Alfredo Rocco issues a series of laws aimed at eliminating the administrative and political institutions of the democratic system. The Duce acquired full executive power and was no longer responsible to anyone except the king.

On September 2, 1928, the Fascist Grand Council, in accordance with the new electoral law, compiled, based on proposals from trade unions and other associations, an election list of candidates for parliament, according to which voters vote “for” or “against” the entire list of deputies. On March 24, 1929, parliamentary elections were held, which showed that Italy voluntarily accepted fascism (the ratio of votes for/against was 8.51 to 0.13 million people, while women were allowed to vote in elections for the first time). On July 20, 1932, Mussolini took over the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (his deputy was Fulvio Suvic), Dino Grandi was sent as ambassador to London. In the period 1928-1938, a sports complex was built in Rome Foro Mussolini. Mussolini's obelisk made of Carrara marble was also erected there, which is the largest monolith cut out in the twentieth century, weighing almost 300 tons and 17.40 meters high. In 1933, a stadium was built for the World Cup games in Turin, held in Italy in 1934, originally called "Mussolini".

Foreign policy

In foreign policy, Mussolini moved from pacifist anti-imperialism to aggressive nationalism. He dreamed of making Italy a country that would be “great, respected and feared” throughout Europe and throughout the world. A quick example was the capture of Corfu in 1923. Soon after, he succeeded in creating a puppet regime in Albania and in ruthlessly consolidating Italian power in Libya, which had been free since 1912. His dream was to make the Mediterranean mare nostrum(“our sea” in Latin), and he established a large naval base on the Greek island of Leros to provide a strategic hold on the eastern Mediterranean.

Conquest of Ethiopia

To further its plans to create an Italian Empire, or the New Roman Empire as its proponents called it, Italy set its sights on an invasion of Ethiopia, which was quickly carried out. In October 1935, Italy started a war against Ethiopia. The Italian forces were significantly superior to the Abyssinian ones, especially in aviation. In May 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie was forced to flee the country while Italian troops entered the capital, Addis Ababa, and declared Ethiopia to be part of Italian East Africa. Due to the victory in Ethiopia, Mussolini proclaimed the rebirth of the Roman Empire, and King Victor Emmanuel III assumed the title of Emperor of Ethiopia.

The colonial partition was completed only at the beginning of the twentieth century. International sentiment was now against colonial expansion and condemned Italy's actions in this regard. In hindsight, Italy was criticized for using mustard gas and phosgene against its enemies, supposedly authorized by Mussolini.

Spanish Civil War

Fearing that the communists would win during the Spanish Civil War, the Duce actively supported the nationalists who fought against the republic. Since 1936, a rapprochement between Mussolini and Hitler began. The reason for this was the joint military and economic support for General Franco’s speech in Spain. Suvic was sent as ambassador to the United States, and Mussolini's son-in-law G. Ciano became minister of foreign affairs.

Axis powers

Relations with the Third Reich

Relations between Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were initially contentious, especially deteriorating after the Nazis assassinated Italian friend and ally Engelbert Dollfuss, the Austrofascist dictator of Austria, in 1934.

June 14, 1934 Mussolini receives Hitler in Venice. At the end of the visit, the Duce spoke of his guest as follows:

This annoying man... this Hitler is a ferocious and cruel creature. It makes me remember Attila. Since the time of Tacitus, Germany has remained a country of barbarians. She is the eternal enemy of Rome.

On July 25, 1934, in an attempt to carry out a coup d'etat, the Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. Mussolini hastily mobilizes four divisions, orders them to approach the border - to the Brenner Pass and be ready to go to the aid of the Austrian government. Mussolini is counting on the support of Great Britain and France - but they are inactive. But Italy’s actions are enough for Hitler to retreat and the coup attempt to fail. Mussolini speaks to the press:

The German Chancellor has repeatedly promised to respect the independence of Austria. But the events of recent days have clearly shown whether Hitler intends to respect his rights before Europe. It is impossible to approach with ordinary moral standards a person who, with such cynicism, violates the elementary laws of decency.

On January 4, 1937, Mussolini held negotiations with Goering, Hitler's emissary. In response to Goering’s proposal to consider the annexation of Austria a settled matter, Mussolini shakes his head and resolutely declares that he will not tolerate any changes in the Austrian question.

Mussolini declines the invitation to visit Germany, but sends his son-in-law in his place. From August 21 to 24, Ciano held negotiations with von Neurath, after which he was expected to receive a reception from Hitler.

After five refusals to visit Germany, the Duce finally accepted the Fuhrer's invitation in September 1937. Over the course of a week, Hitler, dressed in the uniform of assault troops, unveils a series of grandiose parades in front of his guests, gathers huge rallies, demonstrates all the brilliance of a well-oiled military machine, while at the same time demonstrating his amazing power over the crowd. The military power of Germany, the discipline and high morale of the soldiers amaze the Duce. In Berlin, in front of a crowd of thousands, Mussolini proclaimed:

Italian fascism has finally found a friend, and it will go with its friend to the end.

After the Munich Conference

Mussolini had imperial plans for Tunisia and had some support in that country. In April 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, seeking to restore honor from past defeats, and Italy invaded Albania, winning within just five days and forcing the Albanian king to flee.

On May 22, 1939, the Italian and German foreign ministers Ciano and Ribbentrop signed the Italian-German Treaty on a Defensive and Offensive Alliance (the so-called “Pact of Steel”). King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy was wary of the treaty, favoring more traditional Italian allies such as France.

Hitler was determined to launch an invasion of Poland, although Galeazzo Ciano warned that this would likely lead to war with the Allies. Hitler dismissed Ciano's comment, predicting that Britain and other Western countries would retreat instead, and suggested that Italy launch an invasion of Yugoslavia. Mussolini found the offer tempting, but declaring war would be disastrous for Italy due to the extreme shortage of weapons. Also, King Victor Emmanuel advocated Italian neutrality in this war. However, contrary to Italy's obligations, after the outbreak of war between Germany, on the one hand, and Poland, France and Great Britain on the other, the Duce declares his neutrality. He orders the acceleration of work on the construction of defensive structures on the border with Germany. In addition, Italy continues to supply France with aviation equipment and vehicles.

Declaration of war

After the outbreak of World War II, Italian Foreign Minister Ciano and British representative Viscount Halifax held secret telephone conversations. The British wanted Italy on their side against Germany, as they had in the First World War. The French government was cooler towards Italy. In September 1939, France decided to discuss controversial issues with Italy, but since the French did not want to discuss territorial disputes over Corsica, Nice and Savoy, Mussolini did not respond to the initiative of the French leadership.

As long as the Duce lives, there can be no doubt that Italy will use every opportunity to achieve its imperialist goals.

Adolf Hitler, late November 1939

Cover Newsweek 13 May 1940: "The Duce: key figure in the Mediterranean."

On March 18, 1940, the Duce meets with Hitler at the Brenner Pass. Mussolini promised to enter the war, but only after the main forces of France were defeated by the Germans. He laid claim to historically Italian lands once seized by France - Corsica, Savoy and Nice, as well as Tunisia.

Mussolini, convinced that the war would soon end with a German victory, decided to enter the war on the side of the Axis. Accordingly, Italy declared war on Britain and France on June 10, 1940, and joined the Germans in the fight for France. However, 32 Italian divisions were unable to significantly dislodge 6 French divisions from their positions in the Alps. Only eleven days later did France surrender to the Axis powers. Nice and other southeastern regions of France came under Italian control. Meanwhile, Italian East African forces attacked the British in Sudan, Kenya and the British colony of Somaliland. On August 3, 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and became part of Italian East Africa.

More than a month passed before the Italian Tenth Army, commanded by General Rodolfo Graziani, moved from Italian Libya to Egypt, where British forces were located. On October 25, 1940, Mussolini sent the Italian Air Corps to Belgium, which fought against Britain for two months. In October, Mussolini sent Italian forces to Greece, starting the Italo-Greek War. Initial military successes were followed by setbacks, and Italy lost a quarter of Albania. Soon Germany transferred part of its forces to the Balkans to fight the gathering forces of the Allies.

Events in Africa changed in early 1941, when Operation Compass stopped the Italian advance into Egypt and resulted in huge losses in the Italian army. An attack was also launched against Italian forces in east Africa. Despite resistance, the Italians were defeated at the Battle of Keren and suffered a final defeat at the Battle of Gondar. In danger of losing control of all Italian possessions in North Africa, Germany finally sent the Afrika Korps to support Italy.

Meanwhile, in Yugoslavia, Operation Marita ended the Italo-Greek War with the victory of the Axis powers, Greece was occupied by Italy and Germany. With the invasion of the Soviet Union by Axis forces, Mussolini declared war on the Soviet Union in June 1941, but only agreed to send Italian troops to the Eastern Front on July 10, 1941. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he declared war on the United States.

In May 1941, the British, with the help of partisans, liberated Ethiopia and also occupied the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Somalia.

By this time, the transfer of Rommel's Afrika Korps to Libya led to the fact that the advantage in North Africa was on the side of the Italian-German troops. Rommel managed not only to return Cyrenaica, but also to reach El Alamein (100 km from Alexandria) in the summer of 1942.

On October 23, 1942, a counteroffensive by British troops began near El Alamein, ending in the complete defeat of the Italians and Germans. On November 8, the Americans began landing in Morocco. On May 13, 1943, Italian-German troops in Africa totaling 250 thousand people (about half of them Italians) capitulated in Tunisia. On July 10, the Anglo-Americans landed in Sicily. On July 19-20, Mussolini met with Hitler at Feltre, asking him to organize the defense of Sicily; but Hitler, busy with the battle on the Kursk Bulge, was unable to help his ally and demanded that Mussolini evacuate.

Deposition and arrest

By 1943, among the elite, including even the top of the Fascist Party, a conviction had formed about the need to remove Mussolini and withdraw from the war. Upon news of the landing in Sicily, the leaders of the Fascist Party, led by Dino Grandi, began to insist that Mussolini convene a Fascist Grand Council. The Council, which had not met since 1939, convened on July 24 under the chairmanship of Grandi and passed a resolution demanding the resignation of Mussolini and the transfer of supreme command of the army into the hands of the king. Mussolini did not recognize this resolution as binding on himself, but the next day he was summoned to an audience with the king and was arrested there. A government was formed led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, which began secret negotiations with the Anglo-Americans. The news of Mussolini's arrest caused violent anti-fascist protests, and on July 27 the dissolution of the fascist party was announced.

Badoglio began secret negotiations with the allies about leaving the war, and on September 3 a truce was signed, one of the points of which was the surrender of Mussolini. On the same day, the Anglo-Americans began landing in Italy. On September 8, Italy's withdrawal from the war was officially announced. In response, the Germans occupied Italy.

Italian Social Republic

On September 12, 1943, Mussolini, who was being held at the Albergo Rifugio Hotel in the Apennine Mountains, was freed by German paratroopers under the command of Otto Skorzeny. By this time, Mussolini was in very poor health and wanted to retire. However, he was immediately taken to Germany to talk with Hitler at his headquarters in East Prussia. There, Hitler threatened him that if he did not agree to return to Italy and create a new fascist state there, Milan, Genoa and Turin would be destroyed. Mussolini agreed to create a new regime - the Italian Social Republic, informally known as Republic of Salo from behind the capital in the city of Salo.

Mussolini lived with Clara Petacci at Gargnano on Lake Garda in Lombardy, but during this period he was little more than a puppet in the hands of his German liberators. Bowing to pressure from Hitler and the remaining loyal fascists who formed the government of the Italian Social Republic, Mussolini helped organize a series of executions of some of the fascist leaders who betrayed him at the last meeting of the fascist Grand Council. One of those executed was his son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano. As head of state and foreign minister of the Italian Social Republic, Mussolini used much of his time to write his memoirs.

Yes ma'am, I'm done. My star has fallen. I work and I try, but I know that this is all just a farce... I'm waiting for the end of the tragedy - I don't feel like an actor anymore. I feel like I'm the last one in the audience.

Benito Mussolini in an interview in 1945. Madeleine Mollier.

In April 1945, French politician Victor Barthelemy, a member of Jacques Doriot's French People's Party, recorded an interview with Benito Mussolini, which is often interpreted as Mussolini's political testament. In this testament, Mussolini expressed his regret that during his time in power he was unable to neutralize the capitalists, who, as the Duce believed, organized a successful coup in 1943, and also to provide “the people with their share of power.” Concerning foreign policy, then Mussolini called the war against the USSR a mistake, believing that the USSR’s help would be useful to Italy in the war against Great Britain and the USA; He also criticized the racial theory of the Nazis and condemned their Slavophobic propaganda.

Death

On April 17, 1945, Mussolini arrived in Milan. He planned to organize resistance in Valtellina, north of Bergamo, or take refuge in Switzerland. On the 25th, he held long negotiations with the leader of the Resistance, General Cadorna, and members of KNOSI Marazza and Lombardi. Mussolini wanted to remind that there were still German troops in the country, and was very upset to learn that the Nazis decided to lay down their arms.

Soon Mussolini and his associates headed to Lake Como in the Valtellina Valley. Arriving at about 9 pm in the city of Como, they occupied the building of the local prefecture. Here Mussolini was joined by Raquela Mussolini, but the next morning the Duce said goodbye to her. The small detachment moved along Lake Como to Menaggio, from where the road goes to Switzerland. Marshal Graziani, fearing to fall into the hands of the partisans, chose to surrender to the allies.

On the night of April 26-27, the fugitives joined a detachment of 200 Germans who were also planning to cross the border. A little later, Alessandro Pavolini and Clara Petacci met them.

Near the small village of Musso, the column was stopped by a partisan barrier. The partisan commander agreed to let the convoy through, but only the Germans, demanding that their Italian allies be handed over. A German lieutenant tried to smuggle Mussolini by dressing him in a Luftwaffe non-commissioned officer's uniform and hiding him in the back of a truck. The partisans began to inspect the cars, and one of them recognized the Duce. After this, the Germans handed Mussolini over to the partisans.

Conducted to the village of Dongo, Mussolini spent the night in a peasant house. By order of the leadership of the CDS, a small detachment led by Colonel Valerio (Walter Audisio) took Mussolini and Clara Petacci from the hands of the partisans. On April 28 at 16:10 they were shot on the outskirts of the village of Mezzegra. The dead bodies of the Duce and his mistress, like the bodies of six other fascist hierarchs, were transported to Milan, where they were hung by their feet from the ceilings of a gas station in Piazza Loreto. The former dictator's face was disfigured beyond recognition.

French professor Pierre Milza, director of the Center for the Study of 20th Century European History, in his book “The Last Days of Mussolini” states that the circumstances of the Duce’s death have not yet been clarified. He draws attention to the fact that Churchill called Mussolini “the greatest living legislator” back in 1926, and simply “great” in 1940. Employees of the English Intelligence Service took part in the execution of the Duce. Churchill was interested in receiving his correspondence with Mussolini, which they, as heads of government, conducted, in particular, on issues of the English and Italian colonies - its contents could compromise the British prime minister. Italian researcher Roberto Rogero takes a similar position: he claims that Walter Audosio physically could not have been at the scene of the events. Journalist and historian Arrigo Petacco does not consider the existence of the correspondence indisputably proven, but in his book about Mussolini he sets out the history of the emergence of a version of its authenticity back in 1945 (supporters of this theory include such an event as Churchill’s trip in the summer of 1945 to the place where Mussolini was executed).

On April 29, 2012, a memorial plaque with portraits of both was unveiled at the house where Mussolini and Petacci were shot. The opening was attended by the head of the administration of Mezzegra.

Mussolini's body

The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were brought to Milan. At a gas station near Piazza Loreto (where 15 anti-fascist partisans were executed on August 10, 1944), they, along with the bodies of 5 other executed fascist party leaders, were hanged upside down. After this, the ropes were cut, and the bodies lay in the gutter for some time. On May 1, Mussolini and Petacci were buried in Milan's Musocco Cemetery (Cimitero Maggiore) in an unmarked grave in a poor lot.

Fascist loyalist Achille Starace was captured, sentenced to death, then taken to Piazza Loreto and shown Mussolini's body. Starace, who once said of Mussolini, “He is God,” saluted his leader before being shot. Starace's body was hung next to Mussolini's body.

On Easter 1946, Mussolini's body was exhumed and stolen by three fascists led by Domenico Leccisi. The body was found in August of that year, but remained unburied for 10 years due to a lack of political consensus. Currently, Mussolini's body rests in the family crypt in his hometown of Predappio.

In 2011, a documentary film “The Leader’s Body” (Italian: Il corpo del Duce) was created in Italy, dedicated to what happened to the Duce’s body after death.

Personal life

Mussolini first married Ida Dalser in Trento in 1914. A year later, the couple had a son, Benito Albino Mussolini. In December 1915, Mussolini married Raquela Guidi, his mistress since 1910. After coming to power, all information about his first marriage was kept silent, and his wife and son were subjected to repression. With Raquel, Mussolini had two daughters, Edda and Anna Maria, and three sons Vittorio, Bruno, and Romano. Mussolini had many mistresses, including Margherita Tsarfati and his last companion, Clara Petacci. In addition, Mussolini had countless brief sexual encounters with women, according to his biographer Nicholas Farrell. Benito Mussolini's third son, but second from his marriage to his second wife Raquele Mussolini, Bruno, died on August 7, 1941 in a plane crash during a test flight on a P108 bomber.

Religious Beliefs

Being a socialist in his youth, Mussolini adhered to atheistic views, while personally remaining a superstitious person to the point of absurdity - he was afraid of people with physical disabilities, especially hunchbacks and freaks, did not like bearded men, considered the 13th and 17th to be unlucky, and when in Italy received reports of the death of members of the expedition of Carter and Carnarvon, and ordered the mummy brought as a gift to be removed from the Palazzo Chigi. A sharply anti-clerical position was also characteristic of early fascism led by Mussolini. However, having come to power, Mussolini renounced (or pretended to renounce) atheism and declared that “he is a deeply religious man” and that fascism itself is a deeply religious phenomenon.

Religion is a type of mental illness. It has always caused a painful reaction from humanity.

Fascism respects God, ascetics, saints, heroes and faith, which fills the heart with prayer ordinary people from the people. Unlike Bolshevism, fascism does not try to expel God from human souls.

Hobby

The Duce was involved in fencing, swimming, skiing, horse riding, made long runs along the beach, participated in regattas, and was a passionate motorist. He was involved in flying sports and bore the title of “the first pilot of the Italian Empire.” In his hobbies, Mussolini led the movement for a healthy lifestyle that he promoted. Mussolini’s favorite football club was Bologna, which during his reign became the champion of Italy 6 times. In the city of Bologna, the Fascist Party of Italy had almost absolute support from the population. While in Rome, Mussolini actively attended home matches of the local Lazio, and after the founding of another Roman club, Roma, in 1927, he was often seen at its games.

Personality assessment by state leaders

At different periods of his life, Mussolini received mostly positive assessments from contemporary leaders of states. There is information that he was highly valued by Lenin (whom Mussolini had known since the 1900s) and, allegedly, even when meeting with a delegation of Italian communists, he asked them: “Where is Mussolini? Why did you lose him? (or: “Where did you lose Mussolini?!”). A participant in the Italian delegations to two Comintern congresses in the 1920s, Nicola Bombacci claimed that Lenin, addressing their delegation, said: “In Italy there was one socialist capable of leading the people to revolution - Benito Mussolini. You have lost him and are not able to return him” (in the “Biographical Chronicle” of V.I. Lenin, Bombacci’s personal audience on November 1, 1922 is recorded; however, Bombacci has collaborated with the fascist regime since the 1930s and is not an objective source regarding the content of the conversation that took place ).

Hitler said this: “When meeting with the Duce, I always experience special joy; He's a big personality." Mussolini and Churchill and Roosevelt admired them. Churchill (albeit long before he received the post of Prime Minister) called Mussolini “the new Caesar of the 20th century and the best legislator alive,” Pope Pius XI considered him a “man of Providence,” Pius XII said about him: “the greatest of people I know, and one of the most virtuous."

The head of the French government, Blum, said: “I trust Mussolini no more than Hitler. I would shake hands with Hitler, but never with Mussolini." Goebbels criticized the Duce for being insufficiently revolutionary: “He is so attached to his Italians that this deprives him of the breadth of a revolutionary and rebel on a global scale...” At the same time, Goebbels agreed with the opinion of Hindenburg, who said that “even Mussolini will not be able to make something out of the Italians.” more than the Italians."

Awards and commemorations

Italy Awards

• Supreme Order of the Holy Annunciation - 1924
• Military Order of Italy - 7 May 1936
• Medal in memory of the March on Rome

Awards from other countries

• Order of the Golden Spur (Vatican)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX (Vatican)
• Order of the German Eagle - 25 September 1937
• Military Order of Lachplesis
• Order of the Bath (awarded in 1923, stripped in 1940)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword (Portugal, 19 April 1929)

Works of Mussolini

• La filosofia della forza(The Philosophy of Strength) // Il Pensiero Romagnolo, No. 48-50 (November-December), 1908.
• Giovanni Hus, il Veridico (Jan Hus, The True Prophet), Rome (1913). Published in the USA under the title John Hus (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1929). Republished in New York by the Italian Book Co., NY in 1939 under the title “Jan Hus, the Truther” ( John Hus, the Veracious).
• "The Cardinal's Mistress" (published in the USA, translated by Hiram Motherwell, New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1928)
• An essay on the "doctrine of fascism", officially signed by Mussolini and published in 1932 in the Italian Encyclopedia (Enciclopedia Italiana).
• La Mia Vita(“My Life”), Mussolini’s autobiography, written at the request of the American ambassador in Rome (Child). Mussolini, initially uninterested in compiling it, eventually decided to dictate his life story to Arnaldo Mussolini, his brother. The story covers the period up to 1929 and includes Mussolini's personal views on Italian politics and the reasons that prompted him to new revolutionary ideas. The book also describes the March on Rome and the beginning of Mussolini's dictatorship. It also included some of his most famous speeches given in the Italian Parliament (October 1924 and January 1925).
• From 1951 to 1962, Edoardo and Duilio Zusmel prepared for printing for the publishing house La Fenice. opera omnia(complete works) Mussolini in 35 volumes.
• Mussolini B. Memoirs 1942-1943. - M.: Eksmo, 2004. - P. 448. - 448 p.
• Mussolini B. Third way. Without democrats and communists. - M.: Algorithm, 2012. - 271 p. (is a translation of the book “My Life” and “The Doctrine of Fascism”).
• Mussolini B. The cardinal's mistress. - M.: Algorithm, 2013. - 272 p.

In popular culture

In movie.

• Italian-English film directed by Franco Zeffirelli “Tea with Mussolini” ( Tea with Mussolini, 1999)
• film “His Name was Benito” (“Il giovane Mussolini”, 1993) with Antonio Banderas. Film directed by Gianluigi Calderone
• American "Mussolini and I" ( Mussolini and I, 1985)
• American-Yugoslav production "Mussolini: The Untold Story" ( Mussolini: The Untold Story, 1985)
• Italian "Mussolini: The Last Days" ( Mussolini: Ultimo atto, 1974).
• Soviet films "The Collapse" (1968) and "Liberation" (1967-71).
• Italian (documentary) "The Leader's Body" ( Il corpo del Duce, 2011).
• Benzino Napaloni in Charles Chaplin's film “The Great Dictator” (1940) is a clear allusion to Benito Mussolini.
• “Mussolini. Sunset". Doc. movie. Dir. - V. Solovyov (2013, Russia).
• In Florestano Vancini's film The Murder of Matteotti (Italy, 1973), the role of Mussolini was played by Mario Adorf.

Mentioned in the following books.

• Valentin Pikul “Square of Fallen Fighters”, 1991.
• Louis de Bernières "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", 1993.
• Umberto Eco's "Number Zero", 2015, one of the characters reinterprets the death of Mussolini.

In music.

• Mentioned in Sergei Kalugin’s song “Reread” (“...the doctrine of fascism of Benito Kvadratny”)
• Mentioned in the song “Team of Malta” by the Ukrainian group NRavitsa Planet.
• The Duce is mentioned in the song “And the bright pyro will burn” by the group “Argentina”

8. Mussolini - leader

(continuation)

Duce

After 1926, the legend of the omniscient, wise Duce began to spread more and more, and this cult became the last and most expressive feature of Italian fascism. Mussolini did not encourage it out of vanity; he saw the cult of personality as an instrument of power. Trusted ministers and other fascist leaders - whether zealous or rebellious - understood that their own future depended entirely on the dictator. Without him they were nothing: the more majestic he became, the higher they rose. Augusto Turati, who became party secretary after Farinacci in 1926, was the first who began to contribute to the creation of the cult of personality of the leader. The second who helped create the predominantly intellectual aspect of the cult was the famous journalist-politician Giuseppe Botta, one of the most intelligent fascists, who preached a belief in the exceptionalism of Mussolini - the most outstanding personality in history, without whom fascism would have been meaningless. But the high priest of the new religion became Arnoldo Mussolini, who, working at Popolo d'Italia, day after day extolled his older brother as a demigod who sees every person and knows everything that happens in Italy; who, being the leading political figure of modern Europe, gave all his wisdom, heroism and powerful intellect to the service of the Italian people.

The Duce himself also believed, or pretended to believe, in his infallibility. He no longer needed assistants, but rather servants. Even as the editor of a rather obscure newspaper, due to his temperament, he always behaved like a dictator, simply giving orders to employees without accepting any advice. Having become prime minister and turning to others for information, he, out of habit, tried to create the impression that the answers confirmed what he had already guessed intuitively. The expression “Mussolini is always right” soon became one of the flying phrases of the regime, something like a walking subtitle, which the leader knew about and encouraged. When, in a conversation with the German publicist Emil Ludwig, he admitted that he sometimes did stupid things, this remark was deleted from the Italian version of his interview.

Another catchphrase, stenciled all over the walls, said that the duty of Italians is to believe, fight and obey. Mussolini believed that Italians crave discipline and that obedience must become an "absolute and religious feeling" if Italy and fascism are to dominate the twentieth century. Only one person should give orders, and his instructions should not be challenged even in minor matters. Mussolini considered fascism to be his personal creation, something that could not exist without obedience to it.

In 1926–1927 the worship of “Duchizm” was already in in full swing. School teachers were ordered to extol the exceptional personality of the dictator, emphasizing in every possible way his unselfishness, courage and brilliant mind, and to teach that obedience to such a person was the highest virtue. His portraits - most often in one of the Napoleonic poses - were hung on almost all public buildings, and were sometimes carried during processions through the streets, like an icon of the patron saint. True fascists printed photographs of the Duce on their business folders with one of his aphorisms. He has been compared to Aristotle, Kant and Thomas Aquinas; called the greatest genius in the history of Italy, greater than Dante or Michelangelo, than Washington, Lincoln or Napoleon. In fact, Mussolini was equated to a god, whose priests and novices other fascist leaders considered themselves to be.

This legendary figure became more understandable from a human point of view thanks to the biography written by Signora Sarfatti and published first in English in 1925, and then (in a significantly modified form, since it was intended for a completely different audience) in 1926 in Italy. Mussolini himself corrected the proofs and included them in the preface to English edition one of his pretentious statements, comparing his eventful life with the life of "the late Mr. Savage Landor, the great traveler." Only much later, after Sarfatti had been replaced by another mistress, did Mussolini admit that the book was ridiculous nonsense, published only because he considered “fiction more useful than the truth.” By that time, the “biography” had already been translated into many languages ​​of the world, including Danish and Latvian, and in Italy itself it received the status of almost a prophetic book.

Mussolini himself preferred the "official" version of his biography, written by the journalist Giorgio Pini, which - since it was not too critical and not too flattering - was more suitable for the Italian reader and was translated until 1939 in only a few foreign languages. While working on his biography in 1926, Pini could already afford to tell the Italians that “when the Duce gives a speech, the whole world freezes with fear and admiration.” The circulation of this book, like Sarfatti's book, was very large; it was reprinted fifteen times and distributed in schools as a textbook.

The third, even more official book was the "autobiography", which in reality was material written by various people and collected by Mussolini's brother with the help of Luigi Barzini, former ambassador United States in Rome. It was published by a London publisher who paid an incredibly large advance of £10,000.

Although Mussolini claimed that he did not care what was said about him abroad, he carefully studied the work of the press control service to ensure that the image he wanted was being projected. He sometimes treated the Foreign Office as if its main function was propaganda. He once ridiculed the “immoral narcissism” of democratic politicians who like to give interviews, but as the Duce, he himself turned into a great practitioner of this art form, forcing foreign correspondents to write flattering notes about him. In return, he sometimes provided them with information of special value, which he did not even honor the ambassadors with.

Mussolini always maintained a special relationship with representatives of the press, not because he himself was once a journalist, but because he needed their help. While ministers stood at attention in his presence, foreign journalists were allowed to sit, especially if they came from those countries whose public he wanted to make the greatest impression on. From time to time, journalists enjoyed the exclusive privilege of being invited to his home at Villa Torlonia. However, the degree of his friendliness and condescension had clear boundaries for each individual guest. Mussolini was sometimes gracious enough to greet journalists at the door of his huge office without subjecting them to the ordeal of walking the twenty yards from the door to his desk, while others, such as ministers and generals, had to cover that distance in later years at a run. . Of course, only supporters or potential supporters of fascism could receive interviews. But even for them, the performance, replete with theatrical poses, did not always make the right impression. From time to time, Mussolini had to redo recordings of interviews in the foreign press before they appeared in Italy - it was important for him to convince the Italians how much everyone abroad admired him. The creators of his “autobiography” argued without a shadow of a doubt that after meeting the Duce, any person began to understand that he was “the greatest personality in Europe.” Any edition of a foreign newspaper entering Italy that contradicted this legend risked confiscation. As a result, the Italian people had very little understanding of the critical attitude towards fascism and its leader abroad.

Mussolini had a lot of trouble speaking in front of the public. He carefully prepared his speeches, although at times he pretended that he did not need to. Italy, he used to say, is a theatrical stage and its leaders should serve as an orchestra, ensuring its contact with the people. Part of the secret of his success lay in Mussolini's characteristic disdain for the masses, who were so easily deceived and subjugated. He perceived the people as something like children who need to be helped, but at the same time corrected and punished - “they are stupid, dirty, do not know how to work hard and are content with cheap movies.” However, he was glad to discover that the herd - he was very fond of using this word - gratefully accepted inequality and drill instead of equality and freedom. If you give them bread and circuses, they will be able to do without ideas, except for those that someone comes up with especially for them. “The crowd should not strive to know, it should believe; she must obey and accept the required form" Once the masses realize that they are not capable of forming any opinion themselves, they will not want to debate or argue, they will prefer to obey the command. And here Mussolini agreed that his attitude to this was the same as that of Stalin.

Despite the fact that Mussolini pretended to be indifferent to public opinion and the applause of the crowd, he in every possible way nurtured one of his greatest gifts: “a tangible and even visible understanding of what the common people think and want.” Even those who considered his work in government ineffective recognized his ability to control the crowd. As the Duce himself explained, “you need to know how to capture the imagination of the public: this is the main secret of managing it.” The art of politics is not to tire or disappoint the listeners, but to maintain one's influence over them to constantly put on a show, "to keep people at the windows" year after year in anxious anticipation of some great and apocalyptic event.

Mussolini's speeches are not interesting to read, but his style of recitation always had a very strong effect on the audience. One skeptical listener once said that the Duce's speech is like the periodic liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius in Naples: it is impossible to explain how it happens, but it works. Sometimes his speeches were like a series of newspaper headlines - simple, oft-repeated statements, without any flights of fancy, using a very limited vocabulary. The prevailing general tone was always aggressive and harsh. Mussolini loved to speak from the balcony overlooking the street from his office, which he used as a “stage”: standing on it, he encouraged the crowd to answer his rhetorical questions in unison, thus involving them in active participation in the discussion. He admitted that he enjoyed feeling like a sculptor, persistently processing the material, making it pliable and giving it a certain shape.

In this most important area of ​​its political life Mussolini, like Hitler, owed much to Gustav Le Bon, whose book on the philosophy of the crowd he admitted to reading countless times. Le Bon explained that the actions and movements of the crowd are not causal, but illusory, often primitively illusory, caused by reckless and involuntary credulity, which can spread like a contagion if the speaker knows how to influence feelings. In this book, Mussolini found confirmation of his conviction that a ruler must master the art of speech. The effective power of the word, whether used in oral speech or in the popular press, acquires special weight if no one is allowed to respond to it except with a chorus of approval, and allows the politician to dispense with argumentation, rousing people to heroic deeds or by nullifying this heroism, which, if necessary, can border on the absurd.

Mussolini did not like to deal with his colleagues and usually tried to belittle their role in working together. By his natural qualities and thanks to calculation, he became the center of authority and over time continued to strengthen his position. Along with his duties as prime minister, Mussolini took control of six of the thirteen ministerial departments by 1926, and two more by 1929. In addition, he led the fascist party, the Grand Council and the national council of corporations, and also chaired cabinet meetings. At the same time, Mussolini was the commander of the police, and later the armed forces. Among the important bodies subordinate to him were the Supreme Defense Committee, the State Council, the Accounts Chamber, the Military Council, The Supreme Council statistics, the permanent Grain Committee, and the Civil Mobilization Committee, as did each of the twenty-two corporations established after 1934. In subsequent years, this list became even longer. When asked whether such a burden was excessive, he replied: “It is much easier to give orders myself than to send for the relevant minister and convince him to do what I consider necessary.”

With this way of doing things, the main work in each department fell to the lot of minor officials and secretaries, who, as a rule, could not act independently, and each of whom had only a few minutes of the prime minister's time. This made such centralization of power ineffective. Previous prime ministers believed that managing two ministries at the same time was an intolerable burden. Mussolini exercised temporary control over several ministries at once, not officially subordinate to him, and made decisions without bothering with ministerial consultations.

However, what was good for Mussolini's egoism turned out to be disastrous for the country.

If any leader was condemned by his own chosen subordinates, it was Mussolini. He despised his colleagues and liked to repeat that “they are all rotten to the core.” Indeed, only one or two of the ministers he appointed had more than modest abilities, most were completely incompetent, and some would have been in prison long ago in any other country. When choosing ministers, Mussolini preferred stupid people or obvious crooks: at least you know how to deal with a scoundrel and you will not be misled by hypocrisy. He was so confident in his own abilities, blinded by a sense of superiority, convinced of the stupidity and dishonesty of others, that he did not hesitate to appoint ignorant and mediocre people to high positions, as a result of which he found himself surrounded by sycophants, pretenders and careerists. Mussolini was written about as a man who truly had a talent for appointing people to the wrong places and who neglected employees who were honest or who told him the truth. He loved being surrounded by flatterers, and did not tolerate those who had character and inner culture, who had the courage to disagree with him.

It sometimes happened that Mussolini chose his ministers by skimming the list of deputies until he came across a face that he liked or a name that sounded good. Preference was given to those who were even shorter than himself. When De Vecchi, one of the most brutal and stupid fascists, was appointed Minister of Education, it seemed that this was done specifically to humiliate the teaching profession. Some believed that De Vecchi was chosen solely because of his reputation as a bringer of good fortune. A similar opinion was expressed regarding some appointments in the army. Mussolini was superstitious, and over the years this feature of his did not go away: he was afraid of people with the “evil eye” and tried not to offend them.

When complaints were made that people higher up in the hierarchy were behaving dishonestly, Mussolini chose to ignore the accusations as long as possible, since he could not allow the public to know that he had made the wrong choice. Having a low opinion of human nature, he admitted that every person has his own price, although he continued to play a comedy in public, declaring that fascism is intended to cleanse politics. Mussolini knew from police investigations that many senior officials were less than paragons of integrity, yet he rarely took action against them. The Duce even joked, saying that it made no sense to fire those who had made a career in his department, because this would open the way for others, who were no better. To one of his comrades, who dared to warn the prime minister that the dishonest actions of representatives of the regime provide food for public gossip, Mussolini replied that every revolution has the right to allow its leaders to make money on the side. This was, in all likelihood, his genuine belief.

The selection of the fascist hierarchy, as he was eventually forced to admit, turned out to be the weak point of the Mussolini regime. But he found an excuse for this, saying that he could not trust anyone, least of all those he knew. Whatever the reason, not a single truly talented person could stay in the apparatus for long or was not given any opportunity to prove himself. Mussolini preferred to keep all ministers and other senior officials, good and bad, at a respectful distance and tried not to leave them in responsible positions for long. All subordinates quickly became accustomed to the Duce's need for privacy and intolerance of familiarity. They knew that no one was allowed to approach him, lest they see him without a mask. The frequent change of ministers was sometimes explained by the desire to find another scapegoat, sometimes by the need to prevent potential rivals from building an independent power base. In some ways, Mussolini deliberately encouraged servility by giving as many people as possible the hope of advancement. Mussolini did not like to tell his subordinates to their faces that they were fired; most often they learned about it from newspapers or on the radio, while their leader took a strange pleasure in the general confusion caused by such an event.

Another character trait of the Duce was the pleasure with which he incited ministers and generals to each other. As if his task was not to coordinate their actions, but, on the contrary, to create discord and general chaos. Mussolini liked it when his subordinates gossiped; he himself constantly conveyed various malicious inventions to the offended party, in every possible way exacerbating tension and fueling jealousy between rivals. A lot of papers with such squabbles accumulated in the Duce’s personal archives, along with various gossip collected for him by spies using listening devices. Slanders and gossip rarely resulted in reprisals. Mussolini mainly used them to strengthen his authority, making it clear to his subordinates that he knew what they were talking about in private conversations. With the air of a man who took morbid pleasure from contemplating erotic scenes, he inflated in every possible way a sense of superiority over his surroundings.

Mussolini's activities led to excessive centralization of power, when almost everything depended on the will of one person. If Mussolini left Rome, most of the administration simply stopped working. Cabinet meetings could approve many regulations in one session; sometimes all of them were offered to Mussolini personally. He often made conflicting decisions in different departments on the same day. Mussolini considered it necessary to personally give orders: to put the troops in order, to decide on what day the orchestra could start playing on the Venetian Lido, whether it was necessary to trim the trees along the road to Riacensa, whether to send an assistant trumpeter instructor to the police college... He demanded that names be reported to him those employees who did not have time to sit down at their desks by nine o'clock in the morning. This amazing waste of energy on all sorts of nonsense gave Mussolini real pleasure, as a way of showing off, making people (and perhaps himself) believe that the entire life of the nation was under his constant control.

Thus, the administrative and legislative bodies represented another field of activity for Mussolini, where he could show in all its brilliance the art of organizing public spectacles. Beneath the enormous burden of his duties, he rarely found time to ensure that his orders were carried out. In a sense, it didn't matter to him, because their publication was much more important than their execution. This whole performance in his hands turned out to be a very effective means of strengthening personal authority. Mussolini told English newspapermen that in one Cabinet meeting he had done more for the economy than the government of England in a year, because while the British were struggling through lengthy debates in a parliament consisting of complete amateurs, he was a professional, directing the entire life of the nation with the help of a battery of eighty buttons on his desktop. This statement, of course, was an empty boast and could only impress a limited part of the public. In fact, Mussolini never learned, unlike Giolitti, how to control his assistants and often failed to translate his desires into practical action. Despite his outward brilliance, he was in many ways a weak man, constantly changing his mind. He lacked the ability to manage a rather complex real-life situation. There was a running joke among senior officials that his “dictatorship was made of soft cheese.”

Spectacular gestures were designed to disguise Mussolini's ineptitude and impracticality. In this way he tried to hide his inability to withstand difficulties and make decisions in critical situations. The Duce always preferred to let events themselves impose a political direction on him. One of his friendly senators called the dictator a “cardboard lion” that could be pulled by a string. And if he continued to maintain a strange reputation as a man who always agreed with the interlocutor with whom he was in this moment spoke, this also happened because Mussolini was afraid that he would be defeated in an argument. Because of this, he tried his best to avoid disputes and discussions wherever possible.

Mussolini's close acquaintances, as well as members of his own family, said that even in conversations with relatives he adopted a threatening tone, as if addressing a huge crowd. He was ready to listen, especially at the very beginning of his activity, to specialists, but did not allow a friendly exchange of opinions or discussions - this could destroy the legend of his omniscience and infallibility. At times Mussolini took the pose of a man who wanted to hear the truth, even if it was unpleasant, but for this he chose a person who deliberately tried to first find out what the Duce would like to hear from him.

Benito Mussolini's death occurred on April 28, 1945. He left this world 2 days before Hitler. At the time of his death, the leader of Italian fascism was 61 years old. This man lived a colorful life and was familiar with almost all the prominent political figures of the first half of the 20th century. They spoke very highly of him, since the Duce (leader) was distinguished by his extraordinary intelligence, determination and had a strong will. But all these qualities did not help to avoid a well-deserved execution, which was carried out on the debunked leader by members of the Italian Resistance.

Brief biography of Mussolini

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) is a prominent statesman and political figure in Italy. Born in the small village of Varano di Costa near the town of Predappio in northern Italy in the family of a blacksmith and a teacher. My father adhered to socialist views and took an active position. He spoke at rallies and even spent time in prison. All this did not pass without a trace for Benito. In 1900 he joined the Italian Socialist Party, but in 1902 he left for Switzerland to avoid military service.

There he first tried himself as a speaker, speaking to Italian emigrants. He soon met Marxists and read the works of Nietzsche, Marx, Stirner, and Sorel. He was particularly impressed by the French philosopher Sorel, who called for the overthrow of capitalism through violence.

In 1903, Mussolini was arrested by Swiss police at the request of the Italians for evading military service. He was deported to Italy, where the young man voluntarily enlisted in the Italian army. After serving for 2 years, he became a teacher in the lower grades, having graduated from high school at one time. In parallel with his work as a teacher, he was engaged in revolutionary activities and organized a strike of agricultural workers.

I had to leave my job and move to the city of Trento, which at that time belonged to Austria-Hungary. This happened in 1909. And from that time on, the young man took up political journalism. He was the editor of the newspaper "The People", and a year later, returning to Italy, he became the editor of the magazine "Class Struggle". In 1912, he headed the newspaper of the Socialist Party “Forward” and established himself as a bright and talented journalist.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Benito began to advocate for Italy's entry into the war against Germany. This caused discontent among the socialists, and the future leader of the country was relieved of his post as editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Forward”. In August 1915, Italy entered the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary, and Mussolini was drafted into the army. He ended up in the elite infantry (Bersagliere) and established himself as a brave soldier. In February 1916 he was awarded military rank corporal, and a year later he was demobilized due to a leg wound.

The front-line soldier who returned from the war decisively broke with socialism, declaring that this doctrine had become obsolete. In March 1919 he created new organization– Italian Wrestling Union. In November 1921 it was transformed into the National Fascist Party. After this, Benito proclaimed the "Third Way" of the Italian people. Under his leadership, armed fascist detachments (Blackshirts) were created, and this new force began to successfully resist communists, socialists, and anarchists.

At the end of October 1922, fascist detachments moved in masses of thousands towards Rome (March on Rome). This march frightened King Victor Emmanuel III. He did not organize resistance to the fascists, but held a meeting with Mussolini and appointed him Prime Minister of Italy. He created his own cabinet of ministers, and the country's parliament meekly approved it. Thus, in 1922, Benito Mussolini came to power and became the leader (Duce) of the Italian people.

By December 1925, the Duce's power became absolute. The Black Shirts suppressed any resistance to the new regime, constitutional restrictions on power were eliminated, and the Duce was retrained from prime minister to head of government. He was no longer accountable to parliament, and only the king could remove him from office.

Italy became a one-party state, and all parties except the fascist were banned. In accordance with this, parliamentary elections were canceled, and instead of parliament, the Great Fascist Council began to rule everything. The Duce formed a personal security service, which began a merciless fight against dissent.

While in power, Mussolini headed the company for state control over business. By 1935, 70% of all Italian firms came under full state control. Strict price regulation began in 1938. The Duce himself was completely unpretentious in everyday life. He didn't care about money or material goods at all. The only thing he was interested in was power.

Two Fascist Dictators: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler

In 1934, the Duce began to improve relations with Nazi Germany. The first meeting with Hitler took place on June 14, 1934 in Venice. And Benito first arrived in Germany in September 1937. The German fascists gave the Duce a magnificent welcome and overwhelmed him with parades, mass rallies and military might. As a result, on May 22, 1939, Italy and Germany signed the Pact of Steel, an agreement on a defensive and offensive alliance.

After this, on September 27, 1940, the Tripartite Pact was signed between Italy, Germany and Japan. From this moment on, the Axis countries (Nazi bloc or Hitler's coalition) emerged, opposing the anti-Hitler coalition during World War II. Italy fought against France and Great Britain in Africa, the southern regions of France, Belgium, Greece, and Yugoslavia. In June–July 1941, the Duce declared war on the USSR and the USA.

At first, military operations went well for the Italians, but after Germany attacked the USSR, the situation worsened, since the Germans could no longer fully help the Italians in their fight against the opposing coalition. Italian troops began to leave previously captured territories, unable to withstand the onslaught of the British and Americans. In May 1943, Italo-German troops capitulated in Tunisia, and on July 10, the Anglo-Americans landed in Sicily.

The capture of Sicily prompted the leaders of the Fascist Party to consider removing Mussolini and ending the war. On July 24, 1943, the Great Fascist Council was assembled. It was decided to resign the Duce and transfer all power to the king. The next day, the leader, who had lost popularity, was arrested. A new government was formed in the country, and negotiations began with the Americans and British. Benito's arrest sparked violent anti-fascist protests in the country, and on July 27 the fascist party was dissolved.

The new Italian government concluded a truce with the British and Americans on September 3 and pledged to hand over the Duce. The deposed leader himself was kept under guard in the Apennine Mountains at the Albergo Rifugio Hotel. The fate of a political criminal awaited him, but on September 12, 1943, a German landing force under the command of Otto Skorzeny freed the dictator and brought him to Germany to Hitler.

The Fuhrer invited the Duce to create a new state - the Italian Socialist Republic with its capital in the city of Salo. Mussolini agreed to take power into his own hands again, but now he had already become a puppet of Nazi Germany. So in the northern and central parts of Italy, occupied by the Germans, on September 23, 1943, a new state entity arose, completely under the control of Hitler.

However, times have changed. The forces of the Italian Resistance intensified, and Anglo-American troops began to push back the German occupiers and the Italians supporting them. In the last ten days of April 1945, the remnants of the German troops capitulated, and the Italian Socialist Republic ceased to exist on April 25, 1945.

Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci after the shooting

Death of Benito Mussolini

The Italian dictator bet on Hitler and lost. And the natural ending was the death of Benito Mussolini. On the eve of the end, the Duce, together with his mistress Clara Petacci (1912-1945), arrived in Milan on April 17, 1945. Here he planned to resist the Anglo-Americans, and if that didn’t work out, then flee to Switzerland. But the plans for resistance were confused by the Germans. They decided to capitulate, and Mussolini had no choice but to flee Italy.

Together with Clara Petacci and several fascist associates, he set off along Lake Como to the road that led to Switzerland. On the night of April 26-27, a small detachment of fugitives joined a convoy of German trucks. However, near a small village, a partisan detachment blocked the column’s path. A firefight began but quickly died down. The partisans agreed to let the Germans through, but on the condition that they hand over the Italian fascists with them.

We must pay tribute to the German military. They gave Mussolini the uniform of a German non-commissioned officer and put him in the back of a truck. But the partisans began to carefully examine each truck and the people sitting in it. One of the Garibaldians recognized the dictator, and he was immediately arrested. The Germans did not protest and hastily left, and the Duce, along with his mistress and associates, was captured.

The detained group was taken to the village of Giulino di Medzegra, placed in a peasant house and placed under heavy security. However, the news of the arrest of the Duce very quickly reached the allied forces, and they began to demand the transfer of the dictator to them. The Italian communists opposed this and decided to urgently put Benito Mussolini to death.

The executed Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci were hanged upside down in Milan (Mussolini is third from left, and Clara Petacci is fourth from left).

On the same day, April 28, 1945, a prominent figure in the Italian anti-fascist resistance, Lieutenant Colonel Valerio (Walter Audisio), went to the village. His people led the Duce out of the peasant house, and Clara Petacci followed, not wanting to part with her beloved man. The couple was taken to Villa Belmonte and placed near the fence. Valerio asked Petacci to step aside, but she grabbed Mussolini with a death grip and shielded him with her body.

The lieutenant colonel once again asked the love-crazed woman to move away. But she didn’t want to listen to anyone. What could the Italian communists do, a volley rang out, and two dead bodies fell to the ground. Both corpses were taken to Milan and hanged upside down near Piazza Loreto at a gas station. The bodies of several other prominent fascists were hanged nearby. After a few hours, the ropes were cut and the bodies fell into the gutter. There they lay until May 1, and then were interred in the Milan cemetery of Cimitero Maggiore. Moreover, the site where tramps were buried was chosen for burial.

Benito Mussolini's grave in the family crypt

However, the shameful death of Benito Mussolini did not leave the fascists indifferent. In March 1946, they dug up the Duce's body from the grave and kidnapped him. They searched for the mortal remains for quite a long time and discovered them only in August of the same year. After that, they lay for 10 years in the Certosa de Pavia monastery (a suburb of Milan) in an old large chest and were not buried. Finally, it was decided to bury the former dictator in the family crypt of the Mussolini family in the city of Predappio. His grave was surrounded by marble fronts and a bust was erected, thereby posthumously honoring the former Duce.

An irrepressible thirst for power was the dominant feature of Mussolini's life. Power determined his concerns, thoughts and actions and was not fully satisfied even when he found himself at the very top of the pyramid of political dominance. His own morality, and he considered moral only that which contributed personal success and the preservation of power, like a shield, covered him from the outside world. He constantly felt lonely, but loneliness did not weigh on him: it was the axis around which the rest of his life revolved.

A brilliant actor and poser, abundantly endowed with the characteristic Italian temperament, Mussolini chose a wide role for himself: an ardent revolutionary and a stubborn conservative, a great Duce and his own “shirt guy,” an unbridled lover and a pious family man. However, behind all this is a sophisticated politician and demagogue who knew how to accurately calculate the time and place to strike, pit opponents against each other, and play on people’s weaknesses and base passions.

He sincerely believed that strong personal power was necessary to control the masses, for “the masses are nothing more than a flock of sheep until they are organized.” Fascism, according to Mussolini, was supposed to turn this “herd” into an obedient instrument for building a society of general prosperity. Therefore, the masses must, they say, love the dictator “and at the same time fear him. The masses love strong men. The mass is a woman.” Mussolini's favorite form of communication with the masses was public performance. He systematically appeared on the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia in the center of Rome in front of a crowded square that could accommodate 30 thousand people. The crowd exploded with excitement. The Duce slowly raised his hand, and the crowd froze, eagerly listening to every word of the leader. Usually the Duce did not prepare his speeches in advance. He kept only basic ideas in his head, and then relied entirely on improvisation and intuition. He, like Caesar, stirred the imagination of Italians with grandiose plans, the mirage of empire and glory, great achievements and general well-being.

The future Duce was born on July 29, 1883 in a cozy village called Dovia in the province of Emilia-Romagna, which has long been known as a hotbed of rebellious sentiments and traditions. Mussolini's father worked as a blacksmith, occasionally “giving a hand” in raising his first-born (later Benito had another brother and sister), his mother was a rural teacher. Like any petty-bourgeois family, the Mussolinis did not live richly, but they were not poor either. They were able to pay for the education of their eldest son, who was systematically expelled from school for fighting. Having received a secondary education, Mussolini tried to teach in the lower grades for some time, led a completely dissolute life and received a venereal disease, from which he was never able to fully recover.

However, his active nature was looking for a different field, and his ambitious plans pushed him to adventurous decisions, and Mussolini went to Switzerland. Here he did odd jobs, was a mason and laborer, clerk and garson, lived in cramped closets common for emigrants of that time, and was arrested by the police for vagrancy. Later, at every opportunity, he recalled this period when he experienced “hopeless hunger” and experienced “a lot of life’s difficulties.”

At the same time, he became involved in trade union activities, spoke passionately at workers’ meetings, met many socialists and joined the socialist party. Particularly important for him was his acquaintance with the professional revolutionary Angelica Balabanova. They talked a lot, argued about Marxism, translated from German and French (Mussolini studied these languages ​​in courses at the University of Lausanne) the works of K. Kautsky and P.A. Kropotkin. Mussolini became acquainted with the theories of K. Marx, O. Blanca, A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche, but he never developed any coherent system of views. His worldview at that time was a kind of “revolutionary cocktail”, mixed with the desire to become a leader in the labor movement. The most reliable way to gain popularity was revolutionary journalism, and Mussolini began to write on anti-clerical and anti-monarchist topics. He turned out to be a talented journalist who wrote quickly, energetically and clearly for readers.

In the fall of 1904, Mussolini returned to Italy, served in the army, and then moved to his native province, where he decided on two urgent matters: he acquired a wife, a blue-eyed, blond peasant woman named Raquele, and his own newspaper, Class Struggle. It was he who acquired it - against the will of his father and mother Rakel, for he once appeared at her house with a revolver in his hand, demanding to give him his daughter. The cheap trick was a success, the young people rented an apartment and began to live without registering either a civil or church marriage.

The year 1912 turned out to be decisive in the revolutionary career of the Duce (“Duce” - they began to call him the leader back in 1907, when he went to prison for organizing public unrest). His fierce struggle against the reformists within the PSI won him many supporters, and soon the party leaders invited Mussolini to lead Avanti! - the central newspaper of the party. At the age of 29, Mussolini, still little known a year ago, received one of the most important posts in the party leadership. His dexterity and unscrupulousness, boundless narcissism and cynicism were also evident in the pages of Avanti!, whose circulation within a year and a half staggeringly increased from 20 to 100 thousand copies.

And then the First World War broke out. The Duce, who was known as an irreconcilable anti-militarist, initially welcomed the neutrality declared by Italy, but gradually the tone of his speeches became more and more militant. He was confident that the war would destabilize the situation and make it easier to carry out a social revolution and seize power.

Mussolini played a win-win game. He was expelled from the ISP for renegade, but by this time he already had everything he needed, including money, to publish his own newspaper. It became known as the “People of Italy” and launched a noisy campaign to join the war. In May 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. The Duce was mobilized to the front and spent about a year and a half in the trenches. He tasted the “delights” of front-line life to the fullest, then was wounded (accidentally, from a training grenade exploding), hospitals, demobilization with the rank of senior corporal. Mussolini described everyday life at the front in his diary, pages from which were regularly published in his newspaper, which was published in mass circulation. By the time of demobilization, he was well known as a man who had gone through the crucible of war and understood the needs of front-line soldiers. It was these people, accustomed to violence, who saw death and had difficulty adapting to peaceful life, who became the combustible mass that could blow up Italy from the inside.

In March 1919, Mussolini created the first “combat union” (“fascio di combattimento”, hence the name - fascists), which included mainly former front-line soldiers, and after some time these unions appeared almost everywhere in Italy.

In the fall of 1922, the fascists mobilized forces and staged the so-called “March on Rome.” Their columns marched on the “Eternal City,” and Mussolini demanded the post of prime minister. The military garrison of Rome could resist and disperse the loudmouths, but for this the king and his inner circle needed to show political will. This did not happen, Mussolini was appointed prime minister and immediately demanded a special train to travel from Milan to the capital, and crowds of Blackshirts entered Rome on the same day without firing a single shot (a black shirt is part of the fascist uniform). This is how a fascist coup took place in Italy, ironically called by the people “the revolution in a sleeping car.”

Having moved to Rome, Mussolini left his family in Milan and for several years led the dissolute life of a Don Juan unencumbered by family concerns. This did not prevent him from engaging in government affairs, especially since meetings with women, of whom there were hundreds, took place in work time or during lunch break. His behavior and style were far from aristocratic sophistication and a little vulgar. Mussolini demonstratively despised secular manners and even at official ceremonies did not always follow the rules of etiquette, since he did not really know and did not want to know them. But he quickly acquired the habit of talking arrogantly to his subordinates, without even inviting them to sit in his office. He got himself a personal guard, and on duty he preferred to drive a bright red sports car.

By the end of the 20s, a totalitarian fascist dictatorship was established in Italy: all opposition parties and associations were dissolved or destroyed, their press was banned, and opponents of the regime were arrested or expelled. To persecute and punish dissidents, Mussolini created a special secret police (OVRA) under his personal control and a Special Tribunal. During the years of dictatorship, this repressive body convicted more than 4,600 anti-fascists. The Duce considered reprisals against political opponents to be quite natural and necessary when establishing a new government. He said that freedom has always existed only in the imagination of philosophers, and the people, they say, ask him not for freedom, but for bread, houses, water pipes, etc. And Mussolini really tried to satisfy many of the social needs of the working people, creating such a broad and multifaceted social security system that did not exist in any capitalist country in those years. The Duce understood well that it was impossible to create a solid foundation for his rule through violence alone, that something more was required - the consent of people with the existing order, the renunciation of attempts to counteract the authorities.

The image of a man with a large hydrocephalic skull and a “decisive, strong-willed look” accompanied the average person everywhere. 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, which were strictly forbidden to print anything about Mussolini without permission from the censor. They were not even able to congratulate him on his birthday, since the dictator’s age was a state secret: he was supposed to remain forever young and serve as a symbol of the regime’s unfading youth.

To create a “new moral and physical type of Italian,” Mussolini’s regime began to violently introduce ridiculous and sometimes simply idiotic standards of behavior and communication into society. Among the fascists, handshakes were abolished, women were forbidden to wear trousers, and one-way traffic was established for pedestrians on the left side of the street (so as not to interfere with each other). The fascists attacked the “bourgeois habit” of drinking tea and tried to erase from the speech of Italians the polite form of address “Lei”, which was familiar to them, supposedly alien in its softness to the “courageous style of fascist life.” This style was strengthened by the so-called “fascist Saturdays,” when all Italians had to engage in military, sports and political training. Mussolini himself set an example to follow, organizing swims across the Bay of Naples, hurdles and horse racing.

Known at the dawn of his political biography as an adamant anti-militarist, Mussolini zealously set about creating military aviation and a navy. He built airfields and laid down warships, trained pilots and captains, and organized maneuvers and reviews. The Duce absolutely loved watching military equipment. He could stand motionless for hours, with his hands on his hips and his head up. He was unaware that to create the appearance of military power, zealous assistants drove the same tanks through the squares. At the end of the parade, Mussolini himself stood at the head of the Bersaglieri regiment and, with a rifle at the ready, ran with them in front of the podium.

In the 30s, another mass ritual appeared - “fascist weddings.” The newlyweds received a symbolic gift from the Duce, who was considered an imprisoned father, and in a return telegram of gratitude they promised to “give a soldier to their beloved fascist homeland” in a year. In his youth, Mussolini was an ardent supporter of artificial contraceptives and did not object to their use by the women with whom he interacted. Having become a dictator, he turned in the opposite direction in this respect too. The fascist government introduced criminal penalties for those who advocated the distribution of such drugs, and increased the already considerable fines for abortions. By personal order of the Duce, infection with syphilis began to be considered a criminal offense, and the ban on divorce was reinforced by new severe penalties for adultery.

He declared war on fashionable dancing, which seemed “indecent and immoral” to him, imposed strict restrictions on various types of night entertainment and banned those that involved undressing. Far from being inclined to puritanism, the Duce was concerned with the styles of women's swimsuits and the length of skirts, insisting that they cover most of the body, and fought against the widespread use of cosmetics and high-heeled shoes.

Carried away by the struggle to increase the birth rate, the Duce called on his fellow citizens to double its pace. The Italians joked about this that to achieve their goal they could only halve the pregnancy period. Childless women felt like lepers. Mussolini even tried to impose tribute on childless families and introduced a tax on “unjustified celibacy.”

The Duce also demanded more offspring in the families of the fascist hierarchs, being a role model: he had five children (three boys and two girls). People close to the dictator knew about the existence of an illegitimate son from a certain Ida Dalser, whom Mussolini supported financially for many years.

Since 1929, the Duce family lived in Rome. Rakele shunned high society, took care of the children and strictly followed the daily routine established by her husband. This was not difficult, since Mussolini did not change his habits in everyday life and on ordinary days led a very measured lifestyle. He got up at half past seven, did his exercises, drank a glass of orange juice and took a horseback ride through the park. When he returned, he took a shower and had breakfast: fruit, milk, wholemeal bread, which Rakelé sometimes baked, coffee with milk. He left for work at eight, took a break at eleven and ate fruit, and returned for lunch at two in the afternoon. There were no pickles on the table: spaghetti with tomato sauce - the simplest dish most Italians love, fresh salad, spinach, stewed vegetables, fruits. During siesta I read and talked with children. By five he returned to work, had dinner no earlier than nine and went to bed at ten-thirty. Mussolini did not allow anyone to wake him, except in the most urgent cases. But the village
Since no one really knew what this meant, they preferred not to touch it under any circumstances.

The main source of income for the Mussolini family was the newspaper “People of Italy” that he owned. In addition, the Duce received a deputy's salary, as well as numerous fees for publishing speeches and articles in the press. These funds allowed him not to deny anything necessary to himself or his loved ones. However, there was almost no need to spend them, since the Duce had almost no control over the colossal state funds spent on entertainment expenses. Finally, he had huge secret funds of the secret police and, if he wanted, could become fabulously rich, but he did not feel any need for this: money, as such, did not interest him. No one ever even tried to accuse Mussolini of any financial abuses, since there simply were none. This was confirmed by a special commission that investigated the facts of embezzlement among the fascist hierarchs after the war.

By the mid-30s, the Duce had become a real celestial, especially after declaring himself First Marshal of the Empire. By the decision of the fascist parliament, this highest military rank was awarded only to the Duce and the king and thereby, as it were, put them on the same level. King Victor Emmanuel was furious: he only formally remained the head of state. The timid and indecisive monarch did not forget about the revolutionary past and anti-royalist statements of the dictator, despised him for his plebeian origin and habits, feared and hated his “humble servant” for the power he had. Mussolini felt the monarch's internal negative mood, but did not attach serious importance to it.

He was at the zenith of glory and power, but next to him was already looming the ominous shadow of another contender for world domination - a truly powerful maniac who had seized power in Germany. The relationship between Hitler and Mussolini, despite the seemingly obvious “kinship of souls,” the similarity of ideology and regimes, was far from fraternal, although sometimes it looked like that. The dictators did not even have any sincere sympathy for each other. In relation to Mussolini, this can be said for sure. Being the leader of fascism and the Italian nation, Mussolini saw in Hitler a petty imitator of his ideas, a little possessed, a little caricatured upstart, devoid of many qualities necessary for a real politician.

In 1937, Mussolini made his first official visit to Germany and was deeply impressed by its military power. With his nose and gut, he felt the approach of a big war in Europe and took away from the trip the conviction that it was Hitler who would soon become the arbiter of the destinies of Europe. And if so, then it is better to be friends with him than to be at enmity. In May 1939, the so-called “Pact of Steel” was signed between Italy and Germany. In the event of an armed conflict, the parties pledged to support each other, but Italy’s unpreparedness for war was so obvious that Mussolini came up with the formula of temporary “non-participation,” thereby wanting to emphasize that he was not taking a passive position, but was only waiting in the wings. This hour struck when the Nazis had already captured half of Europe and were completing the defeat of France.

On June 10, 1940, Italy declared a state of war with Great Britain and France and launched 19 divisions on the offensive in the Alps, which got bogged down within the first kilometers. The Duce was discouraged, but there was no turning back.

Failures at the front were accompanied by major troubles in the dictator’s personal life. In August 1940, his son Bruno died in an accident. The second misfortune was associated with his mistress Claretta Petacci, who in September underwent a difficult operation that threatened to lead to death.

The Italian armies suffered one defeat after another and would have been completely defeated if not for the help of the Germans, who in Italy themselves behaved more and more impudently. There was growing mass dissatisfaction with the hardships of wartime in the country. Many people no longer had enough bread, and strikes began. On July 10, 1943, Anglo-American troops landed in Sicily. Italy found itself on the brink of a national catastrophe. Mussolini turned out to be the culprit of military defeats, all troubles and human suffering. Two conspiracies matured against him: among the fascist leaders and among the aristocracy and generals close to the king. The Duce was aware of the plans of the conspirators, but did nothing. Like no one else, he understood that resistance could only prolong the agony, but not prevent a sad ending. This consciousness paralyzed his will and ability to fight.

On July 24, at a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council, a resolution was adopted that actually invited the Duce to resign. The next day, the emboldened king relieved Mussolini from the post of head of government. Upon leaving the royal residence, he was arrested by carabinieri and sent to the islands. Italy was immediately occupied by Hitler's troops, the king and the new government fled from Rome. On the occupied territory, the Nazis decided to create a fascist republic, headed by Mussolini.

German intelligence spent a long time looking for the place of his imprisonment. At first, the Duce was transported from island to island, and then sent to the high-altitude winter resort of Gran Sasso, to the Campo Imperatore hotel, located at an altitude of 1,830 meters above sea level. It was here that he was found by SS captain Otto Skorzeny, whom Hitler instructed to free the prisoner. To get to the high mountain plateau, Skorzeny used gliders that could be blown away by the wind, crash during landing, the Duce’s guards could provide strong resistance, the escape route could be cut off, and you never know what else could happen. However, Mussolini was safely delivered to Munich, where his family was already waiting for him.

The Duce was pathetic. He did not want to return to active work, but the Fuhrer did not even listen to him. He knew that no one except Mussolini would be able to revive fascism in Italy. The Duce and his family were transported to Lake Garda, near Milan, where a new, openly puppet government was located.

The two years Mussolini spent on Lake Garda were a time of complete humiliation and despair. The anti-fascist Resistance movement was expanding in the country, the Anglo-American allies were advancing, and the Duce had no chance of salvation. When the ring finally tightened, he tried to flee to Switzerland, but was caught near the border by partisans. With him was Claretta Petacci, who wanted to share the fate of her lover. The partisan command sentenced Mussolini to death. When he was executed, Claretta tried to cover the Duce with her body and was also killed. Their bodies, along with the bodies of executed fascist hierarchs, were brought to Milan and hung upside down in one of the squares. Jubilant townspeople and partisans threw rotten tomatoes and fruit cores at them. This is how the Italians expressed hatred for a man who had treated people with deep contempt all his life.

Lev Belousov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor

- a young, unusually beautiful woman entered Mussolini’s life back in the mid-30s. They met by chance, on the road in the suburbs of Rome, but Claretta (the daughter of a Vatican doctor) was already a secret admirer of the leader. She had a fiancé, they got married, but a year later they separated peacefully, and Claretta became the Duce’s favorite. Their connection was very stable, all of Italy knew about it, except Raquele Mussolini. The Italian establishment initially treated the Duce’s next hobby condescendingly, but over time, Claretta, who sincerely loved Mussolini, became a significant factor in political life: she had the opportunity to influence the Duce’s personnel decisions, learned to convey various information to him at the right time and facilitate the adoption of the necessary decisions , provide protection and remove unwanted people. High-ranking officials and entrepreneurs increasingly began to turn to her and her family (mother and brother) for assistance. At the beginning of the war in Italy they were already openly talking about the “Petacci clan” ruling the country.

Several times, tired of the hysterics and tragic scenes that the insanely jealous Claretta created, the Duce decided to break up with her and even forbade the guards to let her into the palace. However, a few days later they were together again and everything started all over again.

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.

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 bright life 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 and 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.”

Benito Mussolini with his wife and children. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

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 - 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.

The Blackshirt march to Rome in 1922. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

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.

Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler 1937 Photo: www.globallookpress.com

But the rapprochement with the Nazi regime that came to power in Germany was fatal for Benito Mussolini. Adolf Hitler.

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.

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.”

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 it 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.