Benito Mussolini: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Mussolini biografia.jpg

| caption = Mussolini in 1939

| office = [[Prime Minister of Italy]]{{no bold|{{ref label|aaa|a}}}}

| monarch = [[Victor Emmanuel III]]

|embed = yes

|office4 = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Italy)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]

| office15 = Member of the {{awrap|[[Chamber of Fasces and Corporations]]}}

| term_start15 = 23 March 1939

{{Collapsed infobox section end}}

}}

<!-- personal data -->| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1883|7|29}}

| birth_place = [[Dovia di Predappio]], Forlì, {{avoid wrap|Kingdom of Italy}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1945|4|28|1883|7|29}}

| resting_place = San Cassiano cemetery, [[Predappio]], Italy

| death_cause = [[Death of Benito Mussolini|Summary execution]]

{{Mussolini sidebar}}

 

 

 

Mussolini's foreign policy was based on the fascist doctrine of "''[[Spazio vitale]]''" ("living space"), which aimed to expand Italian possessions. In the 1920s, he ordered the [[Pacification of Libya]], the bombing of Corfu over an [[Corfu incident|incident with Greece]], and annexed [[Fiume]], after [[Treaty of Rome (1924)|a treaty]] with [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. In 1936, [[Italian Ethiopia|Ethiopia]] was conquered following the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]] and merged into [[Italian East Africa]] (AOI) with [[Italian Eritrea|Eritrea]] and [[Italian Somaliland|Somalia]]. In 1939, Italian forces [[Italian invasion of Albania|annexed Albania]]. Between 1936 and 1939, Mussolini ordered an [[Italian military intervention in Spain|intervention in Spain]] in favour of [[Francisco Franco]], during the [[Spanish Civil War]]. Mussolini took part in the [[Treaty of Lausanne]], [[Four-Power Pact]] and [[Stresa Front]]. However, he alienated the democratic powers as tensions grew in the [[League of Nations]], which he left in 1937. Now hostile to France and Britain, Italy formed the [[Axis alliance]] with [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]].

 

== Early life ==

[[File:Predappio house.JPG|thumb|left|alt=vernacular stone building, birthplace of Benito Mussolini, now a museum|Birthplace of Benito Mussolini in [[Predappio]]; the building now hosts exhibitions on contemporary history.]]

{{multiple image

As a young boy, Mussolini helped his father in his smithy.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Felice|first=Renzo|title=Mussolini. Il Rivoluzionario|year=1965|publisher=Einaudi|location=Torino|page=11|edition=1|language=it}}</ref> Mussolini's early political views were strongly influenced by his father, who idolised 19th-century [[Italian nationalist]] figures with [[Humanism|humanist]] tendencies such as [[Carlo Pisacane]], [[Giuseppe Mazzini]], and [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]].{{sfn|Gregor|1979|p=29}} His father's political outlook combined views of [[Anarchism|anarchist]] figures such as [[Carlo Cafiero]] and [[Mikhail Bakunin]], the military [[authoritarianism]] of Garibaldi, and the nationalism of Mazzini. In 1902, at the anniversary of Garibaldi's death, Mussolini made a public speech in praise of the [[Republicanism|republican]] nationalist.{{sfn|Gregor|1979|p=31}}

 

 

===Emigration to Switzerland and military service===

During this time he studied the ideas of the philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], the [[Sociology|sociologist]] [[Vilfredo Pareto]], and the [[Syndicalism|syndicalist]] [[Georges Sorel]]. Mussolini also later credited [[Charles Péguy]] and [[Hubert Lagardelle]] as influences.<ref name=autogenerated1>Delzel, Charles F. ''Mediterranean Fascism'', p. 96</ref> Sorel's emphasis on the need for overthrowing decadent [[liberal democracy]] and capitalism by the use of violence, [[direct action]], the [[general strike]], and the use of [[Machiavelli|neo-Machiavellian]] appeals to emotion, impressed Mussolini deeply.<ref name="Mediterranean3" />

 

 

In December 1904, Mussolini returned to Italy to take advantage of an amnesty for desertion from the military. He had been convicted for this ''in absentia''.<ref name=HDS/> Since a condition for being pardoned was serving in the army, he joined the corps of the [[Bersaglieri]] in Forlì on 30 December 1904.<ref>De Felice, 46-47</ref> After serving for two years in the military (from January 1905 until September 1906), he returned to teaching.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/19592/Persons/mussolin.htm |publisher=ThinkQuest.org |title=Mussolini: il duce |date=24 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510083139/http://library.thinkquest.org/19592/Persons/mussolin.htm |archive-date=10 May 2010 }}</ref>

 

===Political journalist, intellectual and socialist===

 

 

[[File:Benito Mussolini 1900.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A portrait of Mussolini in the early 1900s]]

He had become one of Italy's most prominent socialists. In September 1911, Mussolini participated in a riot, led by socialists, against the Italian [[Italo-Turkish War|war in Libya]]. He bitterly denounced Italy's "imperialist war," an action that earned him a five-month jail term.<ref>Charles F. Delzel, ed., ''Mediterranean Fascism 1919–1945'' (1970) p. 3</ref> After his release, he helped expel [[Ivanoe Bonomi]] and [[Leonida Bissolati]] from the Socialist Party, as they were two "[[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionists]]" who had supported the war.

 

 

In 1913, he published ''Giovanni Hus, il veridico'' (''Jan Hus, true prophet''), a historical and political biography about the life and mission of the Czech ecclesiastic reformer [[Jan Hus]] and his militant followers, the [[Hussite]]s. During this socialist period of his life, Mussolini sometimes used the pen name ''"Vero Eretico"'' ("sincere heretic").<ref>Bosworth, ''Mussolini'' (2002) p. 86</ref>

===Beginning of Fascism and service in World War I===

[[File:Benito Mussolini 1917.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=standing photo of Mussolini in 1917 as an Italian soldier|Mussolini as an Italian soldier, 1917]] <!-- this image box is on the right because on the left the Inspector General quotation two paragraphs down doesn't indent if it's on the left. -->

 

On 5 December 1914, Mussolini denounced [[Orthodox Marxism|orthodox socialism]] for failing to recognise that the war had made national identity and loyalty more significant than class distinction.{{sfn|Gregor|1979|p=191}} He fully demonstrated his transformation in a speech that acknowledged the nation as an entity, a notion he had rejected prior to the war, saying:

==Rise to power==

=== Formation of the National Fascist Party ===

 

[[File:Fasci di combattimento.jpg|thumb|alt=the Fasci italiani di combattimento manifesto as published in Il Popolo d'Italia on 6 June 1919|The platform of ''Fasci italiani di combattimento'', as published in ''"[[Il Popolo d'Italia]]"'' on 6 June 1919]]

 

===Path to defeat===

 

Events in Africa had changed by early 1941 as [[Operation Compass]] had forced the Italians back into [[Italian Libya|Libya]], causing high losses in the [[Regio Esercito (World War II)|Italian Army]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/p/compass.htm|publisher=About.com|title=World War II: Operation Compass|date=8 January 2008|access-date=6 April 2008|archive-date=15 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415191136/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/p/compass.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]], an attack was mounted against Italian forces. Despite putting up some stiff resistance, they were overwhelmed at the [[Battle of Keren]], and the Italian defence started to crumble with a final defeat in the [[Battle of Gondar]]. When addressing the Italian public on the events, Mussolini was open about the situation, saying "We call bread bread and wine wine, and when the enemy wins a battle it is useless and ridiculous to seek, as the English do in their incomparable hypocrisy, to deny or diminish it."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/410223a.html|publisher=IlBiblio.org|title=Speech Delivered by Premier Benito Mussolini|date=8 January 2008|access-date=3 May 2008|archive-date=16 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516054119/http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/410223a.html|url-status=live}}</ref> With the Axis [[invasion of Yugoslavia]] and [[German invasion of Greece|Greece]], Italy annexed [[Province of Ljubljana|Ljubljana]], [[Governorate of Dalmatia|Dalmatia]] and [[Italian governorate of Montenegro|Montenegro]], and established the puppet states of [[Independent State of Croatia|Croatia]] and the [[Hellenic State (1941–1944)|Hellenic State]].

{{blockquote|A night telephone call from Ribbentrop. He is overjoyed about the Japanese attack on America. He is so happy about it that I am happy with him, though I am not too sure about the final advantages of what has happened. One thing is now certain, that America will enter the conflict and that the conflict will be so long that she will be able to realize all her potential forces. This morning I told this to the King who had been pleased about the event. He ended by admitting that, in the long run, I may be right. Mussolini was happy, too. For a long time he has favored a definite clarification of relations between America and the Axis.<ref>{{cite book|title=Trial of German Major War Criminals|volume=3|page=398|author= }}</ref>}}

 

 

Although Mussolini was aware that Italy, whose resources were reduced by the campaigns of the 1930s, was not ready for a long war, he opted to remain in the conflict to not abandon the occupied territories and the fascist imperial ambitions.<ref name="MacGregor Knox 1999. pp. 122–23">MacGregor Knox. ''Mussolini Unleashed, 1939–1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War''. Edition of 1999. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. pp. 122–23.</ref>

 

{{Listen|filename=Rimozione di Mussolini.ogg|title=Dismissal of Mussolini and appointment of Badoglio|description=Italian radio statement announcing the dismissal of Mussolini and appointment of Badoglio, 25 July 1943.}}

 

 

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503A-07, Gran Sasso, Mussolini mit deutschen Fallschirmjägern.jpg|thumb|alt=line of German soldiers walking with Mussolini |Mussolini rescued by German troops from his prison in [[Campo Imperatore]] on 12 September 1943]]

 

=== Italian Social Republic ("Salò Republic") ===

{{Main|Italian Social Republic}}

[[File:Italian social republic map.png|thumb|left|alt=four color map of northern Italy with Italian Socialist Republic in tan, 1943|{{legend striped|#fefa9f|#c1e79c|Italian Social Republic (RSI) as of 1943}}{{legend|#c1e79c|German military operational zones ([[OZAV]]/[[OZAK]]) under direct German administration}}]]

 

Three days after his rescue in the Gran Sasso raid, Mussolini was taken to Germany for a meeting with Hitler in [[Kętrzyn|Rastenburg]] at [[Wolf's Lair|his East Prussian headquarters]]. Despite his public support, Hitler was clearly shocked by Mussolini's dishevelled and haggard appearance as well as his unwillingness to go after the men in Rome who overthrew him. Feeling that he had to do what he could to blunt the edges of Nazi repression, Mussolini agreed to set up a new regime, the [[Italian Social Republic]] ({{langx|it|Repubblica Sociale Italiana}}, RSI),{{sfn|Moseley|2004|p=}} informally known as the ''Salò Republic'' because of its seat in the town of [[Salò]], where he was settled 11 days after his rescue by the Germans. His new regime was much reduced in territory; in addition to losing the Italian lands held by the Allies and Badoglio's government, the provinces of [[South Tyrol|Bolzano]], [[Province of Belluno|Belluno]] and [[Trentino|Trento]] were placed under German administration in the [[Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills]], while the provinces of [[Friuli|Udine]], [[Gorizia and Gradisca|Gorizia]], [[Province of Trieste|Trieste]], [[Istria|Pola]] (now Pula), [[Rijeka|Fiume]] (now Rijeka), and [[Province of Ljubljana|Ljubljana]] (Lubiana in Italian) were incorporated into the German [[Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral]].<ref name="Speer">{{cite book|last1=Speer|first1=Albert|title=Inside the Third Reich|date=1995|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|location=London|isbn=978-1842127353|pages=420–21}}</ref><ref>A copy of an existing document is available online. It reads<br />"In addition to my&nbsp;... order of the commander of the Greater German Reich in Italy and the organisation of the occupied Italian area from 10 September 1943 I determine:<br />The supreme commanders in the Operational Zone Adriatic Coast consisting of the provinces of Friaul, Görz, Triest, Istrien, Fiume, Quarnero, Laibach, and in the Prealpine Operations Zone consisting of the provinces of Bozen, Trient and Belluno receive the fundamental instructions for their activity from me.<br />Führer's headquarters, 10 September 1943.<br />The Führer Gen. Adolf Hitler".<br />See second document at<br />http://www.karawankengrenze.at/ferenc/document/show/id/317?symfony=ad81b9f2cd1e66a7c973073ed0532df1{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-316-1175-25, Italien, Benito Mussolini bei Inspektion.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Mussolini climbing steps out of a bunker|Mussolini inspecting fortifications, 1944]]

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-316-1181-11, Italien, Benito Mussolini mit italienischen Soldaten.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Benito Mussolini reviewing adolescent soldiers in 1944|A rain-spattered Mussolini reviewing adolescent soldiers in northern Italy, late 1944]]

 

For about a year and a half, Mussolini lived in [[Gargnano]] on [[Lake Garda]] in [[Lombardy]]. Although he insisted in public that he was in full control, he knew he was a [[puppet state|puppet ruler]] under the protection of his German liberators—for all intents and purposes, the ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of Lombardy.<ref name="RiseFall"/> Indeed, he lived under what amounted to house arrest by the SS, who restricted his communications and travel. He told one of his colleagues that being sent to a concentration camp would be preferable.<ref name=Payne/>

[[File:Cross mezzegra.jpg|thumb|alt=metal cross memorial in Mezzegra Benito Mussolini 28 Aprile 1945|Cross marking the place in [[Mezzegra]] where Mussolini was shot]]

[[File:Execution of Mussolini (1945).ogg|thumb|alt=newsreel of the execution of Mussolini in 1945|American newsreel coverage of the death of Mussolini in 1945]]

 

With the spread of the news of the arrest, several telegrams arrived at the command of the [[National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy]] from the [[Office of Strategic Services]] headquarters in [[Siena]] with the request that Mussolini be entrusted to Allied forces.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlruDwAAQBAJ&q=%22La+sera+del+27+giunsero+al+comando+del+Cvl%22&pg=PT2|title=La pista inglese: Chi uccise Mussolini e la Petacci?|author=Luciano Garibaldi|year=2018|publisher=Edizioni Ares |quote=Ecco come esso è narrato, ancora, da Gian Franco Vené: «La sera del 27 giunsero al comando del Cvl, in via del Carmine, diversi messaggi radio inviati dal Quartier generale alleato di Siena. Ciascuno di questi messaggi passava di tavolo in tavolo: "Al Comando generale and Clnai – stop – fateci sapere esatta situazione Mussolini – stop – invieremo aereo per rilevarlo – stop – Quartier generale alleato"» [...] E ancora: "Per Clnai – stop – Comando alleato desidera immediatamente informazioni su presunta locazione Mussolini dico Mussolini – stop se est stato catturato si ordina egli venga trattenuto per immediata consegna al Comando alleato – stop si richiede che voi portiate queste informazioni at formazioni partigiane che avrebbero effettuato cattura assoluta precedenza" [...] L'ufficio operativo al quartier generale delle forze alleate, aveva inviato istruzioni alle 25 squadre dell'Oss (Office of strategic services) già pronte all'azione nei boschi e nelle montagne: "Conforme agli ordini del Quartier generale alleato, è desiderio degli Alleati di catturare vivo Mussolini. Notitificare a questo quartier generale se è stato catturato, e tenerlo sotto protezione fino all'arrivo delle truppe alleate".|isbn=9788881557783}}</ref> In fact, clause number 29 of the armistice signed in [[Malta]] by [[Eisenhower]] and the Marshal of Italy [[Pietro Badoglio]] on 29 September 1943, expressly provided that: <blockquote>Benito Mussolini, his main fascist associates and all persons suspected of having committed crimes of war or similar crimes, whose names are on the lists that will be delivered by the United Nations and which now or in the future are in territory controlled by the allied military command or by the Italian government, will be immediately arrested and handed over to the United Nations forces.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Roberto Roggero|title=Oneri e onori: le verità militari e politiche della guerra di liberazione in Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIVzVZoh8moC&q=%22Benito+Mussolini%2C+i+suoi+principali+associati+fascisti+e+tutte+le+persone+sospette+di+aver+commesso+delitti+di+guerra+o+reati+analoghi%2C+i+cui+nomi+si+trovino+sugli+elenchi+che+verranno+comunicati+dalle+Nazioni+Unite+e+che+ora+o+in+avvenire+si+trovino+in+territorio+controllato+dal+Comando+militare+alleato+o+dal+Governo+italiano%2C+saranno+immediatamente+arrestati+e+consegnati+alle+Forze+delle+Nazioni+Unite%22&pg=PA112|year=2006|publisher=GRECO & GRECO Editori |isbn=9788879804172}}</ref></blockquote>

 

== Personal life ==

 

Imprisonment may have been the cause of Mussolini's [[claustrophobia]]. He refused to enter the [[Blue Grotto (Capri)|Blue Grotto]] and preferred large rooms like his {{convert|60|by|40|by|40|ft|m|abbr=in|order=flip}} office at the [[Palazzo Venezia]].<ref name="gunther1940">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.149663/2015.149663.Inside-Europe#page/n257/mode/2up | title=Inside Europe | publisher=Harper & Brothers | last=Gunther|first= John | author-link=John Gunther | location=New York | year=1940 | pages=236–37, 239–41, 243, 245–49}}</ref>

== Religious views ==

=== Atheism and anti-clericalism ===

 

 

 

 

=== Lateran Treaty ===

{{Main|Lateran Treaty}}

[[File:Group of Vatican and Italian government notables posing at the Lateran Palace before the signing of the treaty.jpg|thumb|left|Vatican and Italian delegations prior to signing the treaty]]

 

 

 

 

== Views on antisemitism and race ==

* {{cite book |ref=KMU |last1=Kroener |first1=Bernhard R. |last2=Muller |first2=Rolf-Dieter |last3=Umbreit |first3=Hans |title=Germany and the Second World War Organization and Mobilization in the German Sphere of Power |publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc |location=New York |volume=VII |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-820873-0}}

* Lowe, Norman. Italy, "1918–1945: the first appearance of fascism" in ''Mastering Modern World History''.

* Morris, Terry; Murphy, Derrick. ''Europe 1870–1991''.

* Mussolini, Rachele (1977) [1974]. ''Mussolini: An Intimate Biography''. Pocket Books. Originally published by William Morrow, {{ISBN|0-671-81272-6}}, {{LCCN|741129}}

* O'Brien, Paul (2004). ''Mussolini in the First World War: The Journalist, the Soldier, the Fascist''. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

* Painter Jr., Borden W. (2005). ''Mussolini's Rome: Rebuilding the Eternal City''.

[[Category:20th-century Italian diplomats]]

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