Mussolini criticized the Italian government for weakness at the Treaty of Versailles. Capitalizing on public discontent following World War I, he organized a paramilitary unit known as the "Black Shirts," who terrorized political opponents and helped increase Fascist influence.
As Italy slipped into political chaos, Mussolini declared that only he could restore order and was given the authority in as prime minister. He gradually dismantled all democratic institutions. By , he had made himself dictator, taking the title "Il Duce" "the Leader". To his credit, Mussolini carried out an extensive public works program and reduced unemployment, making him very popular with the people.
In , determined to show the strength of his regime, Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. The ill-equipped Ethiopians were no match for Italy's modern tanks and airplanes, and the capital, Addis Ababa, was quickly captured. Mussolini incorporated Ethiopia into the new Italian Empire. Impressed with Italy's early military successes, German dictator Adolf Hitler sought to establish a relationship with Mussolini.
Flattered by Hitler's overtures, Mussolini interpreted the recent diplomatic and military victories as proof of his genius. That same year, Italy and Germany signed a military alliance known as the "Pact of Steel. Influenced by Hitler, Mussolini instituted discrimination policies against the Jews in Italy.
In , Italy invaded Greece with some initial success. Hitler's invasion of Poland and declaration of war with Britain and France forced Italy into war, however, and exposed weaknesses in its military. Greece and North Africa soon fell, and only German military intervention in early saved Mussolini from a military coup. Roosevelt devised a plan to take Italy out of the war and force Germany to move its troops to the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union.
Allied forces secured a beachhead in Sicily and began marching up the Italian peninsula. With pressure mounting, Mussolini was forced to resign on July 25, , and was arrested; German commandos later rescued him. Mussolini then moved his government to northern Italy, hoping to regain his influence. On June 4, , Rome was liberated by Allied forces, who marched on to take control of Italy. Mussolini and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were executed on April 28, , in Mezzegra near Dongo , Italy, and their bodies were hung on display in a Milan plaza.
Several years later, he authorized the use of concentration camps and poison gas to help put down a rebellion in Libya, which at that time was an Italian colony.
Poison gas was again used illegally during the conquest of Ethiopia in and , after which Il Duce declared that Italy finally had its empire. Three years later, Italy invaded and annexed Albania. In addition to those wars of expansion, conflict-loving Mussolini also propped up right-wing dissidents. It soon became apparent that Italy lacked adequate military equipment and that its pace of production was pitiful. In fact, the United States could manufacture more planes in a week than Italy could in a year.
Mussolini did not help matters by repeatedly changing his war plans and stretching his forces too thin. His poorly executed attack on France made little progress until the French asked the Germans for an armistice. Later that year, Italian troops invaded Greece, only to be pushed back into neighboring Albania. Mussolini was deposed without a fight. Having already snatched away Libya and Ethiopia, Allied forces invaded Italy proper in and began dropping bombs on Rome.
On July 25 of that year, King Victor Emmanuel informed Mussolini that he would be replaced as prime minister. Il Duce was then arrested and imprisoned in various places, including a remote mountain ski resort from which German commandos rescued him a month and a half later.
From September to April , Mussolini headed a puppet government in German-occupied northern Italy. At the end of the war, he tried to sneak over the Swiss border wearing a German greatcoat and helmet. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. Of course if you base your information only on biased propaganda, it is useless to debate the subject.
Add to this the mass deportations to Hitler's extermination camps. The grim semantics of death, as Gary Moore reminded us yesterday, complicate any kill tally.
By the same calculus, Truman killed , Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Post How Many did Mussolini Kill? According to authorities in postwar, antifascist Italy, the killing of only three men is attributed to Mussolini: Matteotti, murdered by some fascist men who were caught and sentenced to jail.
0コメント