Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943. Known as Il Duce ("the leader"), Mussolini was one of the key figures in the creation of fascism as an ideology.

Mussolini initially ruled constitutionally at the invitation of the king, Victor Emmanuel III. In 1925, Mussolini dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship, answerable only to the king, who was content to let Mussolini establish a police state throughout the remainder of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Mussolini embarked on a more aggressive foreign policy, launching an invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, beginning an occupation that lasted until 1941. With sanctions imposed by the League of Nations, Italy began an alliance with Adolf Hitler's Germany and, along with Hitler, co-founded the Axis. Although initially wary of his ally, Hitler, Italy joined with Germany in World War II, officially entering the war in 1940.

Three years later, Mussolini was deposed at the Grand Council of Fascism, prompted by the Allied invasion. He was rescued from incarceration by German officer Otto Skorzeny, and attempted to rebuild a powerbase in the unoccupied parts of Italy, called the Italian Social Republic. The Republic collapsed in short order, and Mussolini was captured and summarily executed by Communist Italian partisans in 1945. His body was hung upside down at a petrol station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise.

Benito Mussolini in Supervolcano
While Louise Ferguson was waiting for a bus that didn't seem to want to come, she reflected if a modern day Mussolini promised to make the buses run on time, he would be elected in a landslide. And then he would break his promise like his predecessor since there wasn't the money to pay for it.

Benito Mussolini in The Hot War
In February 1951, with World War III only a few weeks old and already going badly for the U.S. and its allies, President Harry Truman decided to use atomic bombs in East Germany and in the Soviet Union's satellites with the goal of slowing down the Soviet supply line. He even hoped that the attacks might prompt the governments of the various satellites to reconsider their alliance with Russia, or to prompt the citizens of those states to rebel against their pro-Soviet governments. Secretary of Defense George Marshall, while somewhat dubious, did recall the Italians ultimately rose and shot Benito Mussolini, his mistress, Clara Petacci, and Achille Starace.

Benito Mussolini in Worldwar
Benito Mussolini supported Adolf Hitler's war against the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain.

In the spring of 1942, Mussolini was overthrown when the Race's Conquest Fleet overran Italy. Mussolini collaborated with the Race, leading the members of the Big Five to call for his assassination despite Joachim von Ribbentrop's halfhearted attempt to speak on his behalf. However, Mussolini was instead liberated by a daring SS raid commanded by Otto Skorzeny. He was taken to Germany and ultimately found himself in the United States in 1943, where he traveled with Dwight Eisenhower, Albert Einstein, Robert Goddard, Sam Yeager, Ullhass, and Ristin. His propaganda broadcasts did much to hurt the Race's efforts.

Literary Comment
Mussolini's fate after the Peace of Cairo is unclear. At the end of hostilities, the Race pulled out of Italy's European territory. However, as Germany claimed the land, it is not known if Mussolini returned to power.

Benito Mussolini in In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Benito Mussolini was the first "Duce" of Italy. He joined with Adolf Hitler in defeating Britain and the Soviet Union during the Second World War, earning Italy a substantial Mediterrean and Middle Eastern empire. His successors used the title "Duce".

Benito Mussolini in The War That Came Early
Benito Mussolini was a cautious ally of Adolf Hitler in the lead-up to the 1938 Munich Conference. Hitler more openly admired Mussolini, although he was frustrated by Mussolini's instransigence on military issues. Mussolini had staunchly supplied the Spanish Nationalists of José Sanjurjo, however.

Mussolini was present when Colonel Friedrich Hossbach announced that Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein had been assassinated. Mussolini was initially concerned that Hitler had been responsible, but Hitler truthfully assured Mussolini that he'd had no part of Henlein's assassination. When Hitler announced that he intended to use Henlein's death as a casus belli against Czechoslovakia, Mussolini insisted that Italy was not ready for a war with Britain and France, who were pleged to aid Czechoslovakia. Hitler pressed him to enter the war nonetheless, arguing in part that neither Britain nor France were in the position to fight either.

Italy did join the war officially, but did not participate beyond allocating troops to Spain as part of a joint attack on British positions in Gibraltar. For the first year of the war, Germany carried most of the offensive against the Allies. Indeed, by mid-1939, Italy wasn't even aiding the Spanish Nationalists.

Thus, by 1940, the only consistent action Italy was involved in was a fight with Britain in Somaliland and Abyssinia. The "big switch", wherein Britain and France became allies of Germany and attacked the Soviet Union, came a few months later.

In 1941, the British military overthrew the authoritarian Wilson government, and restarted the war with Germany. In a speech, Mussolini attacked the British provisional government, calling the British "traitors to the cause of Europe." He claimed that Germany could not afford to be distracted in its war against the USSR by a conflict with "puppies," and promised to mete out punishment himself on Hitler's behalf. Britain responded by making preparations for an invasion of Egypt, which finally came in the Fall of 1941. However, the Italian forces proved unequal to the task. The British quickly routed them and pushed them back into Libya. However, before a killing blow could be made at Tobruk, Germany intervened, launching an aerial assault on the British positions.

The German Afrika Korps carried much of the burden throughout the remainder of 1941 and into 1942. This further taxed Germany's resources. France also renewed its war against Germany and Italy, which further negatively impacted Mussolini, despite Italy's limited participation in the European war.

Things began to look bad for Mussolini in the second half of 1943, when Marshal Sanjurjo was killed by a sniper. In April 1944, Hitler himself was overthrown, and the Nazis removed from power. In short order, Mussolini himself was struggling to keep the reins of power.

Literary Comment
The series ends with Mussolini's final fate uncertain.

Benito Mussolini in Southern Victory
An Italian politician briefly became prominent after the Great War by campaigning on the promise that he would make the trains run on time. Despite the attractiveness of this promise, no one believed him, and he was never elected to high office. In 1942, while she waited for the train that was bringing the Rhythm Aces to Philadelphia, and was quite late, Congresswoman Flora Blackford thought this bit of trivia over. She tried to remember the Italian's name, but she couldn't, which showed how unimportant he was.