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Birth
Benito Mussolini was born on July 29th, 1883. He was the first of three children of Alessandro Mussolini and Rosa Maltoni. Born near the small village of Predappio in the region of East central Italy. He was named after three famous revolutionaries, two of whom were anarchists and the third was the great Mexican leader, Benito Juarez. -
Mother Moves Mussolini to a Strict Catholic School
When he was nine, his mother sent him to a strict Catholic school, which discriminated against him because of his lowly origins. Along with the poorer boys who paid low tuition, Mussolini ate terrible food, such as ant-infested bread. Once, when a teacher tried to punish him with a ruler, Mussolini exploded in anger, hurling an inkpot at the man. Benito was expelled for stabbing a fellow student with a penknife. -
Mussolini Emigrates to Switzerland
The 19-year-old Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland. There he experienced rough times. Broke, he once lived in a packing case underneath a bridge. He even had the humiliation of being imprisoned for begging. Eventually, he fell in with a group of Italian revolutionary socialists. -
Mussolini Joins the Italian Army
Mussolini joined the army and served for two years. -
Mussolini Becomes an Editer
After a few years of working for the socialists by lecturing, writing, and organizing, in 1908 Mussolini's friends obtained for him the editorship of an Italian socialist paper in the Austrian city of Trent. -
Mussolini Gets Married
In 1910, Mussolini married Rachele Guidi, the daughter of poor peasants, they eventually had four children. -
Mussolini Reaches The Top of Editing
In 1912, he reached the top when he was appointed the editor in chief of Avanti!, the official socialist newspaper for all of Italy. Mussolini proved to be an extraordinary journalist. Under his direction Avanti!'s readership increased threefold. -
Mussolini Leads an Entire Socialist Party
Because of his great knowledge in polictics and his revolutionary stand points on things make him so. -
Socialist Party Dumps Mussolini
Despite all his popularity and talent for politics, in 1914 the Socialists dumped him, expelling Mussolini from the Party. -
Period: to
Prime minister of Italy
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Period: to
March on Rome
Industry, agriculture, military, monarchy, and the Church supported Mussolini. These groups, economically desperate and politically threatened, accepted Mussolini's solution to their crisis: mobilize middle-class youth, repress the workers violently, and set up a tough central government to restore "law and order." Accordingly, with the youth as his "flying wedge," Mussolini attacked the workers, spilled their blood liberally over the Italian peninsula, and completed triumphant. -
Turning Speech
He suppressed civil liberties, annihilated the opposition, and imposed open dictatorship. -
Mussolini promised to fight alongside Adolf Hitler
Mussolini had promised Adolf Hitler that he would fight alongside him in any war against the democracies of the world. -
World War II
<ahref='https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FBYlqUHxg1Ck3601W-yG2mNDPduWnU5Glrn1ENzP3Ww/edit' >World War II</a>Mussolini was kept in dark about HIlters plans. He later joined the Nazi's. -
Overthrown
Mussolini was overthrown. -
Death
Mussolini died on April 28, 1945 in Como, Italy. He was executed by Italian partisans who captured him and his wife while they attempted to flee to Switzerland. After captured, they were shot. Their lifeless bodies were then hung upside down and displayed to the public. -
Picture Sources
Emigration- www.pinterest.com
School- www.pinterest.com
Italian Army- en.wikipedia.org
Hitler and Mussolini- www.gettyimages.com
Death- www.gettyimages.com -
Sources
"Benito Mussolini." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. "Benito Mussolini." UXL Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. "Benito Mussolini." DISCovering Biography. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. World Civ Textbook
