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Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Predappio (Italy).
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He joined the Socialist Party.
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He worked briefly as a teacher before moving to Switzerland (in 1902) to get rid of military service. -
He was deported to Italy and served two years in the Army.
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He became editor of the Social Party newspaper "Avanti". There he supported the war and was ejected from the party. -
When World War one began the Socialist Party disapproved of Italian intervention.
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Aligned himself with the revolutionaries beliefs and produced the pro-war newspaper "Il Popolo d'Italia". -
He rejoined the army and served in the war before an injury sent him back to his newspaper jobs.
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In Italy there was a period of much discord and social conflict known as the "Biennio rosso" or two red years. Mussolini created the Italian combat squad as an alternative to socialism.
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The "Black shirts" were organized by Mussolini.
They publicly sparred with socialists and other groups. They used violence, intimidation and murder against their opponents. -
The combat squad became the National Fascist Party and he won a seat in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. His party was soon ready for power.
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The march on Rome resulted in the fascist party seizing power.
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Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy and the youngest. He spent the next year's disassembling the Italian democratic system using propaganda to portary him self as the only man capable of unifying the country and transfroming Italy into a one-party state.
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He made himself dictator and took the title of "the Duke" or the "leader". The fascists were accused of using violent force to crush political foes. However despote some assassination attempts Mussolini was widely supported due to his efforts fighting unemployement and financial decline.
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This (Lateran) treaty resolved the long-standing dispute between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church and created the independent state of Vatican City.
Then he began to colonize African countries to create a new Roman empire. -
Ethiopian war resulted in that country's seizure by the Italian Empire.
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He sent military aid to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. This pushed he closer to Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler. -
Mussolini adopted the anti-semitic manifesto of race despite disagreeing with its premise. -
The pact of Steel solidified the Rome Berlin axis of 1936. Italy initially remained uninvolved in World War Two following Germany's invasion of Poland. -
Mussolini thought the war was almost over so he entered Italy in the conflict as an axis power by declaring war on Britain and France. -
Losses in Greece and North Africa soon showed Italy's military shortcomings. Mussolini's steadily lost support following the Allied invasion of Sicily . -
He was ousted from power by the Italian King and subsequently arrested. In his absence the fascist party was disbanded and a truce was signed with the allies. -
Germany invaded Italy meanwhile German forces freed Mussolini from prison he wished to retire from politics however he ended up Hitler's puppet as head of a new fascist regime called the "Italian Socialist Republic". The Allied presence then spread northward through Italy. -
When Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland he was captured by Italian partisans and executed by firing squad. -
His body was then hung in a Milan Town Square to dissuade other fascists from carrying on the cause.
Due to his vanity womanizing and egotism Benito Mussolini shaped Italian and world history and proved himself as one of the 20th century's most controversial dictators.
