Now that we have WWI behind us, lets talk Mussolini.........

which is the next lesson in Mystery of History Volume 4 (you can buy your own amazing copy here).

You have probably already heard of Mussolini as a ruler, political, socialist, radical, loose cannon, dictator, fascist, and the list goes on and on but I will stop here.




Factoids:

~Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born in Northern Central (Forli) Italy July 29, 1883.  Due to financial hardships, he was forced to move to Switzerland around 1902.  He did return to Italy in 1904 and joined the Italian army during WWI.

~His father, Alessandro, was a blacksmith.  His mother, Rosa, was a teacher.

~Big surprise to hear that Mussolini was a very difficult child with a short temper.  He was constantly expelled from school for assaulting fellow students with a penknife.

~He had a sister named Edvidge and a brother named Arnaldo.

~Mussolini had five children with his wife, Rachele.

~He was the leader of the National Fascist Party from 1922 to 1943.  He spent a lot of his time with the local socialists.

~Mussolini was restless when he returned to Italy in 1904 so in  1909, he headed out to Austria.  He was only there for a short while as he was forcibly removed from Austria due to his critiques on militarism and nationalism.

~He returned again to Italy where he gained support from the National Fascist Party and was elected prime minister of Italy.  He was the youngest prime minister of Italy.  He was the 40th prime minister of Italy and served 20 years.

~Mussolini attacked Ethiopia in 1936 with a little support from, his buddy, Adolf Hitler (shocking-crazy helping crazy).  Mussolini and Hitler did not bond instantly, it took a while for that to happen but once it did, they form an unbreakable alliance.  Hitler had great admiration for Mussolini which seemed to go reciprocated.

~In 1943, by order of Hitler, Mussolini became the head of the Italian Social Republic of Northern Italy.

~Even though he was married to Rachele Mussolini, Mussolini had a mistress (shocking), Clara Pettacci, who was subsequently executed along side of Mussolini in 1945.  After their execution, both bodies were taken to the Piazzale Loreto (a suburban square in Milan) where an angry crowd gathered to abuse their bodies.  Rumor has it that Mussolini and Pettacci planned to escape to Switzerland prior to the execution but did not make it out in time.  Oh well!

~In 1946, the body of Mussolini was dug up by fascist supporters.  His body was, however, found four years later and hidden for more than 11 years.

~Mussolini was shot two days before Hitler committed suicide.  So the world was rid of two miserable dictators at the same time. There is nothing wrong with a little poetic justice in my opinion.

It's good to trust others but, not to do so is much better."  Mussolini

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Next up, Joseph Stalin, Russian, communist, dictator.