Benito Mussolini Essay

History is comprised of so many figures and personalities who have made their mark – positively and negatively. Some people have made such a profound impact that their names become immemorial. Such is the case Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator during the Second World War. His domestic and foreign policies at a time of war and turmoil that followed made him a name worthy of history books, even if these paint him in the negative light. His fascist focus and how he utilized this to manipulate Italians and the world, conveying the message that Italy no longer relies on class warfare and everyone is on an equal footing was appalling and amazing at the same time. He used the outright lie to make people rally around him, and once he got their

Furthermore, labor strikes in the country helped redistribute labor and wealth (Duggan, 2013). Despite those successes, the Socialists were unable to seize power in Italy. As a result, the Socialist Party split into factions, including the Communist Party. The Fascists, led by Mussolini, used the threat of communist revolution to take over Italian politics. Mussolini had socialist political origins and had a history as a journalist, editor, and socialist agitator (Duggan, 2013). However, he did not adhere to the structure of socialism. On the contrary; he seemed to advocate the ideas that were the most popular among the Italian workers. This inconsistency has also made it difficult to determine Mussolini’s foreign policy goals (Duggan, 2013). In fact, when Mussolini founded the Milan facio in March 1919, it had no clear-cut goals, except for a belief in action and a stated goal of strong foreign policy (Duggan, 2013). However, when Italy was driven from Fiume at the end of 1920, many Italians began to believe that Italy would have to develop strong foreign policy. In 1921, Mussolini formed the National Fascist Party and began to quickly amass power in the Italian government. One of the methods he did so was to tout his