Mussolini, Benito (1883–1945) – Italian politician and journalist, founder
and leader (“duce“) of the Italian Fascism. Till 1915 he was a member of
the Socialist Party. From 1915 to 1919 he edited the newspaper Il
Popolo d’Italia and formed terrorist groups (fasci), which merged in 1919
and became a foundation for the Fascist Party. On 31 Oct 1922 after the
so-called March on Rome the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III handed
power over to Mussolini. In 1924 he eliminated democratic freedoms. His
aggressive foreign policy resulted in the invasion of Ethiopia from 1935
to 1936, support of the fascist in the Spanish Civil War, and Italian
invasion of Albania in 1939. In 1936 he became close to Hitler’s
Germany (a Rome-Berlin Axis). After the fall of France on 10 Jun 1940
he joined Germany and entered World War II. His dictatorship ended on
25 Jul 1943 when he get a vote of no confidence. From September 1943
to April 1945 he set up a new régime, the Italian Social Republic on the
northern territory of Italy that was occupied by Germany. On 28 Apr 1945
he tried to escape to Switzerland but he was captured and executed by
Italian anti-fascist partisans.