Benito Mussolinis Regime

Benito Mussolini rose to power in Italy in the 1920s due to the monarchs, voters
and anth catholic church felt he would bring stability to Italy.Italys state of power
prior to Benito Mussolini taking over in the 1920s was a Monarchy. Italys
semblance of honor with the other countries was slowly degenerating after the
effects of the end of World War One.Italy was burdened with a very large war debt
because of the war.Inflation and deficiencies of needed products provoked attacks,
which in turn froze large parts of Italys economy.The vast amount of inactive
troops from World War One caused the already high numbers of unemployment to
skyrocket.The vast amount of inflation in the country took a tool on the publics
faith in the government (Keefe 4). The socialist partys gains caused the Italian
citizens fear of being sent out of their home country to increase (Keefe 4).In addition
to the now struggling economy of Italy there was now a social uproar throughout
the country added to the countrys issues. he government was steadily becoming
disliked, which caused many Italians to support the Socialist Party and the Catholic
Popular Party in the elections of 1919.In Italy, the partys that ruled were called the
Liberals and the Democrats ,and they lost the elections badly (Funfront 4). In the
1920s, the monarchs , the Catholic Church, and the rest of the citizens had a
premonition that Benito Mussolini would be what their country needed to bring back
the economic stability their country was in need of (Funfront 4). It should be noted
that Mussolinis rise to power was helped when he gained the support of the Italian
people. In the citizens of Italys point of view Benito Mussolini was someone who
would save them. They were praying that Mussolini would save everyone from the
depression that was going on throughout their country. In exchange for the promises
that Benito Mussolini, swore some Italians were willing to give up some of their
personal feelings (Haugen 13). To the Italians, Benito Mussolini seemed like a
competent leader. Italians, as a whole, were sick and tired of the heartache they
were going through ,and they prayed deep in their hearts that Mussolini would bring
their nation back up to its standards. Mussolini and the Italian army set out to gain
more land, they achieved this by attacking Corfu, Greece. Because Greece had no
help from the League of Nations, they had no other option than to bow down to
Mussolinis demand for land.Because Mussolini won this battle, he won the favor of
the Italians; this battles victory showed the Italians that Benito Mussolini was a
competent leader who was able to lead their country to victory in battle (Haugen
13).Following World War one and the Treaty of Versailles Italian's all over began to
have a deep bitterness which they all directed at all of the recently made peace
treaties. Benito Mussolini had his children baptized in 1923,in the hopes that it
would put him in the good graces of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the many
conditions of the Lateran Treaties was that the Roman Catholic faith was
now...state religion( C N Trueman 9).With the many treaties that were all signed in
1929, Benito Mussolinis popularity was at its greatest. Benito Mussolini had finally
got what he wanted; the support of the Roman Catholic Church (C N Trueman 9). It
should be noted that Benito Mussolini solidified his position as the dictator of Italy
with the help of the backing of the Roman Catholic Church. It took Benito Mussolini

many years to truly become the dictator of Italy. He gained some of his power after
the march on Rome in 1922, which then resulted in Mussolini becoming the Prime
Minister of Italy. Benito Mussolinis government seated a mix of vastly different
councilmen. Mussolini almost lost his control of Italy when a great anger gripped
Italy after the death of Matteotti (C N Trueman 2).Another way Benito Mussolini
attempted to earn support from the Roman Catholic Church was making religious
education mandatory in all lower level schools, so when he introduced these policies
it can be seen as a way of Mussolini trying to fakely earn the peoples support(C N
Trueman 2).A couple of years after Benito Mussolini came into power the Fascist
party overtook a large portion of the Italian government. From 1920 to 1922,
dangerous Fascist members received almost no interference while they killed off
their political opponents, who they saw as threats. In 1932, the Fascist Party in Italy
drafted a new constitution which listed the rules under which the government must
be run(Leeds 4).This meant that every single member of the fascist party, every
citizen of Italy, doubled as one of Mussolinis army, and this meant he could call on
them whenever he wanted and for as long as he wanted. These actions showcased
how tight a grip Benito Mussolini felt he needed to maintain on the Italian people.
Any candidate who wanted to be a part of Mussolinis government had to be chosen
by the Corporation members; which basically went to show that Mussolini and his
inner circle of government officials controlled the electoral systems(Leeds 4).

After Benito Mussolini took control of Italy in 1922 he used his military
prowess to maintain control of the country. Once Benito Mussolini became the Prime
Minister of Italy he took certain steps to help better Italys economy. Because Benito
Mussolini wished to improve Italys economy he had a two step plan to go about
this.Benito Mussolinis plan included planning an attack on the power of trade
unions and setting targets as he had for the Battle for Births.His plan to help Italy
economically grow included three battles, they were the the Battle for Land, the
Battle of the Lira and the Battle for Grain(C N Trueman 2).Benito Mussolinis
purpose for devising the Battle for Land was to clear out all of the marshlands and
turn it into arable farmland.The newly cleared out marshland turned farmland had
another purpose; to improve Italy by having roads built. The main purpose for the
Battle of the Lira was to restore the value of the Lira, but try as he might his
attempts failed miserably.Benito Mussolini tried to do this because he felt that a
weak currency reflected badly on the superpower image he was attempting to
create for Italy.The purpose for the Battle for Grain was essentially Mussolinis
attempt to make Italy stronger economically as well as making Italy self-reliant.(C N
Trueman 2).While Benito Mussolini was Prime Minister he took actions to slowly
improve the economy that ended up up kickstarting the industrializing of the
economy. From the start of the 1950s, Italy had evolved from a predominantly
agricultural economy into a mostly industrialized economy.In the 1950s, Italys
economy was growing at a very swift pace, but it slowly started to decrease during
the 1960s.Even though Italy and Great Britain signed a war-debt agreement in
1926, Italy was still massively reliant on other countries to import them raw

materials such as coal and petroleum,and was to stay reliant on those exporting
countries (Mallet 18).This new Fascist economy was turning out to be a partial
success; this was because of the new transport that was just developed.Even
though the new roads were built , little to no Italians actually owned cars to drive on
the roads.Another budding issue for the Italians was how much taxation was
becoming essential to the economys growth(Mallet 18).Since Benito Mussolini
became the dictator of Italy he maintained control of Italy with the help of his
military prowess. After Mussolini took over, he instilled a system of virility in the
country. Contrary to popular belief fascism was not solely the product of Mussolinis
personal ambition(Cathal 753). Benito Mussolini had struggled to lead the fascist
movement inspired originally by Italys fascism. After Mussolini came to power, he
set the stage for the newer populist dictatorships.Benito Mussolinis success in
foreign policy gave birth to Italys many new infrastructures.A few examples of the
infrastructures Mussolini had built would be canals, bridges, aqueducts, and other
national monuments.Benito Mussolini worked on soothing the middle classes fear of
his radicalism, and he meanwhile ostracized the Italian Mafia into southern Italy.The
electoral system once again changed in 1928(Cathal 753).In the 1920s the Italian
constitution was amended many times.In 1927 an undercover police team named
OVRA was created; the leader of OVRA was Arturo Bocchini. After the creation of
OVRA, the death penalty in Italy was brought back to life, but it was only in effect
for serious political offences(C N Trueman 2).In 1940, Benito Mussolini changed
Italys constitution again, and he instituted a diarchy.Benito Mussolini instilling a
diarchy essentially meant that now had two political heads- they were himself and
King Victor Emmanuel. As a result of all the corrupt politicians in the government,
the parliament was just obliterated in 1939(C N Trueman 2).

Benito Mussolini lost his power because of the crumbling of fascist

Italy. Because of the military loses in World War Two helped in Mussolinis power
loss. In the beginning of 1941, Italy was affected by the war more heavily in the
country; Great Britain started to drop bombs on Italy.In January of 1941, the Allies
started to turn the tide of the war around.Another one of the Allies victories was on
April 4th when they caught Addis Ababa.A major blow for the Italians was that their
country would lose all its colonies to the British(Haugen 44).Due to Italys major
losses in World War Two-which Mussolini tried to say were victories- Benito Mussolini
blamed the loss of the war on his generals. After a considerable amount of time,
Mussolini would turn his back on Italy.Because of his anger of losing the war, Benito
Mussolini would later call the Italians frail and spineless. The cruel words of Benito
Mussolini caused the Italians to become very irate with their leader(Haugen 44).As
the war came closer to an end the Italian community became more irate with Benito
Mussolini day by day. From July 24th to July 25th, the Grand Council was scared of
ordering Benito Mussolini to do their bidding.He was starting to get sick , and he
was beginning to become overwhelmed by all of the Italian military loses.Because of
Mussolinis increasing frailty and sickness, it made it seem like Mussolini was
looking for a way out of power(History Team 2). Dino Grandi, one of the more
rational Grand Council members, submitted the idea that at least half of Mussolinis

power should be returned back to king Victor Emmanuel.After the Grand Council
approved the proposition Benito Mussolini hardly reacted to the news at all.After a
while, Benito Mussolini became allies with Hitler ,but he became frustrated with
Hitler; Mussolini was angry because Hitler did not care about what was best for the
Italians(History Team 2).Because of Mussolinis loss of the peoples faith he lost his
seat of power. As the war was drawing to a close those, the people closest to Benito
Mussolini were pleading with him that he give up his part in the war. Even so, he flat
out rejected their pleas.While Mussolinis citizens went hungry and lost more family
members,Mussolini continued the fight(Haugen 46).When Benito Mussolini and his
companions neared the border of Switzerland they were stopped right as they
reached the border.Claretta; Petacci,who also happened to be Benito Mussolinis
mistress,was also stopped. Mussolini and Petacci were reunited in Dongo, Italy;
they were put in a guarded farmhouse to await their sentencing. Mussolini and
Petacci were then both sentenced to die(Haugen 46). After Benito Mussolini and
Claretta Petacci were both killed their bodies were made an example of. After
Mussolini and his mistress were discovered at the Swiss border and killed, they were
turned into an example for the other Axis powers.The morning of their execution,
their sentence was read aloud, and two military gunmen fired their guns.Petacci
died on impact, Mussolini on the other hand was shot twice because of a jammed
gun. Claretta Petacci and Benito Mussolinis bodies were shot and then moved to
Milan by a truck.Once in Milan their bodies were displayed publicly for revilement
by the masses(History 3).

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