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Mussolini, Benito CercaDefinizione
Born in Dovia, Italy, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was an Italian politician, founder of the Italian Fascist Party, and Prime Minister and "Il Duce" (Leader) of Italy from October 1922 to July 1943. Before World War I, Mussolini participated in the Socialist political movement as an editor and organizer, establishing himself as a leader in the radical wing of the Italian Socialist Party. He supported Italy's entry into First World War and advocated his ideas in his newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia. In 1919 in Milan, Mussolini established the Fasci di Combattimento, which became a right-wing political party, Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF). On October 28, 1922, Mussolini was brought to power by King Victor Emmanuel III after his successful March on Rome. During the 1930s, Mussolini's political ideas became more nationalistic and imperialistic. Under the influence of Nazi Germany and Hitler, Mussolini's policies regarding the Jews changed over time from tolerant to antisemitic, culminating in the racial laws of 1938 which excluded Jews from Italian public life. He pursued an aggressive foreign policy that led to the Ethiopian War of 1935-36, participation in the Spanish Civil War, and a closer alliance with Nazi Germany with the Pact of Steel, which brought Italy into World War II in 1940. As the Italians faced military setbacks, Fascist leaders decided to remove Mussolini in a coup in July 1943 to facilitate Italy's withdrawal from the war. Mussolini was arrested and placed on Gran Sasso in the Abruzzi, where a Nazi commando rescued him. After the Armistice of September 1943, he headed the Italian Social Republic in German-controlled northern Italy. On April 25, 1945, Italian partisans captured Mussolini and executed him in the village of Giulini di Mezzegra. (en-US)
Fonte
Cannistraro, Philip V. ed. Historical Dictionary of Fascist Italy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 1982. pp. 258-364