Benito MussoliniLeader of Italy

1922-1943

Background

1. Was leader of Italy 1922-1943

2. Ideology was fascist

a. Nationalism and totalitarian

dictatorship

b. Ideas grew out of the Treaty of

Versailles and liberal democracy

3. He promised

a. Restore economic growth

b. Punish those responsible for hard times

c. Restore national pride

Rise to Power1. Began in 1919

a. Black shirts

b. Suppressed trouble in the streets

c. Supported by the rich and landowners

2. Developed the motto “everything in the

state, nothing outside the state, nothing

against the state.”

3. March on Rome – October 1922

a. wants King Emmanuel III to make him

Prime Minister

b. he uses this opportunity to crush any

opposition to his ideas

i. socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti

Dictatorship Begins

1. Turn Italy into a totalitarian state

a. Closed newspapers

b. Outlawed strikes

c. Abolished all political parties

d. Fascist and fascist supporters had a say in

the Italian government

2. Embarked on a program of change

a. rebuild the old Roman Empire

- roads and railways

- agricultural production

- family (abolished divorce, women stay

in the home, larger families)

3. Lateran Treaty, 1929

a. Mussolini recognized

- Roman Catholic Church as the official

religion of Italy

- Vatican City as an independent state

- church control over education

b. the Pope recognized

Mussolini as the

ruler of Italy

c. Mussolini takes the title,

“Il Duce”

Foreign Policy

1. Create the old Roman

Empire around the

Mediterranean

2. Invade Ethiopia in 1935

3. Supports rebels in the

Spanish Civil War

4. Makes an alliance with

Adolf Hitler