World War II Biographies: Adolf Hitler, Erwin Rommel, Benito Mussolini, George Patton, Joseph Stalin (World War 2 Biographies Book 1) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2017-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The Seeds of Dictatorship

“Every anarchist is a baffled dictator.”

—Benito Mussolini

After the Treaty of Versailles had been signed, the ink had hardly dried on the page before Italy was forced to cut its losses. To the outrage of the Italian leadership and the common Italian soldier alike, despite the massive loss of life that Italy suffered waging war, they were not allowed to keep any extraterritorial concessions. Italy’s most potent allies furthermore demanded that all land that Italy had so painstakingly gained be returned at once.

Almost every other victorious nation had gained some sort of land in exchange for their efforts; so to the Italians, it seemed that they were getting the shaft. And to add insult to injury, after the fighting was over, the Italian economy crashed and was in a complete shambles. It made many wonder why they had fought and shed so much blood, just to go broke in the process.

Perhaps no Italian voiced these feelings of demoralized despair better than Benito Mussolini. Remarking on the sad state of affairs he charged, “This is the awful toll that Italy paid in the Great War: 652,000 dead, 450,000 mutilated, 1, 000,000 wounded. There is not in our country one single family who during the forty-one months of the war; had not placed in the holocaust, on the Altar of the Country, a part of itself.”

These were harsh words, but the times were harsh immediately after the war, and Italy was teetering on the brink of complete collapse. During this troubling and contentious period, as many do, Mussolini began to see traitors, agitators, and espionage agents everywhere he looked. Mussolini had long since thrown the concept of international socialism into the dustbin of his own personal history, and fully wrapped the flag of nationalism around his stocky 5 foot 7 frame.

He then took these feelings and formed the Fascist party on March 23, 1919, in the banquet hall of a wealthy businessman in Milan. Shortly thereafter he issued his Italian Fasci di Combattimento or “fighting Fascist program” in his effort to combat the socialist and communist forces that were growing in Italy. But for the moment, he determined that his main objections would have to wait until November 16, 1919, when Italy would host its national elections.

Mussolini viewed the election as a chance to reset the clock, and he took full advantage of it, even going so far as to form an electoral committee in which he was a candidate. Initially, his efforts to make an electoral change would come off as a complete failure, however, when Mussolini was defeated by a huge margin, and his party was unable to gain any seats in parliament.

For his former peers, and present antagonists in the Socialist Party, they couldn’t have been happier, and quickly claimed that the election had served as the political death of Benito Mussolini. They even went so far as to hold a mock funeral, in which they joyfully pretended to march, carrying Mussolini’s dead body. Despite his

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