In 1922, Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) came to power as the prime minister of Italy and the leader of the National Fascist Party. At first, he ruled democratically and constitutionally, but in 1925, he turned Italy into a one-party, totalitarian state, and ruled as Italy's dictator. He forcefully governed Italy until 1943 when the Allied invasion of the country led to his downfall and execution. His rise to power was remarkable. He went from being a journalist and a minor political figure to becoming prime minister of Italy within the space of five years. The fear of a communist revolution abetted his remarkable rise and allowed Mussolini and his fascist party to seize power, with little opposition.
Background
Prior to 1914, Mussolini was a committed socialist. [1] However, when the socialists adopted a policy of neutrality in World War One, Mussolini opposed it and was later expelled from the party.[2] Mussolini was a well-known journalist and had strongly advocated for Italy's entrance into the war in his newspaper, in 1914. Mussolini was an Italian Nationalist, and he wanted to unify his country, he regularly employed nationalist rhetoric that portrayed Italy as a great power to eliminate regional loyalties that had kept the country divided despite the official unification of the country in 1871.
