Benito Mussolini was the first world leader to adopt the views of the Fascist movement. Facism in one form or another would be the trademark of the Axis alliance and all three countries, Italy, Germany and Japan would eventually adopt fascist governments (strict militaristic form of dictatorships). Benito Mussolini capitalized on the fears of a country that distrusted a very corrupt democratic government and formed the Fascio di Combattimento or the Fascist Party in March of 1919. This was a right-wing, anti-Communist movement that quickly was adopted by the majority of Italians. The fascist party and the Italian people listening to the rhetoric of Benito Mussolini believed that they could recapture the glory of Rome through conquest. Mussolini’s strength lay in his ability to harness the anger and disillusionment of the returning soldiers and the lower middle classes. Mussolini was an incredibly charismatic speaker and used speach to incite the Italian people appealing to the frustrations of these individuals. Instead preaching liberalism the Fascists offered a return to traditional politics and traditional values, promising to undo the changes made by liberals.
In 1922 Mussolini’s followers stormed Rome, intimidating King Victor Emmanuel III into offering Mussolini the position of prime minster. Within four years Mussolini turned the government from a monarchy to a dictatorship with himself as the leader.
In 1923 Mussolini formed a semi-militia that was commonly referred to as the “Black Shirts” that did all they could to strengthen national pride while dismantling labor and socialist groups – often through the use of violence and intimidation.
Working within the government in his position as the prime minister, Benito Mussolini began to dismantle the democratic government and on January 3rd, 1925 declared himself absolute ruler in Italy.
In 1928 Mussolini officially eliminates all political opposition to his Fascist party by officially removing all opposition parties. Italy had operated under the single Fascist party since 1925, so this ban was merely a formality.
Once Mussolini had removed any possible political opposition he began to work on providing stability to his country. He used the military to lay siege to Mafia strongholds (a strong contributor to the country’s corruption), tortured civilians and used hostages to motivate compliance. The crackdown increased Mussolini’s popularity and eliminated Italy’s criminal organizations (temporarily at least).
Mussolini also destroyed Italian freedoms however he remained popular with the Italian citizens because he provided a stable government. His actions centralized power and reduced freedoms but he stabilized Italy.
In 1935 Mussolini invades Abyssinia what is now Ethiopia and annexes it into his new Italian Empire. The aim of invading Abyssinia was twofold to boost Italian national pride and was an opportunity to obtain the mineral resources of Abyssinia and by doing so put many Italians back to work harvesting these resources. This incident would be one of the failures of the League of Nations to take appropriate actions prior to World War II by failing to resolve this crisis.
In 1940 Mussolini declares war on both France and Great Britain and then joins Germany and Japan in forming a military alliance referred to as the Tripartite Pact and forms the Axis powers.