The dictators of the twentieth century have been brutal and cunning. They have left their mark in many ways. Some names are quick to come to mind when thinking of modern dictators. Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Fidel Castro, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, have all left there mark, but there is one who is often forgotten or dismissed. That man is Benito Mussolini.

Benito Mussolini was born on July 29th, 1883 in a town of Varnano dei Costa. His mother was a teacher and his father was a blacksmith, and both were ardent socialists who raised him in their beliefs. As Mussolini grew up he became a writer. In 1913 he became a journalist for an Italian socialist paper called the Avanti. He became very well known among the socialists of his day. But Mussolini didn’t always take the party line. In fact, he had no objection to deviating from it completely. During WWI when most of the socialists wanted to avoid war at all costs, he made himself extremely unpopular by promoting war with Germany.¹

When war finally did break out between the two countries, Mussolini enlisted. He engaged in trench warfare during his time of service. He achieved the rank of Corporal, incidentally the same rank as Hitler, before being discharged due to shrapnel wounds. At this point he returned to Italy, where he continued his career of journalism. It was during this time that he formulated his ideas which would become fascism.¹

When the war was over, Italy was in disarray. Strikes and chaos ruled the country, and people were desperate for security. This was the right kind of soil for fascism to grow, and accordingly Mussolini created his National Fascist Party on March 23, 1919. In 1921 Mussolini and 35 other fascists were elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Before long they gained control of the government through decisive action, including stopping a strike called by the majority party. Fascism was no longer just an idea, but a reality.¹

While he is perhaps best known for his role in developing fascism, he is also responsible for resurgence in the Catholic Church’s power. Pope Pius XI was concerned about his lack of civil power, especially since the British Empire was so strong. Mussolini, a Catholic, agreed to let the Pope establish the Vatican as a sovereign state, independent of any other country. This included the ability to produce their own stamps, mint, civic laws, and police force. The Vatican quickly established their right to maintain control of colonies. The Catholic Church was once again a force to be reckoned with.² One of the Vatican’s civil initiatives was to sign concordats with both Mussolini and Hitler.³

Mussolini and Hitler were driven together by their respective diplomatic isolation resulting from their aggressions. Hitler learned almost all of his fascist ideas and nasty tricks straight from Mussolini. Mussolini’s Black Shirts were the model for Hitler’s Brown Shirts. Mussolini was called Duce, or leader, as was the Fuhrer. At the beginning of the war, they were very much equals, but as the Italian war machine broke down and the German one maintained its strength, soon Germany was propping up Italy.⁴

When the Allies invaded Italy during WWII, Mussolini lost all support from the Italian people. He was placed under arrest by his own people and party, but thanks to a German raid he was freed and became the head of the puppet regime in northern Italy. When Germany finally collapsed, Mussolini and his mistress were arrested again by partisans who shot him on April 28, 1945⁴ and then hung his corpse in a park.

He may not always be the first to come to mind when thinking about twentieth century dictators, but Mussolini certainly left a mark just the same. He is the originator of many of Hitler’s fascist ideas. He strengthened the Roman Catholic Church’s power in temporal affairs. He should indeed come to mind as one of the most influential dictators of the twentieth century.

Sources:
¹ James Heddlesten, “Il Duce”, 2000-2003, <http://www.comandosupremo.com/Mussolini.html>(August 27, 2004)

² Leonard F. Kurtenbach, “Dissertation on the First Two Millenniums,”
<http://www.telusplanet.net/public/semjase/disserta2.htm>(August 27, 2004)

³ Richard Bennet, “An Overview of the History of the Papacy”,
http://www.bereanbeacon.org/Popedom.html (August 27, 2004)

⁴ Columbia Encyclopedia, “Mussolini, Benito”, 2004,
<http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/Mussolin_Bibliography.asp>(August 27, 2004)