Transcript The Rise of Mussolini in Italy

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
 460,000 soldiers killed
 Heavy debt
 Britain and France did
not give Italy the land
they promised
 Governments were all
coalitions that couldn’t
make decisions
 Rising unemployment
led to unrest in cities
Treaty of Versailles
 Italians believed that it
treated them badly.
 Italy had not been
given the land
promised at the
Secret Treaty of
London.
 Italy’s foreign Minister
Orlando left before the
conference ended,
feeling humiliated.
 A system of government with
centralized authority under a dictator.
 Usually involves terror, censorship,
nationalism, and racism.
Benito Mussolini
 Mussolini set up a Fascist
Party and promised to solve
Italy’s problems
 Promised to rebuild Italy and
recreate the Roman Empire
 Organized armed gangs
called the “Blackshirts”
 Came to power in 1922 and
was appointed Prime Minister
by King Victor Emmanuel to
prevent a Communist
Revolution in Italy
 to establish Mussolini and the Fascist Party as
the most important party in Italy
 In 1921 the fascist parties in Italy joined together
to form the Fascist Party
 Mussolini said this at a party conference:
"Either the government will be given to us or we
shall seize it by marching on Rome."
March on Rome, 1922
 “Fascism should
rightly be called
Corporatism as it is
a merge of state
and corporate
power.”
Benito Mussolini
 “Fascism conceives of
the State as an
absolute, in
comparison with which
all individuals or
groups are relative,
only to be conceived in
their relation to the
State.”
Benito Mussolini
Mussolini and Hitler
Hitler and
Mussolini had a
close relationship.
In October 1936
they signed a nonmilitary alliance.
Mussolini signed a
full defensive
alliance with Nazi
Germany in the
Pact of Steel.
http://www.schooltube.com/video/fd02ddf2033172cbf664/Hitler-and-Mussolini-Rise-inPower
Personalities
(from L-R)
Mussolini, Benito
Franco, General
Francisco
Stalin, Joseph
Hitler, Adolf
The Harmony Boys' by David Low. First
published on 2nd May 1940.
Mussolini intended to
annex Malta, Corsica,
and Tunis. He wanted to
create a “New Roman
Empire.” He annexed
Albania, straining the
military. His troops were
unprepared for the
German invasion of
Poland. Italy remained
neutral.
Mussolini during WWII
Italy soon declared
war on Britain and
France but troops
were unprepared. It
was defeated by
Greece and lost the
world’s first carrier
strike. Italy was
defeated on all fronts
of the AngloAmerican landing.
 “We are not like the English.
We boast that we are not like
them. We haven't elevated
lying into a government art
nor into a narcotic for the
people the way the London
government has done…when
the enemy wins a battle it is
useless and ridiculous to
seek, as the English do in
their incomparable hypocrisy,
to deny or diminish it.”
Propaganda against
Mussolini
Mussolini’s Execution
Mussolini was taken
prisoner by the partisans
and was joined by his
mistress, Clara Petacci.
A few days later they
were shot to death. In
April of 1945, their
bodies were hung at an
Esso gas station along
with the bodies of other
fascist leaders.
Mussolini and his mistress
Questions
1)What were some of the problems that Italy
faces after WWI?
2)Why did Italians feel betrayed by the Treaty
of Versailles?
3)What is fascism, and how did Mussolini gain
control of the Italian government?
4)How did Italy fare during WWII?
5)What happened to Mussolini?