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Birth of Mussolini
On July 29th, 1883 Mussolini was birthed by Rosa Maltoni in Predappio, Italy. -
Mussolini appointed as the editor of Avanti!
After successfully writing articles with a socialist-leaning since 1909 in his own newspaper, he was appointed editor of the official socialist magazine of Italy, "Avanti!"- which means forward. -
Socialist party expels Mussolini.
Mussolini was expelled from the socialist party of Italy (Partito Socialista) in 1914 because he advocated that Italy enter the Great War, even though the party wanted to remain in a neutral position.
Due to no exact date being available for this event, an educated guess is the month after the Great War's start. -
The Fascist Party is founded by Mussolini
On March 29th, 1919, Mussolini established the Italian Fascist Party, one based on nationalistic, right-wing ideas, aimed at unifying Italy. The Fascist Party was known for its violence against its opponents, and the characteristic black shirts many of them wore. -
The March on Rome
Mussolini, in order to appease the people in his fascist party- who said they will march to Rome either with or without him- finally approved of it- although, during the actual violent event, he was near the Swiss border- by the time he arrived by train he was appointed Prime Minister of Italy. Notice all the black shirts in the picture- the symbol of the Italian Fascists. -
The Acerbo Law
The Acerbo Law, passed by the government of Italy in 1923 using the excuse of an "emergency situation", guaranteed that The Fascist Party wins the parliament- by stating that whichever party gets 25% of the votes, receives 66% of the parliament's seats- a two-third majority. The 1924 elections used intimidation tactics and combined with this new law made it impossible for the opposition to win. -
The case of Giacamo Matteoti
Matteoti was an opposition leader, who died through very suspicious circumstances. Many believe Mussolini ordered his murder, and it served as proof of Mussolini gaining absolute control over Italy. -
Mussolini meets Hitler.
Hitler traveled to Venice, Italy in order to meet Mussolini, where he was met with great support. Since Hitler and Germany had the same enemies, participated in the same fight against "Western power and Bolshevism", they agreed on many things. This was the first of many, some less peaceful, meetings. -
Start of racially based laws.
As antisemitism and support for Germany grew- not only by Mussolini but by Italians too, anti-Jewish laws were passed, restricting them from teaching, and even revoking their passport. Pope Pius reacted to this, stating "It is not possible for Christians to take part in anti-semitism." This statement was taken out of Italian newspapers. -
Italy enters World War Two.
After the invasion of Poland, and promises- Italy entered the war on the Axis power's side, in other words, in an alliance with Hitler. -
Death of Mussolini
Mussolini was executed as the final days of the second world war were coming, the Axis powers- in them Italy- were suffering major losses and defeat was imminent. Mussolini was executed by an Italian partisan in a small village.
