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Mussolini's life
He was born in Predappio, in Northern Italy. His father had a coffee shop where socialist and anarchist reunions used to happen, and this influenced him from a young age. -
French teacher
He knew a lot of languages, but he was forced to leave his job due to his aggressiveness and his political lectures. -
Emigration to Switzerland
Mussolini left his teaching career and moved to Switzerland, where he started working as a journalist. He promoted socialism radically, and was arrested multiple times because of his writing. -
Return to Italy
He joined the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and started editing a magazine named "Class Struggle" or "Lotta di classe". He was Marxist, and was seen as an important socialist figure. -
World War I
The Italian Socialist Party was totally against getting involved in the war. Mussolini supported this ideas, but he started changing his ideology. By October, he started talking about how Italy's contribution could be beneficiary. In November, he started to publish his own paper: "Il Popolo d'Italia", or the "People of Italy". -
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Fighting in the war
He joined in 1915, when Italy fought with the Allies. He was discharged due to an injury, so he started working to grow his paper. It's in this moment when Mussolini transformed himself into an ultranationalist. The People of Italy started recruiting soldiers that returned from the war after Mussolini. -
Italian Combat Squad
After the end of the war, Mussolini joined 300 of his followers and founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, or Italian Combat Squad in English. This was his first fascist declaration.
The group grew rapidly, because of the propaganda of the paper. Mussolini appealed to the people who didn't approve of socialism.
In very little time some right-wing parties asked him for a coalition in the Parliament, and he accepted. The National Fascist Party was officially founded. -
General strike in Italy
Mussolini wanted to become the Prime Minister, but the right-wing parties didn't want to give him any power and only wanted his popularity.
Due to a general strike, King Victor Emmanuel III got scared, because he didn't want something similar to what happened in Russia. Mussolini was seen as a good alternative for leader. -
March to Rome
Mussolini and his supporters went into Rome and demanded a power transfer to the National Fascist Party.
The king appointed Mussolini as the prime minister, so he had absolute power over Italy. -
Dictatorship
He dismantled the democratic government and made himself dictator, taking the title Il Duce (the leader). He wanted Italy to become a great European power again. -
Invasion of Abyssinia & support to others
Mussolini conquered Abyssinia to incorporate it to the empire. He gave military support to Franco during the Spanish Civil War. -
Pact of Steel
Italy and Germany made a military and political alliance. Mussolini got influenced by Hitler, and he started introducing anti-Jewish laws. -
Allies entered Sicily
Allied troops entered Sicily, and Mussolini was imprisoned by the people in the Fascist government, and he was later rescued by Germans. He then escaped to Switzerland, but he was captured by Italian partisans and killed.