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1883- Birth
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Predappio (Italy). -
1900- Socialist Party
He joined the Socialist Party. -
1902- Flight from Italy
He worked briefly as a teacher before moving to Switzerland (in 1902) to get rid of military service. -
1904- Deported
He was deported to Italy and served two years in the Army. -
1911 - He supports the war
He became editor of the Social Party newspaper "Avanti". There he supported the war and was ejected from the party. -
1914- World War I began
When World War one began the Socialist Party disapproved of Italian intervention. -
1914 - Revolutionary ideas
Aligned himself with the revolutionaries beliefs and produced the pro-war newspaper "Il Popolo d'Italia". -
1915- Rejoined the army
He rejoined the army and served in the war before an injury sent him back to his newspaper jobs. -
1919- Italian combat squad
In Italy there was a period of much discord and social conflict known as the "Biennio rosso" or two red years. Mussolini created the Italian combat squad as an alternative to socialism. -
1921- "Black shirts"
The "Black shirts" were organized by Mussolini.
They publicly sparred with socialists and other groups. They used violence, intimidation and murder against their opponents. -
1921- National Fascist Party
The combat squad became the National Fascist Party and he won a seat in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. His party was soon ready for power. -
1922- March on Rome
The march on Rome resulted in the fascist party seizing power. -
1922- Became the 40th Prime Misiter of Italy
Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy and the youngest. He spent the next year's disassembling the Italian democratic system using propaganda to portary him self as the only man capable of unifying the country and transfroming Italy into a one-party state. -
1925- "The Duke"/ "Leader"
He made himself dictator and took the title of "the Duke" or the "leader". The fascists were accused of using violent force to crush political foes. However despote some assassination attempts Mussolini was widely supported due to his efforts fighting unemployement and financial decline. -
1929- Lateran treaty and creation of the New Roman Empire
This (Lateran) treaty resolved the long-standing dispute between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church and created the independent state of Vatican City.
Then he began to colonize African countries to create a new Roman empire. -
1935- Italy invades Ethiopia
Ethiopian war resulted in that country's seizure by the Italian Empire. -
1936- Helped Francisco Franco
He sent military aid to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. This pushed he closer to Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler. -
1938- Antisemitism
Mussolini adopted the anti-semitic manifesto of race despite disagreeing with its premise. -
1939- Pact of Steel
The pact of Steel solidified the Rome Berlin axis of 1936. Italy initially remained uninvolved in World War Two following Germany's invasion of Poland. -
June 1940 (in the middle of World War II)
Mussolini thought the war was almost over so he entered Italy in the conflict as an axis power by declaring war on Britain and France. -
1942- Loss of support
Losses in Greece and North Africa soon showed Italy's military shortcomings. Mussolini's steadily lost support following the Allied invasion of Sicily . -
1943 - Overthrown and arrested
He was ousted from power by the Italian King and subsequently arrested. In his absence the fascist party was disbanded and a truce was signed with the allies. -
1943- Italian Socialist Republic (Repubblica di Salò)
Germany invaded Italy meanwhile German forces freed Mussolini from prison he wished to retire from politics however he ended up Hitler's puppet as head of a new fascist regime called the "Italian Socialist Republic". The Allied presence then spread northward through Italy. -
1945- Executed
When Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland he was captured by Italian partisans and executed by firing squad. -
1945- Hanged
His body was then hung in a Milan Town Square to dissuade other fascists from carrying on the cause.
Due to his vanity womanizing and egotism Benito Mussolini shaped Italian and world history and proved himself as one of the 20th century's most controversial dictators.
