Benito Amilcare Andrea "Il Duce"

  Benito Mussolini, born, on 29-07-1883 in Predappio, Italy. After working briefly as a schoolteacher, Mussolini fled to Switzerland in 1902 in an effort to evade military service.     Mussolini returned to Italy in 1904 and over the next ten years worked as a journalist and eventually became editor of Avanti. Mussolini was active in the socialist movement but moved to right in 1914 when the Italian government failed to support the Triple Alliance. In 1915 Mussolini resigned from the Socialist Party when it advocated support for the Allies in the First World War. When Italy entered the war Mussolini served in the Italian Army and eventually reached the rank of corporal. After being wounded he returned to Milan to edit the right-wing Il Popolo d'Italia. The journal demanded that the Allies fully supported Italy's demands at the Paris Peace Conference. After the war Mussolini attacked Vittorio Orlando, he died age 92, in 1952,  for failing to achieve Italy's objectives at the Versailles Peace Treaty and helped to organize the various right-wing groups in Italy into the Fascist Party. After a series of riots in 1922 King Victor Emmanuel III (see Emmanuel III) appointed Mussolini in an attempt to prevent a communist revolution in Italy. Mussolini headed a coalition of fascists and nationalists and parliamentary government continued until the murder of the socialist leader, Giacomo Matteotti in 1924.  He was murdered age 39, on 10-06-1924, Left-wing parties were suppressed and in 1929 Italy became a one-party state. Mussolini also carried out an extensive public-works programme and the fall in unemployment made him a popular figure in Italy. Italy controlled Eritrea and Somalia in Africa but had failed several times to colonize neighbouring Ethiopia. When Mussolini came to power he was determined to show the strength of his regime by occupying the country. In October 1935 Mussolini sent in General Pietro Badaglio,  Badaglio died age 85, in 1952 and the Italian Army into Ethiopia. The League of Nations condemned Italy's aggression and in November imposed sanctions. This included an attempt to ban countries from selling arms, rubber and some metals to Italy. Some political leaders in France and Britain opposed sanctions arguing that it might persuade Mussolini to form an alliance with Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Over 400,000 Italian troops fought in Ethiopia. The poorly armed Ethiopians were no match for Italy's modern tanks and aeroplanes. The Italians even used mustard gas on the home forces and were able to capture Addis Ababa, the capital of the country, in May 1936, forcing Emperor Haile Selassie to flee to England. Adolf hitler had been inspired by Mussolini's achievements and once he gained power in Germany he sought a close relationship with Italy. In October 1936 the two men signed a non-military alliance. In 1939 Italy invaded Albania and soon afterwards Mussolini signed a full defensive alliance with Nazi Germany (the Pact of Steel). However, Mussolini did not declare war on Britain and France until 10-06-1940. Mussolini already had over a million men in the Italian Army based in Libya. In neighbouring Egypt the British Army had only 36,000 men guarding the Suez Canal and the Arabian oilfields. On 13-09-1940, Marshall Rodolfo Graziani, died age 72, on 11-01-1955

            

   Rodolfo Graziani.        Haili Selassie.       Archibald Wavell.

and five Italian divisions began a rapid advance into Egypt but halted in front of the main British defences at Mersa Matruh. In October 1940, Mussolini declared war on Greece. Attempts by the Italian Army to invade Greece ended in failure. The war was also going badly in North Africa. Although outnumbered, General Archibald Wavell, died age 67, on 24-05-1950, ordered a British counter-offensive on 09-12-1940. The Italians suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back more than 800 km, 500 miles. British troops moved along the coast and on 22-01-1941, they captured the port of Tobru in Libya from the Italians. By the end of 1941 Italy was totally dependent on Nazi Germany. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Galaezzo Ciano,

    married with his daughter Edda, Hermann Goering (see Hermann Goering) named his only child, a daughter, after her, was executed on 11-01-1944, age 41, sitting on a chair, became increasingly dissatisfied with the way Mussolini was running the country. After a series of heated arguments with Mussolini, Ciano resigned in February, 1943.      At the Casablanca Conference Winston Churchill (see Churchill) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (see Roosevelt) discussed ways of taking Italy out of the war. It was eventually decided to launch an invasion of Sicily, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, south-west of Italy.  

 

                

It was hoped that if the island was taken Mussolini would be ousted from power. It was also argued that a successful invasion would force Adolf Hitler to send troops from the Eastern Front and help to relieve pressure on the Red Army in the Soviet Union. The operation was placed under the supreme command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower (see Eisenhower). General Harold Alexander (see Alexander) was commander of ground operations and his 15^th Army Group included General George Patton (see Patton) US 7^th Army and General Bernard Montgomery (see Montgomery), 8^th Army. Admiral Andrew Cunningham, died age 80, on 12-06-1963, was in charge of Naval operations was

 

          

          Cunningham.                        Tedder.  

and Air Marshal Arthur Tedder, died age 76, on 03-06-1967, was air commander. On 10-07-1943, the 8^th Army landed at five points on the south-eastern tip of the island and the US 7^th Army at three beaches to the west of the British forces. The Allied troops met little opposition and Patton and his troops quickly took Gela, Licata and Vittoria. The British landings were also unopposed and Syracuse was taken on the same day. General Patton now moved to the west of the island and General Omar Bradley (see Bradley) headed north and the German Army was forced to retreat to behind the Simeto River. Patton took Palermo on 22^nd July cutting off 50,000 Italian troops in the west of the island. Patton now turned east along the northern coast of the island towards the port of Messina. Meanwhile General Montgomery and the 8^thArmy were being held up by German forces under Field Marshal Albrecht Kesselring (see Kesselring). The Allies carried out several amphibious assaults attempted to cut off the Germans but they were unable to stop the evacuation across the Messina Straits to the Italian mainland. This included 40,000 German and 60,000 Italian troops, as well as 10,000 German vehicles and 47 tanks. The loss of Sicily created serious problems for Mussolini. It was now clear that the Allies would use the island as a base for invading Italy. A meeting of the Fascist Grand Council is held on 24^th July and Ciano gets support for his idea that Italy should sign a separate peace with the Allies. The following day Victor Emmanuel III told Mussolini he was dismissed from office. His successor, Badoglio, declared martial law and placed Mussolini under arrest. On 29-07-1943, Adolf Hitler (see Adolf Hitler) had a meeting with Otto Skorzeny (Otto Skorzeny), died 05-07-1975, age 67, about the possibility of rescuing Mussolini, imprisoned high in the Abruzzi Apennines. Skorzeny agreed and on 13th September he led an airborne force of commandos to the hotel where he was being held. Mussolini was soon freed and Skorzeny flew him to safety. Mussolini now set up the Salo Republic, a fascist regime in German-occupied northern Italy. His first was the arrest and execution of five of those who had voted against him on the Fascist Grand Council, including his son-in-law, Ciano. On 18-05-1944, Allied troops led by General Wladyslaw Anders (see Anders, Polish Corps and General Alphonse Juin, died age 78, on 27-01-1968,  French Corps, captured Monte Cassino. This opened a corridor for Allied troops and they reached Anzio on 24th May. The German defence now began to disintegrate and General Alexander ordered General Mark Clark (see Clark) to trap and destroy the retreating 10^th Army. Clark ignored this order and instead headed for Rome and liberated the city on the 4^th June. After the capture of Rome Badoglio resigned and Invan Bonomi, died age 79, in 1952, formed a new government. On 23rd April the 8th Army began to cross the River Po at Mantua. German resistance now began to collapse and Parma and Verona were taken and partisan uprisings began in Milan and Genoa. With Allied troops approaching, Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, attempted to escape to Switzerland. Knowing that the guards would not let him pass, he disguised himself in a Luftwaffe coat and helmet, hoping to slip into Austria with some German soldiers. On 27-04-1945, when the convoy of escaping Italian Social Republic members, including Mussolini, was blocked by communist partisans and  captured, it is said that Petacci was offered the opportunity to go unmolested, but she refused to leave Mussolini. On 28 April, she and Mussolini were taken to Mezzegra and shot, Mussolini age 61, Clara 33 years old.  

                      

The following day the bodies were taken to the Piazzale Loreto in Milan and hung upside down in front of a petrol station. The bodies were photographed as a crowd vented their rage upon them   and their bodies displayed in public in Milan. Clara Petacci's brother, Marcello Petacci, was captured with Mussolini and Petacci. But, rather than being murdered in Dongo, he was shot while trying to escape.  Mussolini is buried on the cemetery of Predappio, in a family grave. Clara (see Petacci) is buried on the Cimitero Comunale Monumentale Campo Verano
Rome, Lazio.