Italys Deceiving Leader

Although Italy was not in a stable state before Mussolini, he took many steps
into making it one. These steps were his way of making sure he was guaranteed
power. Italy was in a fragile position as a country, before Mussolini. Italy gained
various advantages in 1919, as these were beneficial to the country. Italy first
acquired the great port of Trieste which was one of the largest cities to be gained by
any of the victorious powers, although this was less than Italy expected. The need
for a strong defense on the border between Italy and Habsburg was no longer
required since the monarchy of Italys enemy was destroyed. Although Italy gains
were helpful to the country itself, the Italian government and public were
disappointed (with)... peace terms, (and) mutilated peace was born (.Harry
Hearder) These peace terms would affect Italys people and politics. Italys gains
were not what the public expected and they were upset over this matter. Italy did
not benefit much from Versailles, they believed they were seen as secondary
figures. The Italian public thought their leaders had been humiliated by the Big
Three of America, France, and Britain. This failure to the Big Three affected the
country by making the government weak and lacking pride (Chris Trueman).
Nationalist thought of this as unforgivable. Mussolinis approach towards gaining
support included making himself appealable to the public. Mussolini was a
charismatic person who knew how to get attention from the people. Not only was he
great at calling attention upon himself, Mussolini was [also] a captivating orator....
his attitudes were theatrical.and his attacks were malicious (Amy McKenna, PG
#202). Because Mussolinis delivery was so powerful, he had several supporters.
The Black Shirts were one group, of which aided in his power. In 1918 he began to
speak of how a dictator should head the country, one who was a strong and
dependable leader that would lead the country to overcome unemployment,
political conflict, and strikes. Not only was Mussolini was a highly appealing person
to the public, he was also a manipulating one to important groups. Gaining support
of certain groups was necessary to Mussolinis rise to power. Mussolinis own group,
the Fascists were the first group he aimed to get total control of. He used various
methods to manipulate them, his most effective towards this group included giving
them titles to make them feel prominent to society. Mussolini also bribed another
group called the Squadristi into his favor. Although, his most significant technique
was injecting fear into the public [resulting in]... join[ing] his Fascist party. (Pallavi
h.i.s.t.o.r.y). To make sure his position of power was strong, Mussolini decided to
attempt to take control of Rome. In 1922 Mussolini organized the March on
Rome to prevent a socialist-led general strike.(Amy McKenna, pg #202) This march
did not go as plan according to the Fascist, as they prepared for it to be far more
systematic. Failure of this effected the government harshly. Surprisingly, Victor
Emmanuel III was prepared for this and later, Mussolini was named Prime MInister.
The March on Rome was a valuable action taken towards Mussolinis power and his
group of supporters. The beginning of a new government would include many years
of Fascist rule. This new ruling would involve violence and ...[destruction] of
traditional constitutional government.(Harry Hearder, PG #144) Mussolinis seizure
of control abided within Italy's constitution through his disregard of parliament.

Mussolini took conscious steps for making Italys economy better. Mussolini
wanted to [form] a policy of economic protectionism ( James D. Forman, page
67),. The goal ultimately was to support corporate state. This would focus on state
control of foreign trade. Included in this policy was no allowance of bargaining and
trade unions to isolate manufacturing country goods from foreign competition.
Mussolini took more than one angle into restoring Italy. Mussolini took progressive
steps toward helping Italy repair its issues, even at times when other countries were
going through troubles. ...He created a healthy Italy (and) ended
unemployment (Richard B. Morris, PG# 670) , he gave the unemployed, a position
in the army. This decision would eventually help him in the long run, due to war. By
arranging a group of militarized supporters, Mussolini maintained his reign.
Mussolini formed a para-military unit known as the "Black Shirts," who terrorized
political opponents(Bio.) This unit would banish any organizations that would
threaten Mussolinis image. The Black Shirts helped him in running a excellent
reign as Prime Minister .In addition to helping Mussolini, they also nursed Fascist
influence. Groups that supported Mussolini helped him majorly. The most powerful
group in Italy at this time was, Mussolinis group, the Fascists. Therefore, Fascists
made all laws and controlled almost the entire country. Anyone who disagreed with
their ways were beaten up, occasionally murdered, or sent...to one of Italys
islands/camps. (James Forman, pg 30).
After being controlled by Hitler, Mussolinis life and reign were abruptly
coming to an end due to his failures. Mussolini concluded to invade Greece but, was
overwhelmed with defeat. The Italian troops were luckily protected by German
soldiers. Italy's troops were then sent to the Soviet Union to aid in Hitlers invasion;
thousands of Italians were killed in this attempt. Mussolinis tries at these attacks
were not successful and...British, American, and other Allies had defeated
Mussolinis army (Constitutional rights foundation). King Victor chose to
imprison Mussolini and ordered for him to resign. Along with King Victor; Mussolinis
own Grand Council, also voted for his resignation. As a result of these threats,
Mussolini decided to try to escape. German troops assisted his escape. The publics
loyalty towards Mussolini was diminishing quickly. After the Allied forces invaded
Sicily, Italian forces began to crumble. Support for Mussolini suddenly started to slip
away. Italians realized the state of their country and ...solid support for Mussolini
among Fascist insiders [began] to erode. Mussolinis death was decided upon his
own country. Mussolinis final days were filled with violence and failure. He had not
had success with his past tries at invading other countries and it completely
affected his reign. Furthermore, during these days he was little more than a puppet
controlled by Hitler (Time Cooke, PG# 689), which was one of Mussolinis closest
allies. The nations stability was lacking and they had decided that this was
Mussolinis fault; therefore, he decided to make a getaway from Italy. As Italy was
shattering ...Communists of the partisan leadership decided to execute
Mussolini (Amy McKenna, 204) . To try to hide from the Allies, Mussolini disguised
himself as a German soldier, but his attempt was not successful. Mussolini and his
mistress were shot by Italian partisans and were hung by the feet in Milan. Large
crowds, full of joy, praised this event, for this marked the end to a vicious leader
and end of a tiresome war.