Benito Mussolini was born on 29 July, 1883 in the town of Varnano dei Costa near the village of Predappio. He was an avid writer and after finishing schooling, he became the editor of the Milan socialist paper “Avanti”. He became so popular due to his writings mainly among the Italian socialists after he wrote against Germany’s World War 1. The Italian socialists never wanted their country to be involved in the war. He formed his paper in 1945, 11 Popolo d’Italia, and continued his promotion for war. After Italy’s joined other Allies to fight Germany, Benito Mussolini was enlisted in the army and achieved the rank of Corporal a similar rank to Adolf Hitler. In 1917, he was discharged due to wounds sustained as he was in a trench. Following his discharge from the rank, he went back to his earlier writings and developed new ideas that came to be known as fascism. After the war, Italy’s economy was adversely affected since there were strikes and protests everywhere. Benito Mussolini with other veterans formed the National Fascist Party on March 23, 1919, which grew popular among the Italian people. He adopted the Roman salute and the Blackshirt Militia, which Adolf Hitler later copied. Mussolini and other 35 fascists were elected to the Italian chamber of deputies.
The Fascist party was against a general strike ordered by then the ruling party, the Leftist party. King Vittorio Emmanuelle 111 (1869-1947) phoned Benito Mussolini to go to Rome where they would hold talks to form a government. He assumed all the powers of the government offices and sent the strikers back home to their families and their jobs. He successfully stabilized the economy within a short period and was known as “11 Duce” (the leader). He became an Italian leader after his first international border crisis between Greece and Albania. France supported him and he resolved the issue successfully. Mussolini was a thirst for power. He had visions of a new roman empire and he could see the day when the Mediterranean Sea became their sea. The League of Nations blacklisted Italy which forced his relationship with Nazi Germany which had also been isolated. On realizing that the League of Nations could not stop him or Hitler from gaining new colonies, he invaded Albania. Germany and Italy cemented their alliance with the pact of steel on May 22, 1939. Italy could not advance in conquest due to poor leadership in the military and lack of fuel to power their force. Benito Mussolini was forced to step down by the Fascist grand council and the king (Richard, 1987).
Benito Mussolini was among the founders of Italian fascism, which comprised the elements of nationalism, corporatism, expansionism, and anti-communism. He is credited with securing economic success in Italian colonies and dependencies (Blinkhorn, 1994).
However, Benito Mussolini’s alliance with Adolf Hitler brought an end to fascism. Italy’s advancement in conquest was great but due to poor leadership in the militia, it suffered heavy casualties and was often pushed back and their already captured territories recaptured by their enemies. Benito Mussolini lost Sicily Island in which the enemies used to attack Italy. Galaezzo Ciano came up with the idea of signing a peace treaty with their Allies which was effective from the 24th of July. This led to the dismissal of Benito Mussolini from office and he was under arrest. Adolf Hitler and Otto Skorzeny held a meeting on how to rescue Benito Mussolini.
They successfully rescued Mussolini who set up the Salo Republic, a fascist regime in a German-occupied northern Italy. He arrested and executed five of those who had voted against him on the Fascist Grand Council, including his son-in-law, Galaezzo Ciano which led to a weakening of Fascism. Mussolini was always expansionist in intent even when moderately conducted. His contribution of 60,000 troops at the height of the war and his involvement helped to increase his popularity among the Italian Catholics. His involvement ended any possibility of reconciliation with France and Britain. He chose to accept the German annexation of 1938 and in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The Nazis assassinated Benito Mussolini’s friends and allies for example Engelbert Dollfuss the Austrofascist dictator of Austria in 1933. Benito Mussolini distanced himself from Adolf Hitler by rejecting the racialism and anti-Semitism of Hitler (De Grand & Alexander, 2004).
Spain had a series of politics before the civil war. The Carlists claimed to be the descendants of Spain’s throne and wanted to return to a “traditionalist” ultra-Catholic monarchy. Their movement’s support was from the Requests (the Carlist Militia), the Pelayos (the Carlist Youth Movement), and the Margaritas (the Carlist Women’s Service), whose recruits were mainly from families of Navarrese smallholders. In 1933, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera founded the Falange party. The Monarchist movement with the support of conservative army officers became the opposition to the Republic after the abdication of King Alfonso X111. The Anarchist movement in Spain was the strongest in Europe with its main support from the industrial workers of Barcelona. This movement worked in secret and formed the backbone of the Anarchist Militias at any outbreak of the Civil war. The Communist party was small but highly efficient and enjoyed support from Russia. At the outbreak of war, the other political parties declined which was not the case for the Communists.
They exerted more and more pressure, especially on the Armed forces. The Socialists were the most powerful left-wing political force in Spain before the Civil war. (Beever, 2006). The Spanish Civil war of 1936-39 was a class and culture war. It was due to the struggle over material resources against the Republican government that was committed to social reform, devolution and secularization. The war began when the generals attempted a military coup against the Democratic government with a plan to coordinate several simultaneous risings in different parts of the country. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini aided the Spanish military rebellion in a corporation while on the other hand, the Soviet Union supported the Spanish republicans. France and the British government offered unofficial aid to loyalists and avoided confronting the Fascist and Nazi dictatorships. Adolf Hitler used the Spanish crisis to strengthen himself. The civil war provided him with a great opportunity since it divided British and French internally and shifted the overall European balance of power. This enhanced his territorial gains in Eastern Europe. The war increased tensions in the lead up of world war 11 (Frances, 2002).
Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler gave support to Spain under General Francisco Franco. This included; troops, aircraft, tanks, and other weapons. The Italian government provided the “corps of volunteer troops” and Germany sent “Condor Legion”. The estimated number of Italian soldiers was about 75,000 while Germany provided only about 19,000. The Nationalist side of General Franco arranged evacuations of children, women, and the elderly from war zones. After the capture of the main Spanish naval base at Ferrol in northwestern Spain by the Nationalists, the Fascists were encouraged to help Franco who was still war-minded like Benito Mussolini. He used the Fascist and Nazi support as the stepping stone for more conquests. The number of people executed on the Nationalist’s side was more than 50,000. This was inclusive of the Fascist soldiers who actively participated in the war. A lot of Italian resources and manpower were overused in General Franco’s thirst for power in his conquest. This meant that Italy had to support him both economically and materially. This weakened the Fascist movement because of its poor leadership (Beever, Antony, 2006).
The British and French representatives met with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and granted Hitler Czechoslovakia on sealing an agreement. This was by signing the Munich Accord which was against democracies rejecting fascism in Spain. The withdrawal of international left Spain to fight alone for several months. Later on, Adolf Hitler resupplied the Nationalists with arms and General Francisco Franco started his conquest taking Barcelona before the official end of the Spanish war on April 1, 1939. Most of the Spanish people thought it was the end of suffering and civil war, but General Francisco Franco began a reign of terror aimed at the physical liquidation of all his potential enemies. Tens of thousands were shot, mass executions carried out and concentration camps set up. Most of the volunteers and Spanish people took up arms against fascism again. This was a major blow to Benito Mussolini’s fascist movement (Jackson, 1974).
The association of Benito Mussolini with Adolf Hitler and Spain led to his rise and power to conquer most of his neighbors. It also led to explorations in other continents like Eastern Africa. The empire was large but due to poor leadership led to the decline of his rule.
Work Cited
Beevor, Antony. The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006.
Blinkhorn Martin. Mussolini and Fascist Italy. 2nd Ed. New York. Rout Ledge, 1994.
De Grand, Alexander J. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The ‘Fascist’ style of Rule. 2nd Ed. New York. Rout Ledge, 2004.
Frances L. The Spanish Civil War. London. Osprey, 2002.
Gabriel Jackson. A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War. New York: John Day, 1974.
Richard B. The Rise and fall of Benito Mussolini. New York: 1987.
Robert H. Whealey. Hitler and Spain. London: HB, 2002.