Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (1883–1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and founder of Fascism. Initially active in the socialist movement, he broke with it during the First World War and established the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in 1919. His political doctrine rejected liberal parliamentarism and Marxist class struggle, emphasizing the supremacy of the state, national unity, and corporatism. Together with Giovanni Gentile, he contributed to The Doctrine of Fascism (1932), which outlined the philosophical and political principles of Italian Fascism.

Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and established a dictatorship by 1925, ruling under the title Il Duce. His government pursued corporatist economic policies, imperial expansion, and eventually an alliance with Nazi Germany. Deposed in 1943, he subsequently led the German-backed Italian Social Republic until his capture and execution by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945.

Works

• The Doctrine of Fascism1932

  Benito Mussolini, Giovanni Gentile · 10 pages