Rise Of Benito Mussolini

On the 29th July 1883, Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born to Rosa and Alessandro Mussolini in the small town of Predappio. Predappio was situated in the region of Romagna, in Italy, which had one of the highest poverty rates throughout central Italy. His mother, Rosa was a schoolteacher and a devoted Catholic and his father, Alessandro was a blacksmith and an atheist who had a passion for revolution. Ever since Mussolini was a child his mother had hoped he would become a priest, but he took interest in his fathers philosophy regarding politics and he eventually became a socialist. Though when the prospect of war arised, Benito’s views changed dramatically and he began supporting the idea of a war, this resulted in his dismissal from the socialists. This lead to the creation of the Il Popolo d’Italia (The People of Italy) newspaper, containing articles favouring a war, though this …show more content…
The Great War raged on for 3 years until Germany and Austria surrendered and Italy was victorious, though this victory came at a price. The war left over 600 000 Italians dead, over 950 000 wounded and over 250 000 crippled for life, with 148 000 million lire spent during the war, leaving Italy on the verge of bankruptcy. It caused inflation throughout the country and put a strain on its trade, leading to unemployment. Benito Mussolini became influential in Italy in 1922, a few years after the Great War had ended, when socialists and fascists were on the verge of a civil war. During 1922 Italy was suffering immensely from the increased number of riots and violence demonstrated by both the socialists and the fascists. The government in Rome was on the verge of collapse and could not uphold law and order, making it easy for the Prime Minister, Luigi Facta to be