Okla-homey
3/23/2007, 06:22 AM
Mar 23, 1919: Mussolini founds the Fascist party
88 years ago today, Benito Mussolini, an Italian World War I veteran and publisher of Socialist newspapers, breaks with the Italian Socialists and establishes the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento, named after the Italian peasant revolutionaries, or "Fighting Bands," from the 19th century.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/11271/2004695355816942578_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004695355816942578)
Arrested in 1903 in Switzerland for vagrancy. Mugshot from the police department of the Canton of Bern
Part buffoon and party petty, provincial Italian autocrat who was more pomp and circumstance than substance. Too late for the 19th century Empire party, Mussolini took delight in conquering such defenseless and/or unwanted countries as Albania and Ethiopia.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/12213/2004603353419027153_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004603353419027153)
Commonly known as the Fascist Party, Mussolini's new right-wing organization advocated Italian nationalism, had black shirts for uniforms, and launched a program of terrorism and intimidation against its political opponents.
In October 1922, Mussolini led the Fascists on a march on Rome, and King Emmanuel III, who had little faith in Italy's parliamentary government, asked Mussolini to form a new government.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/13207/2004659816215179207_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004659816215179207)
King Emmanuel III
Initially, Mussolini, who was appointed prime minister at the head of a three-member Fascist cabinet, cooperated with the Italian parliament, but aided by his brutal police organization he soon became the absolute ruler of Italy.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/11325/2004644892850649895_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004644892850649895)
Cult of personality in Fascist Italy
In 1924, a Socialist backlash was suppressed, and in January 1925 a Fascist state was officially proclaimed, with Mussolini as Il Duce, or "The Leader."
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/10514/2004684893043044008_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004684893043044008)
Mussolini appealed to Italy's former Western allies for new treaties, but his brutal 1935 invasion of Ethiopia ended all hope of alliance with the Western democracies.
In 1936, Mussolini joined Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in his support of Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, prompting the signing of a treaty of cooperation in foreign policy between Italy and Nazi Germany in 1937.
Although Adolf Hitler's Nazi revolution was modeled after the rise of Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party. Fascist Italy and Il Duce proved overwhelmingly the weaker partner in the Berlin-Rome Axis during World War II.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/13488/2004673580947622692_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004673580947622692)
Partners in crime
In July 1943, the failure of the Italian war effort and the imminent invasion of the Italian mainland by the Allies led to a rebellion within the Fascist Party. Two days after the fall of Palermo on July 24, the Fascist Grand Council rejected the policy dictated by Hitler through Mussolini, and on July 25 Il Duce was arrested.
Fascist Marshal Pietro Badoglio took over the reins of the Italian government, and in September Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Eight days later, Hitler took pity on his friend and he ordered German paratroopers to free Mussolini from his prison in the Abruzzi Mountains. Hitler then set Mussolini as the puppet leader of German-controlled northern Italy.
With the collapse of Nazi Germany in April 1945, Benito Mussolini tried to escape his crumbling fascist state by disguising himself. When the partisans found him in April 29, he and his lover Claretta Petaci were killed by country people in Dongo on the shores of Lake Como. Their bodies were taken to Milan where they were hanged upside down from streetlights in the main square.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/11309/2004626586889869654_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004626586889869654)
Interestingly, Mussolini's granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini(a former Italian pornstar) has attempted to revive fascism in Italy, but fortunately for the Italian people, she has not enjoyed much success.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/13463/2004683459298424220_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004683459298424220)
88 years ago today, Benito Mussolini, an Italian World War I veteran and publisher of Socialist newspapers, breaks with the Italian Socialists and establishes the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento, named after the Italian peasant revolutionaries, or "Fighting Bands," from the 19th century.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/11271/2004695355816942578_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004695355816942578)
Arrested in 1903 in Switzerland for vagrancy. Mugshot from the police department of the Canton of Bern
Part buffoon and party petty, provincial Italian autocrat who was more pomp and circumstance than substance. Too late for the 19th century Empire party, Mussolini took delight in conquering such defenseless and/or unwanted countries as Albania and Ethiopia.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/12213/2004603353419027153_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004603353419027153)
Commonly known as the Fascist Party, Mussolini's new right-wing organization advocated Italian nationalism, had black shirts for uniforms, and launched a program of terrorism and intimidation against its political opponents.
In October 1922, Mussolini led the Fascists on a march on Rome, and King Emmanuel III, who had little faith in Italy's parliamentary government, asked Mussolini to form a new government.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/13207/2004659816215179207_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004659816215179207)
King Emmanuel III
Initially, Mussolini, who was appointed prime minister at the head of a three-member Fascist cabinet, cooperated with the Italian parliament, but aided by his brutal police organization he soon became the absolute ruler of Italy.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/11325/2004644892850649895_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004644892850649895)
Cult of personality in Fascist Italy
In 1924, a Socialist backlash was suppressed, and in January 1925 a Fascist state was officially proclaimed, with Mussolini as Il Duce, or "The Leader."
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/10514/2004684893043044008_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004684893043044008)
Mussolini appealed to Italy's former Western allies for new treaties, but his brutal 1935 invasion of Ethiopia ended all hope of alliance with the Western democracies.
In 1936, Mussolini joined Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in his support of Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, prompting the signing of a treaty of cooperation in foreign policy between Italy and Nazi Germany in 1937.
Although Adolf Hitler's Nazi revolution was modeled after the rise of Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party. Fascist Italy and Il Duce proved overwhelmingly the weaker partner in the Berlin-Rome Axis during World War II.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/13488/2004673580947622692_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004673580947622692)
Partners in crime
In July 1943, the failure of the Italian war effort and the imminent invasion of the Italian mainland by the Allies led to a rebellion within the Fascist Party. Two days after the fall of Palermo on July 24, the Fascist Grand Council rejected the policy dictated by Hitler through Mussolini, and on July 25 Il Duce was arrested.
Fascist Marshal Pietro Badoglio took over the reins of the Italian government, and in September Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Eight days later, Hitler took pity on his friend and he ordered German paratroopers to free Mussolini from his prison in the Abruzzi Mountains. Hitler then set Mussolini as the puppet leader of German-controlled northern Italy.
With the collapse of Nazi Germany in April 1945, Benito Mussolini tried to escape his crumbling fascist state by disguising himself. When the partisans found him in April 29, he and his lover Claretta Petaci were killed by country people in Dongo on the shores of Lake Como. Their bodies were taken to Milan where they were hanged upside down from streetlights in the main square.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/11309/2004626586889869654_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004626586889869654)
Interestingly, Mussolini's granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini(a former Italian pornstar) has attempted to revive fascism in Italy, but fortunately for the Italian people, she has not enjoyed much success.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/13463/2004683459298424220_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004683459298424220)