Benito Mussolini Case

As a youth, Benito Mussolini led a disorganized life. He had been a rebellious boy in school. He had fled from Italy to avoid military service in 1902. And he was arrested in Switzerland for organizing a general strike. World War I, however, gave Mussolini more focus. He rejected some of his earlier socialist beliefs, and in 1919, he founded a combat group called the Fasci di Combattimento, consisting mostly of Italian veterans. Two years later, he changed the group's name to the National Fascist Party. Taking advantage of the economic and governmental problems in Italy in the 1920s, he and his supporters marched on Rome, effecting a coup d'état and making himself prime minister.As a youth, Benito Mussolini led a disorganized life. He had been a rebellious boy in school. He had fled from Italy to avoid military service in 1902. And he was arrested in Switzerland for organizing a general strike. World War I, however, gave Mussolini more focus. He rejected some of his earlier socialist beliefs, and in 1919, he founded a combat group called the Fasci di Combattimento, consisting mostly of Italian veterans. Two years later, he changed the group's name to the National Fascist Party. Taking advantage of the economic and governmental problems in Italy in the 1920s, he and his supporters marched on Rome, effecting a coup d'état and making himself prime minister.

By 1925, Mussolini had established a dictatorship and eliminated other political parties. The government then took control of schools, press, police, and industry. Also, Mussolini had the government act as a mediator between employers and workers to settle disputes.