Life and Career of Benito Mussolini - Essay Example

In 1883, in Dovia di Predappio near the province of Forli in Romagna, Alessandro and Rosa Mussolini gave birth to Benito Andrea Amilcare Mussolini (Kirkpatrick 1964, p.967; Bosworth 2002, p. 584). After growing as an undisciplined and disrespectful child, and struggling with authority through his academic and working career, Benito founded fascism, and led the Italians into a revolution that gave him the opportunity to rule Italy from 1922 to 1943 through totalitarian governance, before he was ungracefully overthrown (Smith 1982, p. 478). Life and career Benito Mussolini grew up in a poor family in the impoverished Northeastern part of Italy. His father, Alessandro, was a socialist and a blacksmith while his mother, a respected Christian (Bosworth 2002, p. 586), taught in an elementary institution. Andrea was intelligent, but violent with a large ego, failing to focus in school and learning too little. In Faenza, a boarding school in Italy, Benito stabbed a fellow pupil, and was banished from school. He, nonetheless, obtained a diploma in elementary teaching in 1901, where after he became a secondary school teacher. In 1902, he escaped to Switzerland to avoid serving in the military (Neville 2004, p. 21). He became a mason, mingled with several socialists, and it is at this time that he learnt of Nietzche ideas that proposed the use of direct action, violence, strike, and use of emotions to eliminate dissolute capitalist and democrats. After returning to his home country in 1904, he joined the military but left after serving for a short while due to gun wounds. He then resulted to politics as a fulltime occupation. In 1900, Benito had joined the Socialist Party and his appeal echoed in many corners of the socialist arena. His articles and speeches, which were well articulated, revealed an extremism and violent character; he often urged for revolution at all cost. He served as a labour leader and newspaper editor in numerous posts. While a secretary at labour chamber of Trento city, Benito authored an anticlerical article that was later withdrawn from the public and circulation. In addition, he edited the socialist movement’s newspaper while doing office duties at its local offices. In 1910 after his return to Forli, Mussolini became the editor to the Lotta di classe, a weekly newspaper. He was later jailed for denouncing the imperialist acquisition of Tripoli (Ridley 1998, p. 25), but after his release in 1912, he became the editor of Avanti – a Socialist Party Congress daily newspaper. His articles appealed to the socialist class while his wit contributed greatly to the growth of the Socialist Party (Richard 1971, p. 27). He organized and initiated a revolution in 1922. Success and failures and his contribution to history Mussolini made remarkable positive contributions to the society in terms of ideas and change, and earned respect that propelled him to political leadership. Besides his earlier contribution as a political journalist, Mussolini established an independent daily, Popolo d’Italia, in 1914 that he used to spread his ideas of change and relay the plight of the middle class youths. He won support from majority youth after establishing the Fighting Fascists, a political movement, in March 1919. In effect, after the 1921 elections Mussolini became a member of Parliament and reorganized his movement to a national entity he named the National Fascist Party. Mussolini, who took over its leadership without opposition, boasted the support of 250 thousand members. In October of 1922, Benito led a successful coup d’etat to oust Prime Minister Luigi Facta through a concession that matched within Italy for three days compelling King Victor Emmanuel II to install Mussolini as the Prime Minister. Mussolini received wide support including the catholic church, business and industry leaders, the military, and farmers. He founded fascism, a political concept and movement that was a force to reckon with in the World War II era (Kirkpatrick 1964, p. 700). While in power, Mussolini introduced several policy changes that created employment and improved infrastructure in the public domain. He launched the “Battle for Grain” initiative that reclaimed land previously occupied by Pontine Marshes and greatly promoted agriculture, and the introduced the 1928 “Battle for Land” policy that promoted the reclamation of land (Bosworth 2002, p. 585). Elsewhere, he combated the severity of the economic recession through the “Gold for the Fatherland” program that enabled banks to stock gold (Bosworth 2002, p. 586). Mussolini was also instrumental in the resolution of the dispute that existed between the papacy and the government of Italy. The disagreement, which is commonly known as the Roman Question, ended after Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty that featured the Holy See and the Italian Kingdom (Pollard 2005, p. 4). Mussolini, nevertheless, was not without failures. His initial political movements, the Autonomous Fascist established in 1914, the Revolutionary Fascist, and the Constituent Fascist of 1918 failed to get enough support and collapsed. Furthermore, he lost in his initial bid for a parliamentary seat in the 1919 elections. While in power, some of the economic recovery programs that he initiated were ineffectively managed and collapsed without achieving the intended objectives (Kirkpatrick 1964, p. 701). Mussolini cover up for the assassinator of Giacomo Matteotti, a socialist and a political opponent to Mussolini, almost brought down his government. He lost terribly in the 1935 war with Ethiopian that was aimed at diverting the attention from the internal troubles. Furthermore, his involvement in the Second World War brought Italy into economic turmoil leading to his unpopularity both locally and internationally. He was later overthrown and killed by Italian rebels. Style of leadership Mussolini was a despot. After becoming the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922, he established a totalitarian system of governance, restoring state authority, and crushing the opposition. He assumed authority and control on all vital section of the government including key ministries such as the foreign affairs ministry, interior, corporations, colonies, public works, and defence ministries, and installed his loyalist in key positions to protect his interests (Philip 1996 p. 40; Urmila 1998, p. 66). Mussolini adopted some of Plato’s ideas that advocated for a totalitarian leadership. In effect, he allowed Italy to be led by the elite class and declared the state as the final end. Democracy and egalitarianism was opposed, and the country was militarized with warriors. He converted the nation into a single-party state in 1925. He was also a revolutionary and a ruthless leader. In 1917, after Italy lost the Caporetto war, he urged people to revolt against the government through sentiments that indicated his quest for violence (Schoenherr 2006). He changed the name of Milan facsio, a political league, to reflect a combatant squad. Furthermore, Mussolini rise to power in 1922 was through a coup d’état that overthrew the then Prime Minister. His leadership since 1922 was characterized by a nationalist approach. He envisioned a unified and a classless nation that worked toward a common goal. He was greatly inspired by the ideas of Plato, which proposed citizens’ involvement in civic obligations for the interest of the nation as a whole, and collaboration among social classes. Mussolini was a realist and traditionalist who emphasized on the achievement of political goals as opposed to morality and justice of the people. He allowed for the creation of a militant known as the squadristi that was utilized to maintain order in Italy through forceful means (Smith 1982, p. 315; Kirkpatrick 1964, p. 700). He utilized propaganda as a vehicle to subjugate his subjects’ thoughts and those of his opponents. Relationships with his seniors and subordinates Mussolini had little respect for his seniors and authority. He was expelled from school for rebellious and indiscipline acts; during his elementary study he hit his teacher with an inkpot (Neville 2004, p. 19). In another instance, Mussolini ignored the request by the League of Nations to stop his attack on Ethiopian nation in 1935. During his rule from 1922 to 1943, Mussolini demoted the King of Italy and declared himself the supreme leader; the king did not have political power to oppose him. What is more, he eliminated anyone who opposed his ideals including his close relatives. He participated and led rebellions against the government. He treated his subordinates with no respect and despised the weak people in the society. His relationships with people was parasitic, often seeking political support. He established a relationship with Adolf Hitler during the World War II with the aim of reaping from the likely conquest of the French territory by the German leader (Kirkpatrick 1964, p. 705; Paul 2004, p. 41; Bosworth 2002, p. 584). Furthermore, Mussolini feared that the Germans would turn against him if he refused to offer his support. Qualities of Mussolini Mussolini was intelligent, diligent, firm, audacious, outspoken, a good communicator, and discharged his responsibilities without fear or hesitation. As the editor of Avanti, his contributions played a big role in its growth and popularity. He led the Fascist movement into popularity and the ultimate ousting of the then Prime. Moreover, his character allowed him to alter the Italian legislations to become the supreme leader of a single-party state. He always stack to his ideals. Death of Mussolini The death of Mussolini was ungraceful and occurred after he lost in wars that he had started. After he was defeated by Ethiopia and in Europe in 1941, Hitler restored him in the Northern part of Italy in 1943. He initiated a civil war but was defeated by Italian communists who executed him at Dongo in Como province in 28th April 1945. References Bosworth, J. R 2002, Mussolini, Oxford University Press, New York. Kirkpatrick, I. 1964, Mussolini - A Study in Power, Hawthorn Books, New York, pp 697 - 705. Mussolini, B 1998, My Rise and Fall, Da Capo Press, New York. Neville, P 2004, Mussolini, Routledge, New York. Paul, O 2004, Mussolini in the First World War - The Journalist, the Soldier, the Fascist, Berg Publishers, Oxford. Philip, C 1996, Mussolini, Sacco-Vanzetti, and the Anarchists - The Transatlantic Context, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 68, No. 1, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Pollard, J. F 2005, Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy - Financing the Vatican, Cambridge University Press, New York. Richard, C 1971, Duce - A Biography of Benito Mussolini, Viking Press, New York. Ridley, J. G 1998, Mussolini, St. Martin's Press, New York. Schoenherr, S (edn.) 2006, The Rise of Benito Mussolini, 7th March 2009, Smith, M. D, 1982, Mussolini, Knopf, New York. Urmila, S 1998, Western political thought, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors Limited, London, Pp. 66 – 67. Read More