History the Avanti,which was a socialist party

History the Avanti,which was a socialist party

History Benito Mussolini’s Rise and Fall to Power BenitoMussolini had a large impact on World War II. He wasn’talways a powerful dictator though. At first he was a schoolteacher and a socialist journalist. He later married RacheleGuide and had 5 children. He was the editor of the Avanti,which was a socialist party newspaper in Milan.

BenitoMussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento on March of1919. “This was a nationalistic, anti liberal, and anti socialistmovement. This movement attracted mainly the lower middleclass.

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“1 Fascism was spreading across Europe. Mussoliniwas winning sympathy from King Victor Emmanuel III.Mussolini then threatened to march on Rome. Thispersuaded King Victor Emmanuel III to invite Mussolini tojoin a coalition, which strongly helped him gain more power.Benito Mussolini brought Austria on Germany’s side by aformal alliance. “In 1937, he accepted a German alliance.

The name of this alliance was the Anti Comntern Pact. OnApril 13, 1937 Benito Mussolini annexed Albania. He thentold the British ambassador that not even the bribe of Franceand North Africa would keep him neutral.”2 The Britishambassador was appalled and dismayed. On May 28,1937, Mussolini strongly gave thought to declaring war. Hethen attacked the Riviera across the Maritime. “OnSeptember 13, 1937 he opened an offensive intoBritish-garrisoned Egypt from Libya.

“3 On October 4,1937, while the offensive still seemed to promise success,Benito Mussolini met Adolf Hitler at the Brenner Pass, ontheir joint frontier. “The two of them discussed how the warin the Mediterranean, Britain’s principal foothold outside itsisland base, might be turned to her decisive disadvantage.Hitler suggested to Mussolini that Spain might be coaxed onthe axis side, thus giving Germany free use of the BritishRock of Gibraltar, by offering Franco part of French NorthAfrica, and that France might be persuaded to accept thatconcession by compensation with parts of British WestAfrica”.4 Mussolini seemed enthusiastic and veryunderstandable why this was the case, since this schemeincluded the gaining of Tunis, Corsica, and Nice (annexed byNapoleon III in 1860) from France. Hitler then hurried hometo his house in Berlin to arrange visits to Franco and Petan.

“Back in the capital Hitler created a letter to Stalin invitingMolotov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, to visit early, whenGermany and the U.S.S.R. might then agree amongthemselves how to profit from Britain not having a defense.A week later, on October 20, he left in his command train,Amerika, to meet Petan and Franco.

The meeting withFranco took place on October 23 at Hendaye on theFranco-Spanish frontier.”5 It had become quite famous inthe history of World War Two for Hitlers furious partingshot that he would “rather have three or four teeth extractedfrom than go through that again.” Franco, who was greatlysupported by his Prime Minister, Serrano Suner,stonewalled throughout the hours towards negotiation withFranco. When his train left at two in the morning, Hitler hadnot advanced an inch towards co-belligerency with Franco.Petan met Hitler on October 24, and proved to be equallyunresponsive.

Petan convinced Hitler that they had a meetingof minds. Petan had only agreed to a promise to consult hisgovernment, Hitler decided to make a bigger deal out of itand believed that they were united in a productive hostility toBritain. Hitler now had the outlines, despite Francos struggle,of a larger coalition war to present to Molotov at his nextvisit. “When Hitler was waiting for the Soviet Foreignminister to come, he was distracted by the weird behavior ofMussolini, who then chose to mount an attack from Albania(occupied by the Italian army in April 1939) into Greece.”6Mussolini said that he was motivated by the fear that theBritish would establish positions in Greece if he did not.

“Hehad good strategic reasons for wishing to deny them navaland air bases any closer to his own along the Adriatic thatthose who already possessed in Egypt and Malta. Heattacked Greece in October, 1937.”7 Mussolini’sparticipation in the Battle of France aroused the derision ofneutrals and enemies. He was determined to win in Greecehis share of the laurels which had fallen in a notproportionate number to the Wehrmacht. The failure ofMussolini’s invasion of Greece greatly upset Hitler as hewaited Molotov’s arrival. This not only messed up hisscheme to change the Balkans into a satellite zone bypeaceful diplomacy; it was also upsetting the Soviet Union.

“On October 31, Britain occupied Crete and the AegeanIsland of Lemnos with troops sent from Egypt. In the nextfew days they transferred air units to southern Greece,putting Romania’s Ploesti oil fields, his main source ofsupply, in danger of bombing attack.”8 The Panzer unitsMussolini wanted would instead be used for communicatingin Greece from positions inside Bulgaria, Germany’s FirstWorld War aly, which Hitler was now trying to coax into thetripartie Pact, while Mussolini’s army was left to manage itsdesert campaign against British as best it could.

On June 24,1938 Petain signed terms with Mussolini. Benito Mussoliniwas Italy’s dictator for 21 years. He had gone through a lotwith the people of Italy. All in all they did not like Mussolini.During the mid summer of 1943 many many supportersturned on him with a great passion. Sicily was being overrunby Allied armies.

Italys’ economy went straight downhill fromhere. The Grand Council of Fascist party, a rubber-stampassembly that had not met for 3 and a half years, met todecide Mussolini’s fate. With unexpected anger, DinoGrandi, a much respected council member shouted: “In thiswar, we already have a hundred thousand dead, and wehave a hundred thousand mothers who cry: Mussolini hasassassinated my son!’…

You have imposed a dictatorship onItaly that is historically immoral.” After hours of heateddebate, the party leaders in the early hours of July 25 voted19-7 for a motion of no confidence in the aging dictator. Onthis very same day King Victor Emmanuel III divertedMussolini of his powers and then later arrested him. “Afterhis arrest, Mussolini was taken to a ski lodge on Gran Sassod’Italia in the Apennine mountains about 75 miles north-westof Rome. The lodge was accessible only by a railroad andhad been built so recently that it was not marked on militarymaps or on mountain climbers charts. But Germanintelligence agents under the direction of SS Captain OttoSkorzeny had learned of Mussolini’s whereabouts, and atHitler’s direction a rescue mission was organized. Todetermine how safe the landing will be, Skorzeny flew overthe Gran Sasso at 15,000 feet in a Heinkel-111.

Leaning outthe window in a numbing 200-mile-an-hour wind, he tookpictures while his friend held tightly to his legs. Thesepictures showed a spot where they could land their planes.When Skorzeny and his 90 men swept silently down on thelodge in 12 gliders, they discovered to their great dismay thatthe meadow had a rapid drop-off at its end. “It was muchlike the platform for a ski jump,” Skorzeny later said. Heordered his pilot to make a “vertical landing” which toreopen his flimsy glider but brought it to a halt in less than 30yards. Jumping from the plane, Skorzeny and his men sweptpast shocked guards and without firing a shot made theirway to Mussolini. “I knew that my friend Adolf Hitler wouldnot desert me,” the old dictator said.

Soon a small planecame into the meadow. When Skorzeny and Mussoliniclimbed in it, the pilot was shocked. With both men in it theplane would probably crash. Yet Skorzeny insisted that theygo ahead. The plane bounced along the meadow, brushedoff a rock and staggered over the edge of the plateau.

Itdropped through the thin air, but made it’s way to Rome.”9From Rome, Mussolini was flown to Vienna and finally toWolf’s lair, Hitler’s headquarters at Rastenburg in EastPrussia. Hitler very much wanted to restore Mussolini’spower. Yet Duce thought they should retire from the publiclife so as to avoid having Italy in the Civil War.

Hitler wasquite upset. He argued that only a strong fascist governmentin northern Italy could save the Italian people, and thatMussolini could lead such a regiment. Hitler was really upsetbecause Mussolini showed no enthusiasm to wreakretaliation on the members of the Grand Council who hadbetrayed him-presumably because one of the traitors was hisson-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano. After the meeting Hitlertold his Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebels, of hisfrustration with Mussolini saying that the Duce, whom he hadonce greatly admired, seemed a far smaller man than before.Hitler and Mussolini discussed for three days, and the Fuhrerfinally had his way.

On September 15, Mussoliniapproached him and said, “I have come for my instructions.”The instructions were very harsh: A new Fascist republicwould be established in Northern Italy under Mussolini, butthe Germans would assume control of its foreign policy andmany of its economic resources and would govern part ofthe country. Also, all the members of the Grand Council thathad voted against Mussolini would be tried and executed.

On September 27, the Duce flew to Gargnano, north ofSalo, to establish the headquarters of his new republic inGerman-occupied northern Italy. As Hitler’s puppet,Mussolini came to be called “the prisoner of Gargnano.”German guards tapped his phone lines and watched hisevery move. “They are always there, like the spots of theleopard,” Mussolini once said. His key appointments had tobe approved by the Germans, and each Italian official wasassigned a German adviser. Mussolini tried to revitalize thearmy and to swell the ranks of his new social fascist party bypromising better working and living conditions. But his timewas running out: the people had deserted him, the Allieswere penetrating deeper into Italy, and he was growingphysically and mentally weaker.

“The people turning on him,and the king arresting him and taking away his powersdestroyed Mussolini leading him to a morphine addiction.”10 This caused him to become too weak to work longhours, although he kept a light on at night in his empty officefor show. His moods changed daily between outbursts ofanger and periods of deep despair. He compared himself toJesus and Napoleon, and blamed his failure onothers-especially the Italian people. He proclaimed that thepeople of Italy were a “mediocre race of good-for-nothingsonly capable of singing and eating ice cream,” and heexpressed sickly happiness when Naples was bombed bythe Allies. He lived for almost two years after his arrest. Heparticipated in a series of bizarre and humiliating experiencesbefore finally coming to a gruesome end.

Mussolini died on aclear spring day in April 1945. Allies had moved into thenorthern part of Italy during the same month. Mussoliniattempted to flee to Austria. Near the town of Dongo histruck convoy was ambushed by partisans.

The Duce wasdressed as a German soldier, in a greatcoat and steel helmet,but his expensive leather boots gave him away. The partisanstook him to a farmhouse. He was then joined by his mistress,Claretta Petacci. Claretta had begged to be reunited withMussolini.

The next day the communist partisan drove bothClaretta Petacci and Benito Mussolini to a nearby villa. Heordered the both of them out of the car and stuck a machinegun in their guilty as sin faces. This gun jammed but he gotanother one and quickly shot at Claretta Petacci and killedher instantly. Mussolini holding back the lapels of his jacket,said “Shoot me in the chest.

” The partisan shot him twice inthe chest and Mussolini was dead. The morning afterMussolini and his mistress were slain, the partisans dumpedtheir bodies in front of a garage in Milan’s Puzzle Laureate.A crowd gathered around; some people shouted foullanguage, others just stood there and laughed. One womanfired a pistol at Mussolini five times to “avenge her five deadsons.” Eventually, the two mutilated bodies were strungupside down for everyone to see. For hours the crowdlaughed and spit at Mussolini’s body.

On the following dayhe was buried in the family tomb in Predappo. by Susie

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