As in the Soviet Union and Germany, Italy’s totalitarian government rose from the failures of World War I. Benito Mussolini had fought and been wounded in the First World War. He believed strongly that the Treaty of Versailles should have granted Italy more territory for their part in helping the Allies win the war. As a talented speaker, Mussolini began to attract followers, including other dissatisfied war veterans, opponents of the Italian monarchy, Socialists, and anarchists. In 1919, Mussolini and his supporters formed the revolutionary Fascist Party.
Calling himself Il Duce, meaning “The Leader,” Mussolini organized Fascist groups throughout Italy. He relied on gangs of Fascist thugs, called the Blackshirts (from the way they dressed), to terrorize and bring under control those who opposed him. By 1922, Mussolini had become such a powerful figure, that when he threatened to attack Rome, the king panicked and appointed him the Prime Minister of Italy.
Strike and Riots had plagues Italy sine the end of World War I. Mussolini and the Fascists vowed to end Italy’s economic problems. In the name of improving the country, they suspended elections, outlawed all other political parties, and established a dictatorship.
Italy’s ailing economy improved under Mussolini’s firm command. Other European nations noted his success with the Italian economy and complimented him as being a “miracle worker.” They would soon choke on their words of praise, however, for Mussolini had dreams of forging a new Roman Empire. A Fascist slogan summed up Mussolini’s expansionist goals: “The Country Is Nothing Without Conquest.”
In 1935, Mussolini put those words into practice by invading the independent African kingdom of Ethiopia. The Ethiopians resisted fiercely, but the large Italian army overpowered the Ethiopian forces. By early 1936, Ethiopia’s capital was in Italian hands. Mussolini did not stop there. He pressed on and added Albania and Greece to the ever growing new Roman Empire.