Why Is Mussolini Bad

Many Italians during this time, especially among the middle class, welcomed his authority. They hoped that he would stop the strikes and riots that had put Italy in a bad place. They were ready to submit to dictatorship, provided the national economy was stabilized and their country restored to its dignity and Mussolini seemed to be the only one that could do that. The Fascists introduced ambitious programs of public works that caused Italy’s democratic system to be abolished in favor of Mussolini’s one-party state, opposition parties, trade unions, and the free press were outlawed, free speech was crushed, and spies and secret policemen watched over the population. In 1924 Mussolini’s Blackshirts kidnapped and murdered the Socialist deputy
Giacomo Matteotti who had become one of fascism’s most effective critics in parliament. This crisis shook Mussolini but he was able to maintain his power. Mussolini was worshipped by many people and they believed he had transformed and strengthened his divided country. He also had carried out his social reforms and public works without losing the support of the industrialists and landowners and had even succeeded in coming to terms with the papacy. Even though he did those things, social divisions remained enormous, and little was done to address the structural problems of the Italian state and economy. In 1935, Mussolini wanted to show off to everybody else how strong his regime really was so he invaded Ethiopia. Mussolini once said,
“It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins. To make a people great it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants. That is what I shall do”.
He just wanted to be in battle to brag about what his army could do. Ethiopia was not prepared for this and it’s capital, Addis Ababa, was quickly taken and incorporated into the new Italian Empire. With this, Mussolini caught the attention of Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler. Mussolini interpreted the recent diplomatic and military victories as proof of his genius. In 1939, Mussolini sent support to Fascists in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, hoping to expand his influence. In that same year, Italy and Germany signed the “Pact of Steel”. In helping the Fascists in Spain, Italy’s resources were limited many Italians believed Mussolini’s alliance with Germany was going to be a good thing and would provide them time to regroup. As a result of the alliance, Hitler was able to influence Mussolini to institute discrimination laws against the Jews in Italy. In 1940, Italy invaded Greece with some initial success. Hitler's invasion of Poland and declaration of war with Britain and France forced Italy into war and revealed the weaknesses in it’s military. Only German military intervention in early 1941 saved Mussolini from a military coup. At the Casablanca Conference in 1942, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt made up a plan to take Italy out of the war and force Germany to move its troops to the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. Mussolini was forced to resign on July 25, 1943 because Allied troops landed in Sicily and began marching up the Italian peninsula. Mussolini was overthrown and imprisoned by his former colleagues in the Fascist government. In September, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies. Then the German army began the occupation of Italy and Mussolini was rescued by German commandos from prison. Hoping to regain his influence, Mussolini then moved his government to northern Italy. As the Allies advanced northwards through Italy, Mussolini fled towards Switzerland. He was captured by Italian partisans and shot on 28 April 1945.
Reflection:
Mussolini was somebody who would do what he wanted and did not really listen to others, and really, politics today are not that different. Politicians do what they want and fight for what they believe and Mussolini was just like that. He was obsessed with the need of power and to be in control of everything. Growing up, Benito Mussolini was around politics. His dad was really involved in socialist politics and I think that could have been what got him into it. When Mussolini decided teaching was not his thing he went to politics because he had a background in it. Although he changed from being a socialist to a fascist, his father being a big socialist and I think that really got him into considering politics as a career option. Mussolini was a vicious leader throughout his whole reign and made many unfortunate personal and professional choices. Even from the beginning he was really bad, he lied to the Italian people to get his power. He lied and made them believe that he was the only person who could help Italy and ended up making it a bad place. He was a power hungry politician who did whatever he wanted no matter the cost. The Purges he did, I think, was a huge mistake that should have never happened. He became so obsessed and paranoid that people were out to get him and his power that he decided he should just hire people to kill them because he wanted to. Also, he was allies with Hitler and that just made him even more awful. Benito Mussolini started his political career as a socialist but after World War I he abandoned that philosophy and formed the Fascist Party. Fascism is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that was characterized by dictatorial power. Mussolini and fascism were realists, focused on achieving political goals. He used propaganda to obtain and maintain his power throughout his time by giving out messages that were lies. Mussolini used propaganda to ensure the national spirit for the people in Italy and to remind them of how powerful he was. After making ties with Hitler, Mussolini used his ideology of Lebensraum, or living space which served as a major motivation for Nazi Germany’s territorial aggression, and incorporated it into the Fascist Party. After doing a lot of research and reading about his early life and learning about his later life, I would say Mussolini’s life was not enviable.
His childhood involved a father that would not treat him and the rest of his family right by going to taverns, cheating, and spending their money and his mother was struggling to keep them afloat. Even though later on he was able to get into power and he was thought of as a genius for a time it's not worth what ended up happening. When we learn about Mussolini in class, you learn how bad of a man he really was and that is what sticks. All of the horrible things he did to people and how he is remembered is not an enviable thing. Benito Mussolini’s life was more despicable than enviable. He was a malicious person and I cannot think of one great thing he did. The only reason that the Italians looked up to him because their idea of him was formed off of lies that he put in their heads. Mussolini had an awful childhood and then he hit his high between 1922-1945 and then in 1945 he hit his ultimate low and was executed. Mussolini’s life was not even close to being considered admirable, in fact it was the complete opposite. During his time, people probably would have considered his life admirable because they were brainwashed into believing that he was this amazing guy who was saving them but now everybody hates
him. People were only friends with Benito Mussolini because they were scared of what could happen to them if they crossed him. During that time I probably would not have been friends with him but I definitely would not be against him because I would be too scared that during his Purges he would have me killed. If you were friends with Mussolini that means that you would have agreed with and supported him and Hitler which I definitely do not. If you asked anybody in this time period if they would be friends with Mussolini and they said yes not just because if they weren't he'd kill you then they are probably messed up. I cannot see after knowing about everything Mussolini did how anybody would be okay with him and idolize him. Many life lessons can be learned from Benito Mussolini. He is a great example of why we have history classes, so we do not repeat what they did. He was such an awful person that had a bad ending and it teaches you to be a good person. If you are a good person and do the right things then good things will happen eventually. In Mussolini’s case and many others like him, they had their 15 minutes in fame and thought they had everything going great for them and then all of a sudden they were being hunted, arrested, and executed. People are always saying how you should always do the right thing and eventually it will pay off and Mussolini obviously did not listen to anybody that told him that. He never learned from all of the times he misbehaved as a kid and got expelled from multiple schools. Maybe if he became a better person and wanted to rule to honestly help Italy out and not just do it to be in control then he would have actually been a better leader. This really teaches you that being a good person and a bad person could completely change your future. During Mussolini’s time, many considered him Italy’s hero. They did not think that anybody else could have done what he did for them. Even though at the time many Italians looked up to Mussolini, I would not consider him a hero. He is not somebody that people should look up to and try to be like. A hero is somebody that is a honest and good person that does the right thing no matter what, even if that means it would hurt themself. Benito Mussolini, from the start, was already not a hero. He became the prime minister of Italy because he lied to the Italian people and brainwashing them into thinking he was their only option to save Italy from the chaos it was in. He became so obsessed with being in control that he let his mind trick himself into thinking that people were out to get him. Mussolini thought that that could never happen so instead of working harder and doing good things for Italy so that more people would like him he decided to have the possible threats executed by his Blackshirts. He took many innocent lives because he was scared and selfish. Mussolini to me, and I am sure to a lot of people, does not fit my definition of a hero. When I think of a hero I picture someone that is nice to everybody, includes everybody, and is liked by everybody. Mussolini did not include everybody and pointed out people that were different following the steps of Adolf Hitler. Anybody who was friends with Hitler and tried to be like them is automatically an evil person. Benito Mussolini is one of the evilest men, like Hitler, that has ever been alive.