15. Mussolini Could Not Get Enough of Writing Explicit Romance Letters
Benito Mussolini (1883 – 1945), founder of Italy’s Fascist Party, went on to become prime minister and leader of his country from 1922 to 1943. He was the first European fascist dictator and was an inspirational figure for Adolf Hitler, who sought to model himself after Mussolini during his own rise to power. Eventually, the Italian dictator was overshadowed by his German imitator, and Mussolini ended up as Hitler’s sidekick. He had delusions of grandeur and sought to revive the Roman Empire. Neither he nor Italy was up to the task, however, and Mussolini kept biting more than he or his country could chew.
The results were often farcical and humiliating setbacks and defeats. Towards the end of his career, having dragged an unprepared Italy into World War II and bungled it badly, Mussolini’s image had morphed from that of a great statesman to a hapless buffoon. It ended badly for him, when his countrymen captured him in the final days of WWII in Europe. They killed him and his mistress, and displayed both in downtown Milan, suspended upside down by their ankles from meat hooks. As seen below, however, there was a side to Mussolini, one of passionate and explicit romance, that few knew about.
