22. A Dictator Who Habitually Bit More Than He Could Chew
Benito Mussolini (1883 – 1945), founder of Italy’s Fascist Party, was Italy’s prime minister and leader from 1922 to 1943. He was the first European fascist dictator, and was an inspirational figure for Adolf Hitler, who modeled 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. Mussolini had delusions of grandeur and sought to revive the Roman Empire. Neither he nor Italy was up to the task, however, and Mussolini often bit more than he could chew.
The results of his habit of overreaching were often farcical, and led to humiliating setbacks. Towards the end of his career, having dragged an unprepared Italy into World War II and bungled it badly, Mussolini’s image 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 off’d him and his mistress, and displayed them in downtown Milan, suspended upside down by their ankles from meat hooks. That the man was a comic dictator was well known. That he was in the habit of penning erotic letters, though, few knew of at the time.
Also Read: Life in Italy Under Benito Mussolini.
