Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism Research Paper

Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism - Research Paper Example His beliefs in socialism began when he fled to Switzerland, for purposes of escaping being drafted into the army. However, in 1904, Benito Mussolini returned to Italy, and decided to serve in the army, in return of being pardoned. It is important to understand that after his service in the army, Mussolini became an editor of various socialist newspapers in Italy, advocating for the principles of socialism. During the First World War, as an editor of socialist newspaper, Benito Mussolini strongly advocated for neutrality. However, after accepting a series of bribes, notably from the French, Mussolini advocated for Italy to support the cause of the allied forces. Deakin (2000) denotes that Italy made a poor judgment in the war, and this made the country to experience an economic downturn, leading to massive loss of jobs, inflation, strikes, riots, etc. Mussolini took advantage of this chaos, and built a nationalist party referred to as Fasci di Cambattimento. This party was named after the Italian revolutionaries of the 19th century. This party, commonly referred to as the Fascist party of Italy strongly advocated for Italian nationalism, and it used violence and intimidation against its opponents to advocate for its ideals. It is important to denote that while intimidating its opponents, the Fascist party claimed that it was crushing the violence and riots that were taking place in Italy during the time (Painter, 2000). This made Mussolini to have the respect of King Emmanuel the 3rd who later on invited him to form a government. It is important to understand that it was the Fascist party that was promoting anarchy, through its violence activities targeted at opposition parties. On this basis, the King misjudged Benito Mussolini, and his party, the Fascist Party. Deakin (2000) denotes that the Fascist party appealed to the war veterans, and this is because it advocated for the protection