how did benito mussolini diehow did benito mussolini die

WebIn all, a dozen people died, but after the march the Fascists inflated that death toll to a whopping and false 3,000 to make their struggle appear all the more heroic. [37] Other versions of the story were also published, including, in the 1960s, two books setting out the "classical" account of the story: Dongo, la fine di Mussolini by Lazzaro and Bellini delle Stelle and Le ultime 95 ore di Mussolini by Franco Bandini. Joseph Stalins death in March 1953 ended his long and brutal reign as leader of the Soviet Union. [52][53][54] This mode of hanging had been used in northern Italy since medieval times to stress the "infamy" of the hanged. 504-528-1944. Please select which sections you would like to print: Alternate titles: Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, Il Duce, Professor of Modern Italian History, Department of Italian, University College London, London, England. On Easter Sunday 1946, Mussolini's body was located and dug up by a young fascist, Domenico Leccisi, and two friends. The partisans, led by Pier Luigi Bellini delle Stelle and Urbano Lazzaro, recognised one of the fascists, but not Mussolini at this stage. On 25 April he fled Milan, where he had been based, and headed towards the Swiss border. The Pact committed Italy and Germany to provide military and economic support in event of war. In February 1929 he signed a Concordat with the Vatican, the Lateran Treaty, which brought to an end the hostility between the Church and the Italian government that dated back to 1870, when the Italian state had seized the Papal States. Life in Mussolinis Italy. Hegel, Karl Kautsky, and Georges Sorel, picking out what appealed to him and discarding the rest, forming no coherent political philosophy of his own yet impressing his companions as a potential revolutionary of uncommon personality and striking presence. Early life He would deserve to be killed like a mangy dog.[28]. Il Duces days had been numbered. [69][70], The authorities then arranged for the body to be hidden at a Capuchin monastery in the small town of Cerro Maggiore where it remained for the next eleven years. Lampredi was undoubtedly an eyewitness and, because he prepared his narrative for the private records of the Communist Party and not for publication it was perceived that he had no motivation other than to tell the truth. [71] This remained the position until May 1957, when the newly appointed Prime Minister, Adone Zoli, agreed to Mussolini's re-interment at his place of birth in Predappio, in Romagna. Anxious that he would lose claim to conquered European lands as Hitler advanced, Mussolini entered the war in 1940. The illusions of the new Roman Empire and Mussolinis ambition of creating a state that would encircle the Mediterranean, calling it Mare Nostrum, were shattered when poorly equipped and led Italian army started suffering defeat after defeat Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. info@nationalww2museum.org The former led to Mussolinis overthrow and imprisonment; the latter to the surrender of Italy, even though German troops soon occupied the entire country and carried on the fight against the Allies from Italian soil. The south was in ruins as Allied troops advanced. [48][49], In the evening of 28 April, the bodies of Mussolini, Petacci, and the other executed fascists were loaded onto a van and transported south to Milan. [6] Although each of these accounts vary in detail, they are consistent on the main facts. The Allies had re-taken northern Africa away from Italy and Sicily was now in Allied hands as they prepared to invade Italy itself. But Mussolinis political orientation didnt always lean that way. At the time, Mussolini is said to have remarked "for the blood of Piazzale Loreto, we shall pay dearly". Still not satisfied, partisans rounded up 15 suspected Fascists and executed them in the same fashion. Mussolini sold the invasion to the Italian people as a method to get jobs to Italian partisans took his body to Milan and exposed it before an angry crowd. [46][note 4], During his dictatorship, representations of Mussolini's bodyfor example pictures of him engaged in physical labour either bare-chested or half-nakedformed a central part of fascist propaganda. This invigorated the crowd even more. On October 25, 1922, a day after his rally in Naples, Mussolini appointed four party leaders to lead members into the nations capital. WebMussolini - Key takeaways. ", "Mussolini's brain 'stolen for sale on eBay', Fabrizio Ciano, 3rd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_of_Benito_Mussolini&oldid=1149485213, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 April 2023, at 14:55. His father was a blacksmith who wrote part-time as a socialist journalist, and his mother was a staunchly Catholic schoolteacher. Mussolini was laid to rest in a large stone sarcophagus. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. Hed declared war against the rest of the world with only Germany to back him up. [35][36] Audisio used the nom de guerre of "Colonnello Valerio" during his mission. [75], Audisio was first named in a series of articles in the newspaper Il Tempo in March 1947 and the Communist Party subsequently confirmed Audisio's involvement. After writing in a wide variety of socialist papers, he founded a newspaper of his own, La Lotta di Classe (The Class Struggle). She buried her husband properly at his family crypt in Predappio. All of those propaganda posters and photos had now truly come back to haunt him. A macabre autopsy photo of Benito Mussolini and his mistress in a Milan morgue. [72], The re-interment in the Mussolini family crypt in Predappio was carried out on 1 September 1957, with supporters present giving the fascist salute. Site of execution: entrance to the Villa Belmonte. After Lampredi's account was published, most, but not all, commentators were convinced of its veracity. His views were so extreme that the Socialist Party even kicked him out and he resigned from their newspaper. Italy fared poorly from the outset, with ignominious defeats in North Africa, Greece, and the Soviet Union. [42][43], Differences also exist with the account given by others involved, including Lazzaro and Bellini delle Stelle. And Il Duce was also beginning to realize that Italys military was woefully under-classed. [75] Comparisons have been made with the John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories,[20] and it has been described as the Italian equivalent of that speculation. On April 25, 1945, Benito Mussolini agreed to meet with anti-Fascist partisans in the palace of Milan. Wikimedia CommonsBenito Mussolini, second from left, hanging upside-down in Milans public square. Benito Mussolini was Europes first 20th-century fascist dictator. Swayed by Karl Marxs aphorism that social revolution usually follows war and persuaded that the defeat of France would be a deathblow to liberty in Europe, he began writing articles and making speeches as violently in favour of war as those in which he previously had condemned it. In late 1914, with World War I newly underway, he founded a newspaper called The People of Italy. Fascists dug up Il Duces body on Easter Sunday of 1946. Members of the Fascist Party tortured anyone with opposing views, deported anyone with a non-Italian name, and maintained an iron grip in the north. What were Benito Mussolinis political beliefs? Finally, in December, a British force under General Richard OConnor attacked Graziani at Sidi Barrani. There it stayed for eleven years, until Italian Prime Minister Adone Zoli turned over the bones to Mussolinis widow. Mussolini returned triumphantly and kept suppressing his opposition. Fearing another rescue attempt of Mussolini by the Nazis, partisans whisked Mussolini and Petacci away to a remote farmhouse. Spitting on the corpses. Il Duce allied himself with fellow fascist Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in World War II, but his outdated Italian military was badly outclassed. Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953, after apparently suffering a stroke but some suspect that he was actually poisoned. In it, he outlined the major political philosophies of nationalism and militarism and violent extremism that would direct his later life. He was placed in charge of a newly established Italian Social Republic in the north (sometimes, for the small town on Lake Garda that was its seat of government, called the Republic of Sal). Benito Mussolinis fascist regime was often depicted as inept and ridiculed for its comic appearances. [77], In his 1993 book Dongo: half a century of lies, the partisan leader Urbano Lazzaro repeated a claim he had made earlier that Luigi Longo and not Audisio, was "Colonnello Valerio". A Tale of Two Lebanons: Stuck Between Hezbollah and a Republic. Forces loyal to the Italian king arrested Mussolini and imprisoned him. According to Bellini delle Stelle no other discussion or formalities concerning the decision to execute them took place.[44]. Mussolini went to fight in the war. Togliatti said he had done so by a radio message on 26 April 1945 with the words: Only one thing is needed to decide that they [Mussolini and the other fascist leaders] must pay with their lives: the question of their identity. During World War I, he renounced socialism and adopted fascism. How Did Benito Mussolini Die? This included Leccisi himself, who was now a neo-fascist party deputy. He had a party behind him, of course, the Fascists, and he could call on squads of tough guys in blackshirt uniform (Camicie Nere) to beat down his opponents. It was alongside his longtime mistress, Clara Petacci, that he died, however. [note 5] The tomb is decorated with fascist symbols and contains a large marble head of Mussolini. However, just because Mussolinis death was now over, doesnt mean the story was. The whole world quickly learned about Mussolinis death even Adolf Hitler, isolated in his Fuhrerbunker. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for neo-fascists and the anniversary of his death is marked by neo-fascist rallies. There were no objections to any of the proposed executions. The documentary included an interview with Dorina Mazzola who said that her mother had seen the shooting. People in Hitlers inner circle reported that he said, This will never happen to me.. [50][51] The choice of location was deliberate. On April 25th, he, his paramour Petacci, a small convoy of bitter-enders, and a handful of German guards left Milan and headed north towards Lake Como on the Swiss border. The tomb has become a neo-fascist place of pilgrimage. Mussolini led Italy, alright: he led it straight into disaster. [62] The following day, Hitler killed himself in Berlin, shortly before the city fell to the Red Army. Benito Mussolini was the fascist leader of Italy, appointed as prime minister after his march on Rome in 1922. This generally accepted version is often termed the "official version", nevertheless. A group of local communist partisans led by Pier Luigi Bellini delle Stelle. Indeed, the human corpses now looked like meat hanging in a slaughterhouse. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. The opposition then kept him locked away in a remote hotel in the mountains of Abruzzi. He and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were captured on 27 April by local partisans near the village of Dongo on Lake Como. [56], On 30 April, an autopsy was carried out on Mussolini at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Milan. Fascists rounded up 15 suspected anti-Fascist partisans, or people loyal to the new Italy, in Milans Piazzale Loreto. For the next few months, according to his own account, he lived from day to day, jumping from job to job. It was even forbidden to publish a picture of him smiling or to print the word DUCE in anything but uppercase letters. Cursing. One man grabbed Mussolinis body by the armpits so the crowd could see it. Some Fascists came along and disinterred him a year later, absconding with it to a convent in the region of Lombardy, but the government was able to recover it and bury it at a Milan monastery. First it was bombing raids on Italian cities, which possessed only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses. MUSSOLINI WAS EXPELLED FROM SCHOOL. In late 1935, his forces invaded Ethiopia and, after a brief war ending with Italys victory, declared the country an Italian colony. As an adult, Benito Mussolini would have two wives and many mistresses. However, since the end of the war, the circumstances of Mussolini's death, and the identity of his executioner, have been subjects of continuing dispute and controversy in Italy. Finally, the pair were buried in an unmarked grave in a Milan cemetery. Some journalists, politicians and historians, doubting the veracity of Audisio's account, have advanced a wide variety of theories and speculation as to how Mussolini died and who was responsible. On Oct. 29, 1922, King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini prime minister. [40] The vehicle pulled up at the entrance of the Villa Belmonte on a narrow road known as via XXIV maggio and Mussolini and Petacci were told to get out and stand by the villa's wall. Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, Operation FLAX, April 1943: Severing the German, General William H. Simpsons Ninth US Army and the Crossing of the Rhine, Black Volunteer Infantry Platoons in World War II, Kasserine Pass: German Offensive, American Victory, Gallantry against Great Odds: LTC George Marshall and Operation RESERVIST, Prelude to Liberation: Genesis of American Amphibious Assault in the ETO. At the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington, DC, from December 24, 1941 to January 14, 1942, the Western Allies agreed to a Germany First policy to govern global strategy, but the question where to engage Germany, and when, remained unsettled. He worked all night in his office (and the office lights were cleverly left on so that Italians could imagine him hard at work at 4:00am). And if you failed to look enthusiastic enough or failed to conform in any number of ways, there was an all-seeing secret police force, called the OVRA, lurking in the background, arresting, beating, and killing opponents of the regime. A third son, Bruno, was killed in an air accident while flying a Piaggio This article is part of an ongoing series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II made possible byBank of America. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, US II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group. Lets take a look at the circumstances that led to his demise. Higher! He needed more than just fiery speeches and violent rhetoric. In the post-war years, the "official"[note 1] version of Mussolini's death has been questioned in Italy (but, generally, not internationally) in a manner that has drawn comparison with the John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories. Setelah Jerman menyerah di Italia pada 1945, Benito Mussolini The assassination marked a serious crisis for Mussolinis regime.After Matteottis sudden disappearance, he first denied having anything to do with it. [29] Longo subsequently gave a different story: he said that when he and Fermo Solari[it], a member of the Action Party (which was part of the CLNAI), heard the news of Mussolini's capture they immediately agreed that he should be summarily executed and Longo gave the order for it to be carried out. Also Known As: Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini. In June 1940, he took the country into World War II on the side of Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler. The night after Benito Mussolinis death, a cargo truck roared into Milans Square of the Fifteen Martyrs. He declared war on France and Britain in June 1940. It was during this period, and after, that the nationalist and anti-Bolshevik strands of thought that would characterize his later politics began to emerge. Mussolini had been Italy's fascist leader since 1922, first as prime minister and, following his seizure of dictatorial powers in 1925, with the title Il Duce. At the age of 19, a short, pale young man with a powerful jaw and enormous, dark, piercing eyes, he left Italy for Switzerland with a nickel medallion of Karl Marx in his otherwise empty pockets. That way, Mussolini could hold power while Hitler maintained an ally. [10][11][12] As the German forces retreated, the CLNAI declared a general uprising in the main northern cities. The documentary went on to claim that the later shootings at the Villa Belmonte were subsequently staged as part of the "cover up". The death of Benito Mussolini on April 28, 1945 was one of those latter occasions. He was expelled and sent to the Giosu Carducci School at Forlimpopoli, from which he was also expelled after assaulting yet another pupil with his penknife. [6][7] The purpose of the move appears to have been to prepare for final defeat. The man who had once strutted across the world stage now dangling by his heels, next to his mistress. Stories circulated in Italy to reinforce the image. Benito Mussolini, second from left, hanging upside-down in Milans public square. Because the teachers at the village school could not control him, he was sent to board with the strict Salesian order at Faenza, where he proved himself more troublesome than ever, stabbing a fellow pupil with a penknife and attacking one of the Salesians who had attempted to beat him. Audisio said he read out a sentence of death, whereas Lampredi omitted this. Hitler, for one, heard the news on the radio and vowed to not have his corpse desecrated in the same fashion as Mussolinis. While working for various labour organizations in Switzerland, Benito Mussolini made a name for himself as a charismatic personality and a consummate rhetorician. [13][20] At 8p.m. he headed north toward Lake Como. At the same time, however, he was gaining a reputation as a young man of strange magnetism and remarkable rhetorical talents. Repeatedly, he called for a day of vengeance. By the autumn of 1943, he was reduced to being the leader of a German puppet state in northern Italy and was faced with the Allied advance from the south and an increasingly violent internal conflict with the partisans. 2. /*-->
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