Benito Mussolini: A Destined Failure Essay -- Italian History, Politic

Absolute power and influence, is and has always been something extremely difficult to obtain, and as we have seen throughout the course of history such authority and control left in the hands of a single person can quickly crumble at their very feet. As with most, this often happens in part by self-destructive means. Case and point, Benito Mussolini, a man who at one point held total power over the entire Italian population; seemingly overnight he lost all control and eventually found himself hanging from the end of a meat hook. Now knowing just who he was as a person, what actions he took, and the decisions he made, some might argue that his reign in the end was preordained for catastrophe. Myself, I would tend to agree with this statement. Nevertheless, let us take a few steps back and revisit the periods of Mussolini’s life leading up to his ultimate demise. The stages of his life in which he was influenced by loved ones and strangers alike. In essence, the moments in time that sculpted the intellect, opinions, beliefs, even ideologies of the man who was. Starting from the beginning and working forward, I want to dissect Mussolini in a way that helps us understand why and how he was shaped into the person he became. How was Mussolini influenced by his father and mother? What drove Mussolini to eventually create and promote Fascism as we know it? Then, with a freshly painted portrait of the man we knew as â€Å"Il Duce†, we can pinpoint the flaws of his being to see what went wrong in, or rather how Mussolini went about, implementing the fascist idea incorrectly. Moreover, with these questions in mind we can evaluate my perceived notion that Mussolini was simply destined for failure. Benito Mussolini was born the son of a blacksmit... ...ists) (Gregor 95). This was the first step of many that would take Mussolini’s small, organized group of followers and himself to their futures as ruling fascists. Once more Mussolini completely reinvented himself and his ideology in the years to come. On March 23, 1919, Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, welcoming civilians and veterans alike in the fight for Fascism (Hoyt 113). Fascism in its’ early state spread under the values of nationalism and unity, despite ones class. However, Mussolini’s idea of fascism was not what it turned out to be. He took philosophies and ideologies alike and blended them to his approval. Mussolini’s fascism opposed democratic rule, protected the class system, rejected egalitarianism, encouraged militarization, and demanded civic duties for the states wellbeing; fascism was action and with action came results.