The life story of Benito Mussolini reads like a long list of bizarre contradictions. To some he was a bold political figure who helped shape the modern world. To others he was a buffoon – a military and political incompetent who failed at almost anything he attempted. Either way, he is the man who pulled a rabbit from his hat, drawing on far left socialism to invent far right fascism. The contradictions are but one element of many that make Mussolini interesting. There are seemingly countless strange and bizarre facts about Benito Mussolini. For example, he was once on the payroll of the British intelligence service. Or that he had his first wife sent to prison. He did indeed live a wild life. So here are ten wild facts about Benito Mussolini.
10: He Stabbed a Child
Benito Mussolini actually once stabbed a child with a penknife. In his defense, he was also a child at the time. But it’s still shocking. From a young age Mussolini was a bully. Almost every day he was involved in some kind of fight, and came to lead a gang of violent youths. He would even punch other kids at church, which in Catholic Italy is quite the offence. Then at the age of ten he was thrown out of school for stabbing another pupil with a penknife. This resulted his his enrollment in a less respected, less religious school.
9: He was Originally a Leftist
Most people inherit the political beliefs of their parents. This was indeed the case for Benito Mussolini, at least to begin with. His father was a blacksmith and stonemason by profession, who felt a deep comradeship for his fellow workers. A passionate Socialist, he was nonetheless fiercely proud to be Italian. Only much later would this blend of nationalism and socialism prove to be a deadly mixture. This influence can even be seen in the boy’s name. Benito comes from the liberal Mexican political figure Benito Juárez, while his two middle names are drawn from Italian socialists.
As the boy grew into adulthood, Benito shared these beliefs. He even fled Italy to avoid military service, instead dedicating his time to political activism in Switzerland. Years later, he would return to Italy and find work as a teacher. In time he began publishing his own newspaper, and by 1911 he was among the most influential political thinkers in Italy. Then during world war one something strange happened. Unlike other socialists, Mussolini supported Italian engagement in the war. Coming to believe in militaristic expansionism, he grew jingoistic. Fascism was thus born.
8: He Tried to Ban Pasta
Nothing could be more Italian that pasta, right? Well not according to Mussolini. He viewed pasta as dangerous, believing it sapped energy and took away from Italian workers. So in the 1930s, his government actually tried to persuade the Italian people to give it up. The idea was to implement tariffs on pasta, and encourage the consumption of rice in it’s place. As time went on, they would gradually increase the tariffs to discourage usage until an outright ban was possible. As anyone could have predicted, though, this backfired. All that resulted was the transformation of popular food into an anti fascist symbol of resistance.
7: He Rejected Hitler
One of the more overlooked facts about Benito Mussolini was his status as a trend setter. Coming to power in 1922, he was the original fascist world leader. Adolf Hitler idolized him, the way a young musician would idolize a rock star. In fact, Hitler actually wept tears of joy when the pair finally met in person. Many elements of Nazism and of Hitler’s own personal styling were drawn directly from Mussolini. Even the infamous SA street gangs, known as brown shirts. They inspired by the Blackshirts of the Italian fascist party, notorious for their unadulterated violence. At one point prior to his own rise to power, Hitler took to sending Mussolini fan mail. He even sent Mussolini a portrait of himself, requesting his sign and mail it back. Either the message never reached Benito Mussolini or he simply chose to ignore it, as the portrait was never returned.
6: He Killed His Son in Law
Galeazzo Ciano was a talented diplomat with a lot of things going for him. The son of a well known war hero and nobleman, he himself saw action in Ethiopia. He was also highly intelligent, and a good judge of people. Most importantly, though, he was married to Edda Mussolini. Marrying a dictator is the ultimate cheat code for success in politics. So almost immediately he was promoted to the top of the Italian government. First it was minister of propaganda. Then, crucially, foreign minister. No other period of history has seen the post of foreign minister be so important as the lead up to world war two. And by pure stroke of luck, Galeazzo Ciano now held it. But unlike many of his peers, Ciano genuinely wanted to avoid war. He understood Italy was in no condition to fight a major conflict.
Sure, Italian men can fight with the best of them. But Italy was still a young nation. Her economy was dwarfed by others in Europe, her systems of bureaucracy backward. Worst of all was the state of the Italian military. Many army units were equipped with obsolete weaponry. Often, they carried rifles from the late 1800s. Given the jump in technology between then and the outbreak of war in 1939, this was really not ideal. Galeazzo Ciano knew what this meant. He pleaded his cause to Mussolini, consistently advising him not to go to war with the allies. Yet this advice was ignored, and in mid 1940, Italy declared war.
The consequences of this decision came almost instantly. In both Europe and North Africa, Italian troops were humiliated in battle. And on numerous occasions, Hitler had to send troops to rescue his incompetent ally. By 1943 the situation was dire. So dire that a group of high ranking fascist party members tried to oust Mussolini from power. The plot ultimately failed and the conspirators put to death. Galeazzo Ciano was among them.
5: He Gave Vatican City Independence
Since the unification of Italy in the mid 19th century, the legal status of Vatican city was not entirely clear. Where the Catholic church had once held large swathes of territory, it was now boxed into a small area of Rome. Was the Pope a sovereign in his own right? Was Vatican City an independent state? Or was it just another part of Italy. This dispute stretched on for many decades, and at one point the pope even considered relocating, perhaps to England or Germany. Some scholars openly referred to the Pope as the Prisoner of the Vatican, given the uncertain nature of his sovereignty.
As things stood, Italy had sovereignty over the Vatican, but allowed the church free reign over it, as well as an annual income. Both sides knew this temporary settlement could not last, and it was among the most contentious issues in European politics. Yet when Mussolini came to power, he viewed it as a golden opportunity. One of the more surprising facts about Benito Mussolini is that he did not seize power by force. On the contrary, he was appointed Prime Minister by the King in 1922. As such, he and Adolf Hitler both gained power through legitimate democratic means, prior to becoming dictators. Yet Mussolini was not seen as just another prime minister.
Being the first fascist world leader, many in the international community doubted his legitimacy. So to bolster his image abroad, he struck a new deal with the Pope. Signed in 1929, it officially mapped the borders of the Vatican, and recognized it as a sovereign nation. In return, the catholic church would resume normal relations with the kingdom of Italy, thereby giving Mussolini their seal of approval.
4: He Had To Be Broken out of Jail
As mentioned in previous facts about Benito Mussolini, there was a plot in 1943 to force Mussolini out of power. This was prompted by the allied invasion of Sicily in July of that year. With Germany seeming to lose faith in Mussolini and even threaten to withdraw troops from Italy, things were not looking good. So the Fascist Grand Council panicked. Together they went to the King and asked him to take full power over the state. King Victor_Emmanuel agreed, and had Mussolini arrested. As far as the world was concerned, that was the end of Italy’s involvement of world war two. The King even struck a peace deal with the allies, and imprisoned Mussolini in a remote mountain hotel. Far from help and under constant armed guard, there was no hope of escape.
But Hitler wasn’t having it. German paratroopers and special commandos were sent into the mountains to find and rescue the old ally. Despite the presence of 200 well armed Italian guards, the crack German team were able to secure the hotel without a single shot being fired. Then, a new Italian puppet state was declared in the North, with Mussolini as it’s figurehead. Known as the Italian Social Republic, it was little more than a province of the Nazi empire. But for Mussolini it was freedom.
3: He Had a Magical Sword
Mussolini famously dreamed of reestablishing to Roman empire, so that Italy could once again be master of the Mediterranean. And believe it or not, the obvious place to start was Libya. Since 1911 Italians had been gradually colonizing the land we today know as Libya. But the native Arabs were not exactly thrilled to be ruled over by white Christians. Rebellions constantly kicked off, and in the end, it took the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of natives to end. In some regions of Libya, up to a quarter of the population were slaughtered. Even chemical weapons were deployed in a ruthless campaign of violence. So when the region was finally pacified and absorbed into the Italian empire, Mussolini wanted to prevent future revolt.
To do this he waged a propaganda campaign. A long standing cultural link between Libyan Arabs and the Italians was conjured up out of thin air. They even began referring to Libya as the Fourth Shore of Italy. History was one link in the propaganda push, religion was another. And the next step was the most insane of all. Benito Mussolini actually had the gall to have himself proclaimed the Protector of Islam. In a desert ceremony, he was presented a gigantic sword by a local community leader. Dubbed the Sword of Islam, it was covered in gold and expensive jewels. Somehow he was able to lift the heavy monstrosity above his head for the photo shoot. Known as the Sword of Islam, no one knows what happened to it. Perhaps it was looted during the chaos of world war two. Or perhaps it was destroyed by allied bombers.
2: He Wrote a Romance Novel
Mussolini having a romantic side should come as no surprise. He was, after all, famously lecherous. Lecherous to the point he had 14 mistresses at the same time, many of whom earned money and favor for their family via the dirty deed. Even with this taken into consideration, though, many are shocked to hear that Mussolini actually wrote a romance novel. This was long before Benito Mussolini was a household name in Italy, when he worked in Austria Hungary as a nameless bureaucrat. It was 1909, to be precise. Already a part time newspaper, he conceived of a depraved tale involving the romantic life of a 17th century cardinal. Literally titled, The Cardinal’s Mistress, it’s true goal was to undermine the catholic church. Yet it is little more than a historical oddity.
1: His Execution Was Horrific
Perhaps the best known of my facts about Benito Mussolini, this was an act of brutality. On news that an allied victory in Italy was nearing, Mussolini and a group of confidants attempted to escape Italy. Heading north, the plan was to board a plane and head towards safety in neutral Switzerland. But even northern Italy by this point was in a state of chaos. Gangs of petty criminals and political partisans ran rampant, and while en route to the plane, the group were intercepted by the latter. On the 27th of April, Mussolini et al were captured by local communists.
Despite being disguised as German officers, they were recognized and taken prisoner. One day later, he and his mistress Clara Petacci were shot dead. And that wasn’t the end of it. Through the streets their bodies were dragged. Filling the streets were jeering Italians, the very folk who once cheered on Mussolini’s war effort. Now they cheered on his public humiliation. Spat on and insulted, the mutilated corpses were strung up and hanged from a service station in Milan. Many consider it a fitting end for Benito Mussolini, a man of seeming endless brutality. It also brings us to the end of our list of facts about Benito Mussolini, quite naturally.