183: The Origin of Fascism: “Il Duce” Benito Mussolini & the Rise of Fascist Italy

Jul 14, 2025

Delve into Benito Mussolini's transformation from socialist to the father of fascism in Italy. The episode uncovers his early life, wartime heroics, and how violence helped build his political support. Witness the dramatic rise of the fascist movement and Mussolini's strategic march on Rome. Explore how he cleverly balanced his image as both a revolutionary and a statesman, while dismantling democratic institutions. Lastly, learn about Italy's imperial ambitions in Ethiopia and the controversial alliance with Hitler that would change Europe forever.

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INSIGHT

Fascism Defined By Negation

Mussolini defined fascism largely by what it opposed: socialism, democracy, and pacifism.
He framed fascism as a violent, expansionist, totalitarian alternative that prioritizes the state over individuals.

INSIGHT

Concise Working Definition Of Fascism

Greg Jackson summarizes fascism as extreme nationalism, one-party rule, and state primacy over civil rights.
He adds that economically fascists act pragmatically to benefit the state rather than follow fixed doctrine.

ANECDOTE

From Violent Schoolboy To Socialist Editor

Mussolini’s early life included expulsions, knife fights, and socialist upbringing in a working-class family.
He later worked as a teacher, migrant laborer in Switzerland, and rose as a socialist journalist before shifting politics.

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“Italy, Gentlemen, wants peace, wants quiet, wants work, wants calm; we will give it with love, if that be possible, or with strength, if that be necessary.”

This is the story of Italy’s Benito Mussolini’s creation of fascism and rise to power in interwar Italy.

Benito starts life the way his father intended—as a socialist—and the often moving, young schoolteacher quickly emerges as a leading voice in the movement as he’s entrusted to serve as the editor of one of the party’s most important newspapers. But the Great War changes that. Benito supports it, the party doesn't, and by the conflict’s end, the returned soldier has a new idea—one that takes him across the political spectrum, all the way from the Marxist left to the nationalist far-right—a violent, war-glorifying, anti-democratic, one-party, dictatorial version of nationalism. He calls it “fascism.”

Benito speaks of order. Economic prosperity. National pride. Some see his black-clad fighting squads, known as “Blackshirts,” as their saviors from the far-left’s communism, so feared in the wake of the recent Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Indeed, many Italians welcome his march on Rome and his growing powers as Prime Minister, and celebrate his foreign policy achievements, including a reconciliation between Italy and the Vatican.

But as Benito kills Italy’s constitutional monarchy in all but name as he turns into a dictator, conquers Ethiopia, ignores the League of Nations, and bonds with Germany’s rising dictator Adolf Hitler, former allies are growing concerned. Some fear his anti-democratic path will also embolden Germany. As W.E.B. Du Bois questions: “If Italy takes her pound of flesh by force, does anyone suppose that Germany will not make a similar attempt?” Only time will tell.

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