MUSSOLINI

In 1945, disguised in German greatcoat and helmet, Mussolini attempted to escape from the advancing Allied armies. Unfortunately for him, the convoy of which he was part was stopped by partisans and his features, made so familiar by Fascist propaganda, gave him away. Within 24 hours he was executed by his captors, joining those he sent early to their graves as an outcome of his tyranny, at least one million people. He was one of the tyrant-killers who so scarred interwar Europe, but we cannot properly understand him or his regime by any simple equation with Hitler or Stalin. Like them, his life began modestly in the provinces; unlike them, he maintained a traditonal male family life, including both wife and mistresses, and sought in his way to be an intellectual. He was cruel (though not the cruellist); his racism existed, but never without the consistency and vigor that would have made him a good recruit for the SS. He sought an empire; but, in the most part, his was of the old-fashioned, costly, nineteenth century variety, not a racial or ideological imperium. And, self-evidently Italian society was not German or Russian: the particular patterns of that society shaped his dictatorship. Bosworth's Mussolini allows us to come closer than ever before to an appreciation of the life and actions of the man and of the political world and society within which he operated. With extraordinary skill and vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, this biography paints a picture of brutality and failure, yet one tempered with an understanding of Mussolini as a human being, not so different from many of his contemporaries. Cover Image ......Page 1 Copyright ......Page 6 Contents......Page 9 List of illustrations and maps......Page 11 Preface......Page 13 Introduction......Page 21 The Furies and Benito Mussolini, 1944—1945......Page 33 Map 1 The Emilia-Romagna......Page 56 First of his class? The Mussolinis and the young Benito, 1883-1902......Page 57 Emigrant and socialist,1902—1910......Page 76 The class struggle, 1910-1914......Page 96 War and revolution,1914-1919......Page 120 The first months of Fascism,1919-1920......Page 143 Map 2 Interwar Italy......Page 144 The Fascist rise to power,1920-1922......Page 165 Government, 1922—1924......Page 190 The imposition ofdictatorship, 1924-1925......Page 214 The Man of Providence,1926-1929......Page 237 Mussolini in his pomp, 1929-1932......Page 261 l Mussolini at 14......Page 273 3 Mussolini,November 1922, justafter appointment asPrime Minister......Page 274 5 Rachele and Edvige Mussolini, the Duce's wife and sister, lookingrespectable at Predappio, 1925......Page 275 6 Mussolini as fencer......Page 276 7 Mussolini, April 1926, en route to Libya, but with the sticking plasterstill on his nose after the assassination attempt of Violet Gibson......Page 277 9 Edda Mussolini saluting at her marriage with Galeazze Ciano, in thelovely spring of 1930......Page 278 The challenge of Adolf Hitler,1932-1934......Page 300 Map 3 The Fascist Empire......Page 322 Empire in Ethiopia,1935-1936......Page 323 Crisis in Europe, 1936—1938......Page 346 The approach of a SecondWorld War, 1938-1939......Page 370 Germany's ignoble second,1939-1941......Page 393 First fall and feeble resurrection, 1942—1943......Page 418 The ghost of Benito Mussolini, 1945-2001......Page 446 Notes......Page 465 Select bibliography......Page 556 Index......Page 601 In 1945, disguised in German greatcoat and helmet, Mussolini attempted to escape from the advancing Allied armies. Unfortunately for him, the convoy of which he was part was stopped by partisans and his features, made so familiar by Fascist propaganda, gave him away. Within 24 hours he was executed by his captors, joining those he sent early to their graves as an outcome of his tyranny, at least one million people. He was one of the tyrant-killers who so scarred interwar Europe, but we cannot properly understand him or his regime by any simple equation with Hitler or Stalin. Like them, his life began modestly in the provinces; unlike them, he maintained a traditional male family life, including both wife and mistresses, and sought in his way to be an intellectual. He was cruel (though not the cruelest); his racism existed, but never without the consistency and vigor that would have made him a good recruit for the SS. He sought an empire; but, in the most part, his was of the old-fashioned, costly, nineteenth century variety, not a racial or ideological imperium. And, self-evidently Italian society was not German or Russian: the particular patterns of that society shaped his dictatorship. Bosworth's Mussolini allows us to come closer than ever before to an appreciation of the life and actions of the man and of the political world and society within which he operated. With extraordinary skill and vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, this biography paints a picture of brutality and failure, yet one tempered with an understanding of Mussolini as a human being, not so different from many of his contemporaries Machine generated contents note: I The Furies and Benito Mussolini, I944-I945 2 First of his class? The Mussolinis and the young Benitc 1883-I902 3 Emigrant and socialist, I902-I9IO 4 The class struggle, I9IO-I9I4 5 War and revolution, I914-I9I9 6 The first months of Fascism, 1919-1920 7 The Fascist rise to power, 1920-1922 8 Government, 1922-1924 9 The imposition of dictatorship, 1924-1925 io The Man of Providence, 1926-1929 ii Mussolini in his pomp, 1929-1932 12 The challenge of Adolf Hitler, I932-1934 13 Empire in Ethiopia, I935-I936 14 Crisis in Europe, 1936-1938 I5 The approach of a Second World War, I938-I939 16 Germany's ignoble second, 1939-1941 17 First fall and feeble resurrection, 1942-1943 I8 The ghost of Benito Mussolini, I945-200I Notes Select bibliography Index. "In 1945, disguised in German greatcoat and helmet, Mussolini attempted to escape from the advancing Allied armies. Unfortunately for him, the convoy of which he was part was stopped by partisans and his features, made so familiar by Fascist propaganda, gave him away. Within 24 hours he was dead, executed by his captors. He joined those sent early to their graves as an outcome of his dictatorship - at least a million people, and probably more." R.j.b. Bosworth. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [520]-563) And Index.