At the time of the Marcia su Roma Mussolini had been a political figure in Italy for at least a decade.

His political experience had started yet earlier. Growing up the son of a local leader of the italian socialist movement, he started attending party meetings or reading the few books available at home. But his first experience of active politics took place when, in 1902, he left Italy for Switzerland - there, under the good offices of another romagnolo expat^1, he found an occupation in the ranks of the Partito Socialista Italiano in Switzerland.

While lacking advanced education and theoretical understanding, Mussolini was unquestionably active and effective. He also had a natural understanding of the process of agit-prop. Therefore he found at first a job as a publicist for the newspaper L'avvenire del Lavoratore (or The Future of the Worker). His pieces were well recieved and one was even reissued in Italy.

The time left from his work at the paper, was spent in public speeches, reading and translating.

 

His energy and effectiveness gained him recognition within the Italian Socialist Party; for example in a letter (December 1902) to Giacinto Menotti Serrati, Gaetano Zannini praised him:

 

I need to recommend a good comrade of ours. His name is Mussolini, who works at the Avvenire. [...] in case you needed a correspondent from Switzerland...

 

At 20 years of age, his positive reputation was confined to the group of italian socialists; this was hardly enough to satisfy him and he did not show any sign of a long term committment to the socialist cause.

At the same time he had other issues do deal with: he had left Italy at 19 avoiding military service and had been therefore sentenced in contumacia; meanwhile his passport had expired and he had to resort to false documents to remain in Switzerland - not that this was in any way uncommon.

In 1904 the birth of the future Umberto II of Italy prompted the King Victor Emmanuel to offer an amnesty. Mussolini, who had thought about moving to the States, decided instead to go back to Italy and left Geneva in November 13th.

He had to serve in the Army obviously and so he did, from January 1905 to September 1906, when he was dismissed with a note of good behaviour.

 

Far from going back to political activism, Mussolini seemed eager to settle down and took a place of school teacher. He lasted less than one year.

He moved again (to Oneglia^2 this time) and - as soon as he had a chance - he wrote to Serrati:

If I stay [in Oneglia], I'll go back to work for the Party. [...] I could be useful, even as a possible political candidate

In the following three years (1908-1910) Mussolini's pieces found space in a large number of small Party and local newspapers, with some appearance in major newspapers.

 

The first leap towards popularity took place with his return to his homeland in 1910 and his evolution from Party publicist and agitator to leader of the local Socialist Party. He became Secretary to the Socialist Federation in the city of Forlì^3 and chief editor of its newspaper La Lotta di Classe.

1910 was also a year of social conflict between land workers and land owners over the possession of treshers. Mussolini took the chance to become the leader of the most uncompromising stance; thus starting to carve out his own niche on the national scene. At the National Congress in Milan (21-25 October 1910) he reacted strongly to the victory of the "reformers" led by Turati, proposing for the "revolutionaries" to leave the Party immediately.

When his proposal was refused by the national assembly of the "revolutionaries" he did not give up and effectively managed to pass a motion for the Section of Forlì to leave^4 the Party.

Mussolini had proved himself and the "strenght of his idea" but he now found himself in a position of deep isolation.

Pushed to go back to the Party, he lacked the forces to go ahead with his city only.

In this difficult situation he was saved by the war in Lybia. The war fought by Italy against the Ottomans from October 1911 to October 1912 over the control of Tripolitania - as was called back then - was mightly unpopoular among the socialist masses.

On the other hand the "reformers" within the party were uncertain over the level of opposition they had to give the government. At the start of the war nothing had been decided yet and the leadership of the Socialist Party faced a deep crisis.

Mussolini's revolutionary stance became extremely appealing - unlike the "reformers" he had not lost time and had pushed for a radical opposition against the war as soon as August 1911.

When, at last a national strike was declared for Sepember 27th, Mussolini appeared one of its key promoters and supporters. This opinion was shared by the government which had Mussolini arrested on October 14th.

He was tried - under great attention by the left press - and allowed to speak. His - quite rethorical - defence made good impression with the public:

 

I tell you [...] that if you absolve me, you will make me a favour, because you will send me back to my occupation and civil life; but, if you condemn me, you will grant me honor, beacuse you [acknowledge that] you found yourself not in front of a bandit [...] but of a speaker of ideas, an awakener of consciences, a militant of a faith, wich forces itself into your consideration for it carries within itself the forebodings of things to come and the great strenght of truth.

 

He was sentenced to a year of reclusion. Of which he served around five months. In March 1912 he left jail and found himself among the leaders of the "revolutionary" current within the Party.

The events had also changed the tide so that "his" current - once a minority - was now in the position to attempt to gain control of the Party.

 

It is now 1912 and there is no doubt that Mussolini is already a prominent political figure in Italy. To understand his rise to power, something more than popularity is needed: connections. I will spend some time on this as well.