Mussolini was far from an incompetent oaf. This view mainly stems from his disastrous invasion of Ethiopia, his alliance with Hitler against the general wishes of the Italian people, and his participation in WWII when the country was nowhere near ready. Otherwise, he was, if anything, an evil genius. He may even be the most influential statesman of the twentieth century, given that he invented the whole concept of fascism, and all the political strategies that modern dictators use. He was a very prolific writer, and if you see his Complete Works at a library, it takes up almost two shelves. Here's some background on his early life:
- His mother was a schoolteacher and his father, though a blacksmith, was a very well-read socialist. He was named after the Mexican revolutionary Benito Juarez. Mussolini's very first job was also as a schoolteacher.
- He moved to Switzerland in 1902 and began working for a socialist paper and as secretary for the Italian worker's union in Switzerland. Around this time he began reading Nietzsche, Pareto, and Sorel. Georges Sorel influenced him significantly with the idea that a revolution needed to be based on a founding myth, and that emotion was more powerful than reason. His cult of personality was a deliberate effort to make himself that myth.
- Moving back to Italy around 1909, he became one of the country's most prominent socialist intellectuals. He was the editor of several socialist newsletters and constantly published essays in his own papers and others. As editor of Avanti! he increased its circulation from 20,000 to over 100,000. Despite being a self-declared socialist, he believed that most others were not radical enough, and was eventually expelled from the party for his violent attitudes. Vladimir Lenin later described this decision as the worst mistake western socialists ever made. In his opinion, Mussolini was the only person who could have successfully pulled off a communist revolution in Western Europe. Unfortunately, after being rejected by the socialists, Mussolini became a nationalist.
And here's his evil genius at work. Without the following innovations, the modern concept of dictatorship would probably not exist as we know it:
- "Everything within the state; nothing outside the state"--Mussolini's motto of totalitarianism. The state took control of all industries operating within it and gave them clear directions on how to serve the state.
- Propaganda--Mussolini's experience as a newspaper editor meant he was a master at manipulating public opinion.
- Cult of Personality--Mussolini used his propaganda machine to project an image of ultimate virility. This virility infused the spirit of Fascism and made the political system inseparable from his character. Little old ladies worshiped his portrait as if it were an icon of the Virgin Mary.
- Brainwashing of children--Mussolini's Balilla was a boy scouts program that was essentially the model for the Hitler Youth.
- Police State--Mussolini used a series of assassination attempts as an excuse to increase the militarization of his police force to oppress his citizens.
- One-party state--A result of using the former to eradicate all his political opponents, along with the attitude of "Nothing outside the state." If you were Italian, you were a Fascist. If you weren't a Fascist, you were a traitor.
- Martial virility--Mussolini believed that a warfare made people hearty and strong, and therefore a nation should always be either at war or preparing for it. He always appeared in military regalia, starting off a trend that has now become stereotypical of dictators.
- Romanità--AKA, Make Italy Great Again. Mussolini heavily relied on the concept of Italy's glorious past to motivate his followers. Including the following:
- "Dictator"--Mussolini applied this word to himself in order to conjure the image of noble Roman statesmen who were granted extraordinary authority during times of political crisis.
- "Fascism"--Mussolini described his earliest followers as fasci di combattimento, evoking the fasces, the bundle of rods with an axe, an ancient Roman symbol of unity and strength. He invented the word that we use to describe all oppressive governments, although for him it was a positive word.