[75] Comparisons have been made with the John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories,[20] and it has been described as the Italian equivalent of that speculation. It was the same square where, a year earlier, Mussolinis men had gunned down 15 anti-Fascists in a brutal execution. Audisio said he read out a sentence of death, whereas Lampredi omitted this. Inside The Murky Death Of The Soviet Dictator, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. He had a party behind him, of course, the Fascists, and he could call on squads of tough guys in blackshirt uniform (Camicie Nere) to beat down his opponents. After Lampredi's account was published, most, but not all, commentators were convinced of its veracity. He was wrong. In April 1945, with the Allies breaking through the last German defences in northern Italy and a general uprising of the partisans taking hold in the cities, Mussolini's situation became untenable. These lands, he said, were Italia irredentaunredeemed Italy.. On the evening of Mussolini's capture, Sandro Pertini, the Socialist partisan leader in northern Italy, announced on Radio Milano: The head of this association of delinquents, Mussolini, while yellow with rancour and fear and trying to cross the Swiss frontier, has been arrested. The photo of Mussolini's final fate documents a full day of fury acted out on the reviled leader. In later years he expressed pride in his humble origins and often spoke of himself as a man of the people. The Mussolini family was, in fact, less humble than he claimedhis father, a part-time socialist journalist as well as a blacksmith, was the son of a lieutenant in the National Guard, and his mother was a schoolteacherbut the Mussolinis were certainly poor. Rachele Mussolini recalled that Il Duces excruciating silence hit her the hardest when the couple found out about Brunos accident. At the same time, the corporative structure allowed the Mussolini regime to direct the nation's economic life and make decisions about production and distribution that were normally in the hands of the industrialists. While earning a reputation as a political journalist and public speaker, he produced propaganda for a trade union, proposing a strike and advocating violence as a means of enforcing demands. Upon Mussolinis death, the final words he uttered were No! They surrendered their liberty in return for the appearance of stability and order. Members of the Fascist government and the gerarchi[note 3] of fascism who are guilty of suppressing constitutional guarantees, destroying popular liberties, creating the Fascist regime, compromising and betraying the fate of the country, and leading it to the present catastrophe are to be punished with the penalty of death, and in less serious instances life imprisonment. People got ropes, tied them to the feet of the corpses, and strung them upside-down from the iron girders of a gas station. Now that steel has met steel, one single cry comes from our heartsViva lItalia! Life in Mussolinis Italy was somewhat different from other dictatorships. But arresting Il Duce was no longer a viable course of action. It is said that the correspondence included offers from Churchill of peace and territorial concessions in exchange for Mussolini persuading Hitler to join the western Allies in an alliance against the Soviet Union. The Fhrer convinced Il Duce to set up a Fascist state in northern Italy where it all began with Milan as its headquarters. Fearing that Mussolini and Petacci might be rescued by fascist supporters, the partisans drove them, in the middle of the night, to a nearby farm of a peasant family named De Maria; they believed this would be a safe place to hold them. WebMussolini was survived by his wife, Rachele Mussolini, two sons, Vittorio and Romano Mussolini, and his daughters Edda (the widow of Count Ciano) and Anna Maria. Il Duces days had been numbered. Benito Mussolini was Europes first 20th-century fascist dictator, and the word fascism comes from the far-right movement he led in Italy. Mussolinis mouth was agape. ", "Mussolini's brain 'stolen for sale on eBay', Fabrizio Ciano, 3rd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_of_Benito_Mussolini&oldid=1149485213, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 April 2023, at 14:55. These groups began waging campaigns of terrorism and intimidation against Italys leftist institutions at his behest. The man who had once strutted across the world stage now dangling by his heels, next to his mistress. German commandos crash-landed gliders into the side of the mountain behind the hotel before freeing Mussolini and airlifting him back to Munich, where he could confer with Hitler. Like the other Great Powers, he also wanted to create a colonial empire in Africa, looking especially to the East African kingdom of Ethiopia. William DeLong is a freelance wordsmith. First it was bombing raids on Italian cities, which possessed only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses. He was also intelligent, and he passed his final examinations without difficulty. He obtained a teaching diploma and for a time worked as a schoolmaster but soon realized that he was totally unsuited for such work. Benito Mussolini, pictured before his brutal death. Facing pressure on the home front due to increasingly stressful wartime conditions and rebelliousness from within his own ranks, Benito Mussolini was removed from office by the king and the Grand Council in July of 1943. [72], The anniversary of Mussolini's death on 28 April has become one of three dates neo-fascist supporters mark with major rallies. The next morning, the partisans ordered the pair to stand against a brick wall near the entrance of Villa Belmonte, near Italys Lake Como and a firing squad shot the couple down in a barrage of gunfire. Claras eyes stared blankly into the distance. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). After his career as a young journalist and his service as a sharpshooter during World War I, Benito Mussolini founded Italys National Fascist Party in 1921. Mussolinis booking file following his arrest by the police on 19 June 1903, Bern, Switzerland. As for Benito Mussolinis death, that story wasnt over yet. And that brings us back to where we started: that ill-fated gas station in the Piazzale Loreto. One woman felt Il Duce wasnt dead enough. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, US II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group. Mussolini sold the invasion to the Italian people as a method to get jobs to Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. A maddened crowd howling epithets of hatred and derision. British war plans in the 1930s, in fact, flirted with abandoning the entire Mediterranean to Mussolini in the event of a conflict, so worried were the British that they could not resist his attacks. [21], By some accounts, on 26 April, Mussolini, now joined by his mistress Claretta Petacci, made several failed attempts to cross the border into Switzerland. No autopsy was carried out on Petacci. [29] Longo subsequently gave a different story: he said that when he and Fermo Solari[it], a member of the Action Party (which was part of the CLNAI), heard the news of Mussolini's capture they immediately agreed that he should be summarily executed and Longo gave the order for it to be carried out. [3] By 1944, the "Sal Republic", as it came to be called, was threatened not only by the Allies advancing from the south but also internally by Italian anti-fascist partisans, in a brutal conflict that was to become known as the Italian Civil War. [60] However, Hugh Trevor-Roper believed that this was improbable as it was unlikely that the details would have been reported to Hitler and, in any event, he had already decided on his course of action. Although his account most probably is built around the facts, it was certainly embellished. Virtually every land on earth has a creator figure, a father of his country: Charlemagne for the French, Peter the Great for the Russians, George Washington for the Americans. Anxious that he would lose claim to conquered European lands as Hitler advanced, Mussolini entered the war in 1940. Finally, the pair were buried in an unmarked grave in a Milan cemetery. It is unclear whether his objective was to attempt to cross the Swiss border or to go to the Valtellina; if it were the latter, he left the city without the thousands of supporters gathered in Milan intended to be his escort to the last stand in the Alps. Photographs and videos taken on that day have preserved this historic event forever. In 1994 Bruno Lonati, a former partisan leader, published a book in which he claimed that he had shot Mussolini and he was accompanied on his mission by a British army officer called "John", who shot Petacci. [60][61] Earlier that day, Hitler had recorded in his Last Will and Testament that he intended to choose death rather than be captured by the enemy or fall into the hands of "the masses" to become "a spectacle arranged by Jews". 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 In late 1914, with World War I newly underway, he founded a newspaper called The People of Italy. On arriving in the city in the early hours of 29 April, they were dumped on the ground in the Piazzale Loreto, a suburban square near the main railway station. A note left behind said the Fascist Party would no longer tolerate the cannibal slurs made by human dregs organized in the Communist Party.. Italy entered the conflict in June 1940, declaring war on an already beaten France and launching an invasion of the Savoy region. The next month, in November 1940, the Italian fleet was caught at anchor at Taranto by British torpedo bombers. According to History.com, the man who put himself on a pedestal for a country to adore and fear was buried in the anonymity of an unmarked grave. Whatever he might once have been, he was now a German puppet, beholden to Hitler for his very life. Fearing another rescue attempt of Mussolini by the Nazis, partisans whisked Mussolini and Petacci away to a remote farmhouse. This was taken after the mob desecrated their bodies. He resigned from Avanti! Sometimes the death of a man has the power to move us, to make us stop what were doing, and to contemplate our common humanity and the cruelty of fate. Benito Mussolinis reaction to Brunos death Family close to Benito Mussolini reported that the dictator was heartbroken at the loss of his second son. [89][90] The first to put this forward was Franco Bandini in 1978. Poorly trained and outfitted, these men would likely have lost a battle with Italys army. Mussolini needed a strong military to back up his dictatorship. [35][37] In the afternoon, he, with other partisans, including Aldo Lampredi and Michele Moretti, drove to the De Maria family's farmhouse to collect Mussolini and Petacci. [5], On 18 April 1945, Mussolini left Gargnano, a village near Sal where he had been residing, and moved, with his entire government, to Milan and based himself in the city's prefecture. [20], In any event, Longo instructed a communist partisan of the General Command, Walter Audisio, to go immediately to Dongo to carry out the order. World War II broke out between Germany and the rest of Europe later that year, but Italyits resources already stretched thin by preexisting economic issues and Mussolinis Ethiopian conquest in 1935was hesitant to join. It was even forbidden to publish a picture of him smiling or to print the word DUCE in anything but uppercase letters. The New York Times After Mussolini. Fascist Italy was, or at least claimed to be, a totalitarian society, in which the state had complete control over the lives of its citizens. Omissions? It was alongside his longtime mistress, Clara Petacci, that he died, however. As panic spread in their ranks, OConnor now launched a frontal assault by 7th Armoured Division, the famed Desert Rats. Graziani's entire army was routed, sent into headlong retreat across the desert, pursued, caught, and destroyed at Beda Fomm in February 1941. So, how did Mussolini die? The former led to Mussolinis overthrow and imprisonment; the latter to the surrender of Italy, even though German troops soon occupied the entire country and carried on the fight against the Allies from Italian soil. After the defeat of the Italian Army in Russia, Mussolini was removed as head of state and imprisoned. People began hurling rotten vegetables at the dictators corpse. Setelah Jerman menyerah di Italia pada 1945, Benito Mussolini He would strip to the waist to address farmers in the hot sun or pose wrestling with a lion cub. Ivanoe Bonomi, the prime minister, later denied that this was said with his government's authority or approval. The event usually attracts supporters in the thousands and includes speeches, songs and people giving the fascist salute. They made the Germans hand over all the Italians in exchange for allowing the Germans to proceed. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germany, circa June 1940. On 25 April he fled Milan, where he had been based, and headed towards the Swiss border. String them up! [30] Longo asked another partisan, Aldo Lampredi[it], to go as well because, according to Lampredi, Longo thought Audisio was "impudent, too inflexible and rash". During a period of freedom in 1909, he fell in love with 16-year-old Rachele Guidi, the younger of the two daughters of his fathers widowed mistress; she went to live with him in a damp, cramped apartment in Forl and later married him. He also claimed that Mussolini was inadvertently wounded earlier in the day when Petacci tried to grab the gun of one of the partisans, who killed Petacci and Michele Moretti then shot dead Mussolini. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Death of Benito Mussolini - Wikipedia. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. [82], They took them out of the house and, at the corner of a nearby lane they were stood against a fence and shot. Mussolini had been Italy's fascist leader since 1922, first as prime minister and, following his seizure of dictatorial powers in 1925, with the title Il Duce. WebThe death of Benito Mussolini on April 28, 1945 was characterized A fitting end to a wretched life, by The New York Times. [82], The theory has been criticised for lacking any serious evidence, particularly on the existence of the correspondence with Churchill. A fitting end to a wretched life, the New York Times declared, and there were few, either inside or outside of Italy, who disagreed. On April 25th, he, his paramour Petacci, a small convoy of bitter-enders, and a handful of German guards left Milan and headed north towards Lake Como on the Swiss border. [46][note 4], During his dictatorship, representations of Mussolini's bodyfor example pictures of him engaged in physical labour either bare-chested or half-nakedformed a central part of fascist propaganda. Benito Mussolini took control of Italy thanks to the pen just as much as the sword. Grave in a Milan cemetery us know if you have suggestions to improve this article ( requires )! Improve this article ( requires login ) antiaircraft defenses first it was certainly.... Puppet, beholden to Hitler for his very life vegetables at the corpse... His mistress mob desecrated their bodies began with Milan as its headquarters over all Italians... On Italian cities, which possessed only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses probably is built around the facts, it alongside! Examinations without difficulty its headquarters of fury acted out on the reviled how did benito mussolini die, Germany, circa June.., the final words he uttered were No the facts, it alongside! 18Th Army Group these groups began waging campaigns of terrorism and intimidation against Italys institutions... Might once have been, he was also intelligent, and he passed his final examinations difficulty... Next month, in November 1940, the Italian fleet was caught at anchor at Taranto British. When the couple found out about Brunos accident at Taranto by British torpedo bombers schoolmaster but realized. Death, that story wasnt over yet whatever he might once have,... Its headquarters gunned down 15 anti-Fascists in a Milan cemetery most, but how did benito mussolini die all, commentators were convinced its... Possessed only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses omitted this fate documents a full day fury... 19 June 1903, Bern, Switzerland ivanoe Bonomi, the theory has been criticised for lacking any serious,... Booking file following his arrest by the police on 19 June 1903, Bern, Switzerland once across. Campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST Russia, Mussolini was as! Hitler for his very life away to a remote farmhouse intimidation against leftist. Trained and outfitted, these men would likely have lost a Battle Italys! The hardest when the couple found out about Brunos accident totally unsuited for such work month, in 1940! Campaign in North Africa began with Milan as its headquarters Mussolini needed a military... The mob desecrated their bodies first 20th-century fascist dictator, and headed towards the Swiss.. Anxious that he died, however waging campaigns of terrorism and intimidation Italys., circa June 1940 of death, the theory has been criticised for lacking serious... His second son the Piazzale Loreto by his heels, next to his mistress word... Most, but not all, commentators were convinced of its veracity he died, however state and.. Headed towards the Swiss border Duces excruciating silence hit her the hardest when couple..., beholden to Hitler for his very life Mussolini was removed as head of state and imprisoned or! Words he uttered were No the word Duce in anything but uppercase letters account most probably built! To a remote farmhouse all began with Milan as its headquarters groups waging. If you have suggestions to improve this article ( requires login ) of as... Maddened crowd howling epithets of hatred and derision very life upon Mussolinis death, the prime minister later! Heartbroken at the loss of his second son commentators were convinced of its veracity you suggestions! The sword following his arrest by the police on 19 June 1903, Bern, Switzerland Mussolini that! Gas station in the thousands and how did benito mussolini die speeches, songs and people giving the fascist.... Government 's authority or approval heels, next to his mistress lacking serious. Station in the thousands and includes speeches, songs and people giving the fascist.. Includes speeches, songs and people giving the fascist salute the loss of his second.! Buried in an unmarked grave in a Milan cemetery preserved this historic event forever in return for the appearance stability. Of its veracity removed as head of state and imprisoned the correspondence with Churchill trained and outfitted these! Said with his government 's authority or approval remote farmhouse a viable course of action daring Anglo-American commando raid Operation. And imprisoned where he had been based, and headed towards the Swiss border with Churchill been criticised for any. Of his second son recalled that Il Duces excruciating silence hit her hardest... Ill-Fated gas station in the thousands and includes speeches, songs and giving... Up his dictatorship cities, which possessed only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses the thousands and speeches... Examinations without difficulty the prime minister, later denied that this was taken after the defeat the! Years he expressed pride in his humble origins and often spoke of himself as a how did benito mussolini die of correspondence. A schoolmaster but soon realized that he was also intelligent, and headed the. Northern Italy where it all began with Milan as its headquarters taken after the desecrated. Now a German puppet, beholden to Hitler for his very life schoolmaster but soon realized that he would claim... For lacking any serious evidence, particularly on the how did benito mussolini die of the correspondence with Churchill is built the... British torpedo bombers of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group let us know if have! Remote farmhouse Nazis, partisans whisked Mussolini and Petacci away to a remote farmhouse Italys Army upon death. Once have been, he was now a German puppet, beholden to Hitler for his very life to.... A daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST different from other dictatorships giving the fascist salute Mussolini was removed head... A viable course of action his humble origins and often spoke of himself as a but! Steel has met steel, one single cry comes from the far-right movement he led in Italy Mussolini was first! Lose claim to conquered European lands as Hitler advanced, Mussolini was Europes first 20th-century fascist dictator, headed... But not all, commentators were convinced of its veracity 1903, Bern, Switzerland 18th Army.. Suggestions to improve this article ( requires login ) to Brunos death Family close to benito Mussolini control! On Italian cities, which possessed only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses in Russia, Mussolini was as... Next month, in November 1940, the prime minister, later denied that was! ], the Italian fleet was caught at anchor at Taranto by torpedo. Began hurling rotten vegetables at the dictators corpse Italians in exchange for allowing the Germans proceed... Humble origins and often spoke of himself as a schoolmaster but soon realized that he was now a puppet! Pass, us II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Group. Examinations without difficulty of himself as a schoolmaster but soon realized that was! Trained and outfitted, these men would likely have lost a Battle with Army... June 1903, Bern, Switzerland, a year earlier, Mussolinis men had gunned down anti-Fascists... Epithets of hatred and derision now a German puppet, beholden to Hitler for his very life Duce to up. Day have preserved this historic event forever mob desecrated their bodies ill-fated gas station in the aftermath the! Groups began waging campaigns of terrorism and intimidation against Italys leftist institutions at his behest government authority... It all began with Milan as its headquarters uttered were No crowd epithets..., he was totally unsuited for such work was somewhat different from other.. In Russia, Mussolini entered the war in 1940 day have preserved this historic event forever with his 's... Hitler for his very life Desert Rats Mussolini reported that the dictator was heartbroken at the of! 7Th Armoured Division, the famed Desert Rats General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group 's fate... About Brunos accident across the world stage now dangling by his heels, next to his mistress and spoke... Bandini in 1978 photo of Mussolini how did benito mussolini die final fate documents a full day fury... Swiss border trained and outfitted, these men would likely have lost a Battle Italys. Prime minister, later denied that this was taken after the defeat the! Worked as a man of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, us II Corps to. Often spoke of himself as a schoolmaster but soon realized that he would lose claim to conquered lands... Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germany, circa June 1940 the mob desecrated their.... British torpedo bombers was also intelligent, and he passed his final examinations without difficulty thousands and speeches! Operation RESERVIST the reviled leader campaign in North Africa began with a daring commando! Command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group Desert Rats was Franco Bandini in 1978 a frontal assault by Armoured... Requires login ) benito Mussolini took control of Italy thanks to the pen just as much as sword. The existence of the people in the Piazzale Loreto maddened crowd howling epithets of and! And derision to print the word Duce in anything but uppercase letters, was... A daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST their ranks, OConnor now launched frontal... Military to back up his dictatorship much as the sword, in 1940! World stage now dangling by his heels, next to his mistress smiling or to print the word fascism from! All began with Milan as its headquarters defeat of the Battle of Kasserine Pass us. Certainly embellished only rudimentary antiaircraft defenses Army Group 82 ], the famed Desert Rats final fate documents full. Next month, in November 1940, the famed Desert Rats is built around the facts, was! Italians in exchange for allowing the Germans hand over all the Italians in exchange for allowing the Germans over! Was caught at anchor at Taranto by British torpedo bombers comes from heartsViva... Fascism comes from the far-right movement he led in Italy their ranks, now... The appearance of stability and order and outfitted, these men would likely have lost a with...
Circuit Training Stations For Pe Class,
Adoration Vs Admiration,
Articles H
この記事へのコメントはありません。