Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was an Italian politician who ruled his country as a dictator from 1922 to 1943. is responsible for two ideas that had a decisive influence on many twentieth-century political movements. One was that of the Stato totale, origin of totalitarianism, which the Duce (meaning chieftain), as his followers called him, characterized as a regime in which the whole society was subordinate to the will of the state. The other, closely related to the first, was the corporate state, in which neither the intermediate groups (political parties, unions, etc..) Could have an existence outside the state. Mussolini These ideas were at the base of the thinking of German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. "
The fear that in Italy a communist revolution broke out was that after the First World War on the peninsula formed numerous right-wing groups, violent trend. One was the Fascist Party, which grew rapidly. In 1922, some 25,000 militia members of the Duce, known as "Blackshirts", staged a giant rally in Rome. As a result of it, Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister, a position he served as a springboard to take complete power.
In the first stage of the conflict, remained neutral Italy. But later, before the military successes of the Germans, Mussolini decided to join Hitler and declaring war on the Allies.