| Benito Mussolini, born this day in 1883, was the prime minister of Italy (1922–43) and the first of 20th-century Europe's fascist dictators. As early as February 1918, Mussolini, who became known as Il Duce (“the Leader”), advocated the emergence of a dictator—“a man who is ruthless and energetic enough to make a clean sweep”—to confront the economic and political crisis then gripping Italy. Supported in his fascist schemes by Adolf Hitler but wary of German power, Mussolini agreed to the Rome-Berlin Axis and declared war on the Allies in 1940. |