Benito Mussolini

Although fascism has appeared in an absurdly wide range of forms throughout the world since the early 1920s, its roots can be unmistakably traced to Benito Mussolini and his Blackshirts, a loosely organized, armed, and largely volunteer squad under his direct command that attacked and suppressed the Bolshevik-inspired left movements sprouting up across Italy in the wake of World War One.

Similar to the other nations that supported Germany, post-World War One Italy experienced years of economic suffering as well as an unfavorable peace treaty, creating the ideal environment for the establishment of the Mussolini-inspired form of government. In Italy, socialist and communist organizations were violently suppressed from 1919 to 1922 by Mussolini and the Blackshirts, with alarmingly high levels of popular support. His infamous March on Rome, which overthrew Luigi Facta's administration and installed him as Prime Minister until his death at the end of World War 2, gave him complete control over Italy.

As they say, the rest is history. The extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, and militarism that Benito Mussolini would later connect Italy with are characteristics we now associate with fascism. His final partnership with Hitler (who, spoiler alert, we'll talk about shortly) led to the outbreak of the Second World War, the biggest and most destructive conflict in history.

Born: Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, 29 July 1883Dovia di Predappio, Kingdom of Italy
Died: 28 April 1945 (aged 61)Giulino di Mezzegra, Kingdom of Italy