Hitler Cried When He Met Mussolini.

Mussolini served as an inspiration for Adolf Hitler. Hitler attempted to emulate Mussolini's attempt to seize power in Germany in 1923, but failed; the failed "Beer Hall Putsch" would land Hitler in jail for a while. When he came to power, Hitler inherited many of the dictatorial traits of his Italian predecessor, including the infamous salute.

Hitler's admiration was enjoyed by Mussolini. Hitler "had tears in his eyes" when the two of them first met, he claimed to his mistress Claretta Petacci in 1938. According to Petacci's notebooks, Mussolini stated that Hitler "in heart" was an old sentimentalist which was one of the interesting facts about Benito Mussolini.

Since the end of the war, several unexpected aspects of Adolf Hitler's personality have come to light. One of them is that he cries. Knowing that Hitler wept when he met Benito Mussolini does nothing to improve his reputation or legacy. It turns out that Hitler was somewhat of a Mussolini fanboy, basing his goals of achieving absolute power on Mussolini, which dates all the way back to the 1920s. Meeting Mussolini for Hitler was a major matter because of this, but also for other reasons. Additionally, Hitler loved Italian art, and some historians theorized that he intended to settle there after the war (via the Evening Standard).

Hitler and Mussolini had a strong anti-Semitic and racist ideology. Therefore, it appears likely that they had a lot to talk about when they first met in the late 1930s. Mussolini reportedly spoke to Hitler as "nice" and "an old sentimentalist at heart," according to Petacci.