Mussolini: From Power to Puppet

Abstract

Modern dlctatorthips frequently display an impressive exterior: the facade wilI be showy and the ramparts apparently impregnable. Within, however, the structure often conceals weakness and even rottenness. In these conditions Benito Mussolini's reglme in Italy found itself midway through Its career in the t930's. Despite a decade of political corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency, and outrIght brutality, the Fascist government enjoyed considerable popularity at home and awakened boundless admlration in many quarters abroad. At first -- and indeed until Italy entered the Second World War -- the major powers, especially Great Britain, were content with the situation in Italy, for it seemed quiet and orderly. Even the sensatIonal assassination of the Socialist deputy Matteotti and the Italian bombardment of Corfu in 1923 did not permanently damage the Duce's good press or retard the eventual creation of the Mussolini myth. [From introductory section]