Who they were
Benito Mussolini was the founder of Fascism and dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943.
What they did
A former socialist journalist, he founded the Fascist movement after World War I and took power after the March on Rome in 1922, building a one-party dictatorship as “Il Duce.” He signed the Lateran Treaty in 1929, invaded Ethiopia in 1935, enacted racial laws in 1938, allied with Nazi Germany, and brought Italy into World War II in 1940. Deposed in 1943, he headed a German-backed puppet state and was captured and killed by partisans in April 1945.
Legacy
Historians remember his regime for dictatorship, propaganda, colonial wars, and the catastrophe of World War II for Italy, and “fascism” became a general term for the movement he named.