14. Mussolini tightened his grip on Italy
There were, according to most historians and political scientists, five distinct phases of Mussolini’s reign over the Italian government and people. When Mussolini was appointed as prime minister of what was ostensibly a parliamentary government, his power was limited by the fact that the Fascists were still a minority party. The first phase was the early years, yielding to the second phase around 1925, during which Mussolini attained dictatorial power. In 1929 the third phase began, as Mussolini and the Fascists instituted the programs which gave them near-total control of Italian society, industry, agriculture, and finance. From 1935 until 1940, Mussolini’s foreign policy was one of aggression and territorial expansion as he sought to restore the empire once held by the Romans. The final phase was the temporary Italian Socialist Republic in Northern Italy, which was little more than a German puppet state near the end of the war.
It is often forgotten that during World War II Italy fought on both sides of the conflict, joining the Allies in the fall of 1943. The collapse of Mussolini’s government that fall led to the German’s rescuing him from his captors and establishing him as the leader of a state that was torn by insurrection and was defended mostly by German troops. Fascism under Mussolini was made more moderate in the Italian Socialist Republic in an attempt to entice support from the people, but by then the majority of Italians had had their fill of Il Duce, and without the support of the German troops, it would have collapsed. As it was it was generally in a state of anarchy throughout its short existence. The short-lived republic was recognized as a state by the Japanese and Germans, as well as Vichy France and other German puppet states. Mussolini’s new Italian Empire ended as a small territory of Northern Italy wholly dependent upon the Nazis for its existence, which lasted about nineteen months.