1. Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini founded Fascism and ruled Italy as a dictator for more than 21 years. He dreamed of making Italy into a great empire. He banned all other parties and took control of industry, schools, the police and the media. Il Duce joined an alliance with German dictator Adolf Hitler. Both countries sent soldiers to Spain to support General Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

In 1943 Mussolini was arrested but soon later rescued by German commandos. In 1945 Italians who were against fascism captured Mussolini as he wanted to escape to Switzerland. The next day he was shot to death.



Benito Mussolini
Image: www.historynet.comwww.gettyimages.it,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons



Words

  • alliance = two or more countries agree to work or fight together
  • arrest = to take a person to a police station because they may have done something wrong
  • ban = forbid, not allow
  • capture = to catch a person and keep them as a prisoner
  • commandos = soldiers who are trained to carry out special attacks
  • empire = a group of countries that is controlled by a ruler or king
  • escape = get away
  • Fascism = a system in which people's lives are completely controlled by the state; no other opinions are allowed
  • found - founded = to create something new
  • media = newspapers and the radio
  • rescue = save , free
  • support = help, assist