What happened to Benito Mussolini during World War 2?

Answer 1

SHORT ANSWER:

He got overthrown during the war.

LONG ANSWER:

Born: 29 July 1883 Died: 28 April 1945 (shot to death)

Birthplace: Predappio, Italy

Best known as: Italy's dictator during World War II

Known as "Il Duce" -- the Leader -- Benito Mussolini was the Fascist dictator of Italy during World War II. Benito Mussolini grew active in Italian politics in the first decade of the 1900s. He then spent time in exile in Switzerland and Austria, where he worked writing and editing socialist newspapers. He returned to Italy after serving as a rifleman in World War I and gained power and notoriety as a revolutionary nationalist. Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in 1919, used force and intimidation against political opponents, and took power in 1922, creating a Dictatorship and dissolving Italy's parliament. Despite his heavy-handed tactics, he was popular with the common people for many years as he expanded government services and "made the trains run on time." Bald and blustery, he loved fancy uniforms and liked to strut and posture proudly during public appearances. In the 1930s Italy invaded Ethiopia and Albania and in 1939 Mussolini promised an alliance with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. But Mussolini's fall was nearly as swift as his rise: Italy's failures in the war led to Mussolini being ousted from power in 1943. He was arrested but then rescued by German troops, after which Hitler set him up as the head of government in Northern Italy. As the war ended in 1945, Mussolini tried to escape to Switzerland but was seized by Italian partisans, who shot him and then strung up his body in Milan for public display.

When World War II started, Mussolini was the Prime Minister of Fascist Italy, and as such, was the person in charge of running the Italian government (Italy also had a King at the time, but he let the Prime Minister run things). Italy was allied with Germany, and tried to take advantage of Germany's victories to gain territory for themselves. For example, Italy declared war on France on the same day that Germany captured Paris in June 1940.

However, Italy's military was not as good as the German military, nor was it as large or technologically advanced. France was actually winning in their brief war against Italy up until France was forced to surrender to Germany near the end of June 1940. When Mussolini tried to conquer Greece later in 1940, the Greek and British troops not only stopped the Italian invasion, they were actually able to invade Albania (which had been conquered by Italy just before World War II began). Germany was forced to come to Italy's aid, and helped occupy Greece. Likewise, the Italian forces in Italian East Africa (modern Ethiopia and Somalia) were pretty easily defeated and conquered by the British; and Italy's armies in Libya were being pushed around by the British until the German commander General Rommel came to help.

By the end of 1943, Italy's forces in Libya had been defeated and driven out, and the Allies had invaded Sicily and even Italy itself. Mussolini's Fascist government, the war, and the German troops helping Mussolini keep power, were all becoming extremely unpopular with Italians. In July 1943, Mussolini's own Fascist Party voted him out of power; the King then stripped him of his office and had him thrown in prison. By September of the same year, the new prime minister began negotiations for Italy to surrender and then switch over to the Allied side.

German commandos were able to pull off a raid which rescued Mussolini and brought him to northern Italy, where Germany's armies had fully seized control. This German-controlled part of northern Italy was refashioned into a new country called the "Italian Social Republic", and Mussolini was made its first and only ruler- but Germany was actually in charge, and because of this, the Social Republic started more vigorously arresting Jews to send off to the death camps (previously, the Italian government had mostly- but not entirely- resisted assisting the Holocaust). The newly free Italian Army joined the Allies against the Social Republic; anti-Fascist Italians who lived in the Social Republic also started a guerrilla war against it.

Eventually the Allies were able to defeat the German troops and the Italian Social Republic. At the end of April 1945, Mussolini finally gave up and tried to flee- he, his girlfriend, and a few other loyal Fascist leaders tried to escape to Switzerland. They were captured by Italian anti-Fascist guerrillas not far from the border. The guerrillas then killed the group, and hung their bodies at a gas station for people to spit or throw things at. It was a bad ending for an equally bad man- and this was why Adolf Hitler committed suicide and had his body burned before the Soviets could capture him a few days later.

Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were stopped by communist partisans as they headed for Switzerland to board a plane to escape to Spain. Mussolini and Petacci were both summarily executed, along with most of the members of their 15-man train, primarily ministers and officials of the Italian Social Republic.
Its called look in ur book
he and his wife were killed by being dragged along the streets of italy.

Answer 2

Benito Mussolini was the dictator of France, leading the fascist party in Italy. He lead the country of Italy into World War II, ultimately siding with the Germans.

Answer 3

dictator of italy