This 1967 book, a hefty tome in bookseller jargon, traces the life of Mussolini, from his childhood in Romagna, the son of the people, of a socialist father; he is and remains a socialist.
His political career is a succession of reversals and positions opposing each other. He is a pacifist, then a warmonger. He founds fascism and takes power in Italy, soon becoming a dictator. He opposes Hitler only to later ally and alienate Italy to Germany. Mussolini, with his unstable temperament, dreams of recreating the Roman Empire.
He leads his country into colonial adventures where victory is uncertain, then into the Second World War, taking advantage of a France in extreme difficulty and nearly defeated to attack it, thinking it would be an easy victory? No, it was actually a failure, ending in the Franco-German armistice.
Initially, he allowed trains to run on time and gave Italy momentum towards modernism with highways and the draining of marshes, but he later led his country to catastrophe, becoming hypnotized by Hitler, he became his slave and vassal.
This book shows us a man more victim than guilty, Mussolini elsewhere than in Italy might have had another fate. He was a demagogue, adored, cheered and revered by a people touched by fascist propaganda and the military successes of the Axis.
With the setbacks came disenchantment, followed by the betrayal of those who owed him everything. Mussolini: guilty or innocent? Monster or victim? This question hasn’t been answered yet, is it too soon?
Probably, we must let time erase passions to judge this man and his work with serenity.
Thierry Jan
