'We shall succeed because we shall work,' said Mussolini, and no one worked harder - or more visibly - than he did. He spent days touring the province, escorted by a claque of blackshirted Fascist Party functionaries, a small army of body guards and a train of journalists and photographers convincing his people to follow him and create a new Italian empire. In the following essay I will briefly explain why the Italian people followed Mussolini, how he came to power, and compare the beliefs and practices of fascism with those of Nazism.
For a man who was to occupy such a conspicuous pl…