Mussolini, From National Idol to most Hated man in Italy

 As a boy I was fascinated with Benito Mussolini. Over the years I have wondered how Mussolini who was  a leader in his own right and was the senior of Hitler, went to seed.. He was the man who ushered in Fascism in Italy and led his 'Brown shirts' to seize power in Rome. 

At that time he was a role model for Hitler, but his charisma began to wane after Italian defeats in the Second World War and this came to a head in 1943 when he was deposed and arrested on orders of the King of Italy. .
By this time Mussolini of the thirties, a man had led the brown shirts in the famous march on Rome was dead and in his place had emerged a broken man. Hitler however had vowed to rescue Mussolini and accordingly he launched plans to save Mussolini. Intelligence reports told the Germans that Mussolini was kept imprisoned in a mountain Chateau in North Italy. This was an inaccessible place , but a daring operation by glider borne troops rescued Mussolini.

But the Mussolini who was rescued was a shadow of the earlier Mussolini and all he desired was to be with his young mistress Clara. He abdicated all responsibility and despite being re-installed as Il Duce in North Italy did everything at the behest of Hitler. He on orders of Hitler had his own son-in-law Count Ciano executed. He was now a real puppet and in all meetings with his German advisors he just sat and listened and signed decrees as desired by them. This was a far cry from the man who sat in an imposing office in Rome and created the aura of power and invincibility.

Italians were incensed and looked to capture him. He was captured in early 1945 by the members of the Italian resistance and shot dead with his beloved Clara. It was a sad end to a great man who had plummeted to the depths of despair. The last phase of Mussolini’s life when he became a de-facto puppet of Hitler is very sad indeed. But one reason could be the hypnotic and mesmerizing character of Hitler. If Chamberlain could be charmed by it , so could Mussolini be faulted. But Mussolini's descent from leader to puppet is something that just happened and shows that man can have many facets in his character.Sad End