Monday 10pm DICTATOR'S PLAYBOOK - History/Documentary - Learn how six dictators, from Mussolini to Saddam Hussein, shaped the 20th century. How did they seize and lose power? What forces were against them? Learn the answers in these six immersive hours, each a revealing portrait of brutality and power.
Benito Mussolini - Meet the man who created fascism, an ideology that plunged most of Europe into darkness. See why Benito Mussolini was considered a pioneer among 20th century dictators. From undermining judges to indoctrinating children, he forged key tactics for seizing power. He also created fascism, an ideology that would plunge Europe into darkness.
Mussolini experimented with socialism as a young man, but as Europe was consumed by World War I he was drawn to nationalism. Wounded in the war, he came home in 1917 and began to formulate the fascist ideology, which celebrated military might, extreme devotion to country and the superiority of the Italian people. Fascism also glorified ancient Rome, with the promise to return the country to the glories of the past.
The Road to Dictatorship
- Mussolini built fascism into a movement, complete with a paramilitary force: the blackshirts. Thirty thousand blackshirts marched on Rome in 1922, seizing government buildings and train stations along the way.
- Already a member of parliament, Mussolini demanded to be made prime minister—and Italy’s king capitulated. Once in power, Mussolini began a systematic effort to weaken the country’s fragile democracy.
- A former journalist, Mussolini was a gifted writer with an instinct for playing on people’s dreams and fears. He connected with the public at mass rallies—and through the power of a new technology, radio.
