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Italy was left impoverished and weak after WWI ended. The Italian government was collapsing, but it didn't matter because they had almost no say over their people anyways. Mussolini seized this opportunity and started to write his opinions about the government in the newspapers. (shown below) He slowly gained followers, and after threatening the government for power, he was granted a spot in the government. Using the continued of the middle class, he was able to work his way all the way up to the top, to become Italy's supreme leader.

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The government released documents and books (like the one below) to spread ideas and values that they wanted the people to learn. The Gli Ebrei turned people against the Jews and encouraged the general public to have anti-Semitic views.

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In order to maintain a strong hold over the people, Mussolini limited unions from forming or protesting. The only thing that could weaken his power was the public turning against him, and as long as that didn't happen he was going to be fine with being the absolute ruler. He also influenced the press by only having the information he wanted in the press.

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Once elected, Mussolini eliminated all political parties except the fascist party, leaving them with the power. The symbol that represented their party is below. The government was able to rig elections to get the results they wanted, often involving the appointment of family and friends of government officials into the political world. Mussolini was named the supreme leader, and he had all the power imaginable.

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He gave the people a sense of hope, even though it turned out to be false hope. He lead the military into battles that they weren't equipped and ready for, so they lost many of them. He made Italy an anti-semitic state, and influenced how they would view other races of people for many years to come.