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On October 29, 1922, fascist leader Benito Mussolini was offered the Italian premiership amid political and social upheaval. Explore nine things you may not know about "Il Duce" and his 21 years in power.

1. Mussolini had a penchant for violence even as a youth.
Born on July 29, 1883, Mussolini gained a reputation for bullying and fighting during his childhood. At age 10 he was expelled from a religious boarding school for stabbing a classmate in the hand, and another stabbing incident took place at his next school. He also admitted to knifing a girlfriend in the arm. Meanwhile, he purportedly pinched people at church to make them cry, led gangs of boys on raids of local farmsteads and eventually became adept at dueling with swords. When the New York Times reported on Mussolini's May 1922 duel against a rival newspaper editor, it mentioned that he bore over 100 wounds received in battle.

2. Mussolini was a socialist before becoming a fascist.
Born to a socialist father, Mussolini was named after leftist Mexican President Benito Juárez. His two middle names, Amilcare and Andrea, came from Italian socialists Amilcare Cipriani and Andrea Costa. Early in Mussolini's life, for instance, those names seemed appropriate. While living in Switzerland from 1902 to 1904, he cultivated an intellectual image and wrote for socialist periodicals such as L'Avvenire del Lavoratore (The Worker's Future). He then served in the Italian army for nearly two years before resuming his career as a teacher and journalist. In his articles and speeches, Mussolini preached violent revolution, praised famed communist thinker Karl Marx and criticized patriotism. In 1912 he became editor of Avanti! (Forward!), the official daily newspaper of Italy's Socialist Party. But he was expelled from the party two years later over his support for World War I. By 1919 a radically changed Mussolini had founded the fascist movement, which would later become the Fascist Party.

3. Italy's leaders never called on the military to stop Mussolini's insurrection.
From 1920 to 1922, armed fascist squads faced minimal interference from the police or army as they roamed the country causing property damage and killing an estimated 2,000 political opponents. Many other citizens were beaten up or forced to drink castor oil. Then, on October 24, 1922, Mussolini threatened to seize power with a demonstration known as the March on Rome. Though Prime Minister Luigi Facta knew of these plans, he failed to act in any meaningful way. Finally, when fascists began occupying government offices and telephone exchanges on the night of October 27, Facta and his ministers advised King Victor Emmanuel III to declare a state of emergency and impose martial law. The wavering king refused to sign any such decree, however, and Facta was forced to resign.

4. Contrary to popular belief, Mussolini did not take power in a coup.
With Italy's leading non-fascist politicians hopelessly divided and with the threat of violence in the air, on October 29 the king offered Mussolini the chance to form a coalition government. But although the premiership was now his, Il Duce-a master of propaganda who claimed the backing of 300,000 fascist militiamen when the real number was probably far lower-wanted to make a show of force. As a result, he joined armed supporters who flooded the streets of Rome the following day. Mussolini would later mythologize the March on Rome's importance.

5. Mussolini did not become a true dictator until 1925.
After becoming prime minister, Mussolini reduced the influence of the judiciary, muzzled a free press, arrested political opponents, continued condoning fascist squad violence and otherwise consolidated his hold on power. However, he continued working within the parliamentary system at least somewhat until January 1925, when he declared himself dictator of Italy. Following a series of assassination attempts in 1925 and 1926, Mussolini tightened his grip even further, banning opposition parties, kicking out over 100 members of parliament, reinstating the death penalty for political crimes, ramping up secret police activities and abolishing local elections.

6. Mussolini was anti-Church before becoming pro-Church.
As a socialist youth, Mussolini declared himself an atheist and railed against the Catholic Church, going so far as to say that only idiots believed Bible stories and that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were lovers. He even authored an anti-clerical pulp novel. But after taking power, Il Duce began working to patch up that relationship. He outlawed freemasonry, exempted the clergy from taxation, cracked down on artificial contraception, campaigned for an increased birth rate, raised penalties for abortion, restricted nightlife, regulated women's clothing and banned homosexual acts among adult men. Despite having many mistresses himself, he also put in place harsh punishments for adultery. In 1929 Mussolini signed an agreement with the Vatican under which the Church received authority over marriage and was compensated for property that had been seized decades earlier. Pope Pius XI afterwards referred to Mussolini as the "man whom providence has sent us." Nonetheless, tensions between the two eventually resurfaced over such things as Mussolini's racial laws, where were similar to those in Nazi Germany.

7. Mussolini sought to establish an Italian empire.
Mussolini launched his first military action in 1923 when he bombarded and briefly occupied the Greek island of Corfu. Several years later, he authorized the use of concentration camps and poison gas to help put down a rebellion in Libya, which at that time was an Italian colony. Poison gas was again used illegally during the conquest of Ethiopia in 1935 and 1936, after which Il Duce declared that Italy finally had its empire. "It is a fascist empire, an empire of peace, an empire of civilization and humanity," he purportedly said. Three years later, Italy invaded and annexed Albania. In addition to those wars of expansion, conflict-loving Mussolini also propped up right-wing dissidents. During the Spanish Civil War, for example, he supplied troops and arms to General Francisco Franco's Nationalist movement.

8. Italy's army performed disastrously during World War II.
For all his bluster, Mussolini did not enter World War II until June 1940, by which time his Nazi Germany allies had already swept through much of Europe. It soon became apparent that Italy lacked adequate military equipment and that its pace of production was pitiful. In fact, the United States could manufacture more planes in a week than Italy could in a year. Mussolini did not help matters by repeatedly changing his war plans and stretching his forces too thin. His poorly executed attack on France made little progress until the French asked the Germans for an armistice. Later that year, Italian troops invaded Greece, only to be pushed back into neighboring Albania. Italy's North Africa campaign likewise stalled, although in both cases Germany temporarily came to the rescue.

9. Mussolini was deposed without a fight.
Having already snatched away Libya and Ethiopia, Allied forces invaded Italy proper in 1943 and began dropping bombs on Rome. On July 25 of that year, King Victor Emmanuel informed Mussolini that he would be replaced as prime minister. Il Duce was then arrested and imprisoned in various places, including a remote mountain ski resort from which German commandos rescued him a month and a half later. From September 1943 to April 1945, Mussolini headed a puppet government in German-occupied northern Italy. At the end of the war, he tried to sneak over the Swiss border wearing a German greatcoat and helmet. But an Italian partisan recognized him and shouted out, "We've got Big-Head!" Mussolini was executed the following day, and his corpse was strung upside down in a Milan square.

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9 Things You May Not Know About Mussolini

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On October 29, 1922, fascist leader Benito Mussolini was offered the Italian premiership amid political and social upheaval. Explore nine things you may not know about "Il Duce" and his 21 years in power. 1. Mussolini had a penchant for violence even as a youth.

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Benito Mussolini was an Italian political leader who became the fascist dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945. Originally a revolutionary socialist, he forged the paramilitary fascist movement in 1919 and became prime minister in 1922. Called "Il Duce" (the Leader) by his countrymen, Mussolini allied himself with Adolf Hitler, relying on the German dictator to prop up his leadership during World War II, but he was killed shortly after the German surrender in Italy in 1945.

MUSSOLINI'S CHILDHOOD

Born on July 29, 1883, in Verano di Costa, Italy, Mussolini was the son of blacksmith and ardent socialist Alessandro Mussolini and a devout Catholic mother, Rosa Maltoni. By most accounts, Mussolini's family lived in simple, small quarters.

Young Mussolini was expelled from his first boarding school at age 10 for stabbing a fellow student. At 14, he stabbed another student but was only suspended.

MUSSOLINI THE SOCIALIST

Much of Mussolini's early adulthood was spent traveling around Switzerland, getting involved with that country's Socialist Party and clashing with police. In 1909, he moved to Austria-Hungary to become editor of a socialist newspaper, but was deported back to Italy, accused of violating laws meant to regulate press freedom.

In 1910, Mussolini became the editor for another socialist newspaper, but soon spent six months in jail for inciting violence. During his incarceration, he began to write his autobiography - while still in his twenties - detailing his troubled school years and his many romantic conquests.

Mussolini split from the Socialist Party in 1914. Starting his own newspaper, he encouraged violence from his supporters as unrest spread across the country.

MUSSOLINI THE JOURNALIST

Following a stint in the military, Mussolini returned to newspapers and by 1918 called for a dictator to seize control of Italy. Pressure from Mussolini and his followers forced the government to order the internment of foreigners they considered enemies.

After the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 - and his dissatisfaction with it - Mussolini gathered the various fascist groups into a national organization called Fasci Italiani di Combattimento. The Italian Fascists courted war veterans and encouraged violence against socialists. Mussolini stockpiled weapons and explosives in his newspaper offices.

MUSSOLINI'S RISE TO POWER

By the end of the year, Mussolini stood in a general election as the Fascist candidate but lost in a Socialist sweep. Two days later, Mussolini was arrested for allegedly collecting arms to overthrow the government, but was released without charges the next day.

In 1921 the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III dissolved Parliament amidst growing violence and chaos. Elections brought a huge win for the Fascists, with Mussolini taking a seat as a deputy in Parliament. The party changed its name to Partito Nazionale Fascista.

ITALIAN FASCISM MARCHES TO POWER

In 1922, Fascists were instructed to wear uniforms, including black shirts, when in squads that were modeled after Roman army groups. All party members were considered squad members.

Soon after, several Italian cities were seized by Fascist squads, who also burned down Communist and Socialist offices.

In October 1922, Mussolini threatened to march on Rome to take control of the government through violent force if it was not handed over. The government was slow to act, eventually dispatching troops, though Fascists had already seized control of some local governments.

Refusing to pass martial law, King Victor Emmanuel III watched as thousands of armed Fascists entered Rome. He dissolved the government and asked Mussolini to form a new one. Mussolini became Prime Minister, as well as Minister of the Interior and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

FASCISTS SEIZE CONTROL OF ITALY

Mussolini's first act as prime minister was to demand special emergency powers allowing him to rig elections in the Fascists' favor. Soon after, the Italian parliament made suspicion of being anti-Fascist punishable by imprisonment without trial.

The next year police rounded-up Socialists, and the government restricted their publishing activities. A Socialist deputy plotted to assassinate Mussolini, but the betrayal of a friend led to his arrest just before the attempt. Several other assassination attempts followed.

In 1926, Fascists created a youth group called the Opera Nazionale Balilla, pressuring children to join. The Catholic Boy Scouts were dissolved and the formation of other youth groups became illegal.

The same year, all Communist members of Parliament were arrested, and all Socialist members expelled. Anyone who could not be prosecuted for a crime was detained for up to five years and placed in island internment camps.

Cinemas were required to screen government propaganda in the form of newsreels. Fascists owned 66 percent of the newspapers and controlled reporting, issuing daily editorial guidelines and threatening editors with arrest.

The Order of Journalists was created and membership was mandatory. Newspapers were allowed to criticize the government as long as they generally expressed support.

MUSSOLINI AND HITLER

At first, Mussolini disapproved of Germany's Adolf Hitler, but over time their partnership grew and Mussolini embraced anti-Semitic measures.

Following Italy's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, Germany was the second country to recognize Italy's legitimacy there. Both Hitler and Mussolini sided with Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, with Mussolini providing 50,000 troops.

In 1937, Italy left the League of Nations in solidarity with Germany. In March of 1938, Hitler invaded Austria with Mussolini's support. By October, the two countries had officially joined together as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

Mussolini wrote an article in 1938 that aligned Italians with the German concept of the Aryan race. When anti-Jewish laws began to appear in Italy, Germany felt they were weak, but Mussolini was prepared to increase their severity as needed. Soon after, Mussolini called for the expulsion of foreign Jews from Italy.

Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 immediately caused Britain and France to declare war against Germany, but Mussolini, for the moment, remained neutral.

Germany's invasion of Denmark and Norway convinced Mussolini that Hitler would win the war. Soon Holland and Belgium also fell to Hitler. As the Germans plowed through France in June 1939, Mussolini announced Italy's entrance into the war.

THE PLOT AGAINST MUSSOLINI

By 1943, after years of fighting in World War II, Italy was viewed by its own citizens as losing the war.

While making a round of visits, Mussolini was detained and informed that the King had appointed a new prime minister. Mussolini was arrested and sent to the island of La Maddalena.

When Italy accepted the terms of secret peace talks with the Allies, Hitler ordered German forces into Italy, which resulted in two Italian nations, one occupied by Germans.

Mussolini, fearful of being handed over, was instead rescued by Hitler's forces. Transported to German-occupied northern Italy, he was installed as Hitler's puppet leader, creating the Italian Social Republic and leading to the extermination of thousands of Italian Jews.

Allied forces barreled through Italy in June 1945. Mussolini attempted to flee to Spain with his lover, Claretta Petacci, but was discovered and arrested by partisans searching troop transport trucks.

HOW DID MUSSOLINI DIE?

There are conflicting stories about how Mussolini died, but autopsy reports state the dictator was shot by soldiers firing several bullets - with four of them near the heart - causing immediate death.

The bodies of both Mussolini and Petacci were hung upside down at the Piazzale Loreto in Milan and displayed for crowds kick and spit on. One day later, Hitler committed suicide and the following week, Germany surrendered.

MUSSOLINI'S BODY

Mussolini's body was buried in an unmarked grave, which was unearthed in 1946 by Fascist supporters, who took the body to a convent in Lombardy. The government recovered it and interred it in a monastery near Milan.

Mussolini's wife petitioned to have the body moved from a grave in Milan to a family mausoleum in Predappio in 1957.

In 1966, she was given an envelope containing a piece of her husband's brain. The American diplomat who handed it to her claimed that the Americans had taken the brain in order to study what makes a dictator. She had the relic placed in his tomb, which receives 100,000 visitors a year.

SOURCES

Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of Il Duce. Ray Moseley.

Mussolini. Jasper Ridley.

Mussolini. Rupert Colley.

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Benito Mussolini was an Italian political leader who became the fascist dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945. Originally a revolutionary socialist, he forged the paramilitary fascist movement in 1919 and became prime minister in 1922.

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Kids learn about the biography of Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator and fascist who ruled Italy and allied with Adolf Hitler during World War II.