Fall and End of Mussolini | Evolution of Evil | Short Episode

september the 1st 1939 hitler invades poland two days later britain and france declare war on germany at first mussolini is unsure which way the war will go and tries to play the long game but when hitler conquers france he is convinced there can be only one winner on june 10 1940 he throws in his lot with the nazis he's certain now hitler is unstoppable and by following him he can fulfill his own imperial dreams he couldn't be more wrong he's been sucked into a conflict italy cannot fight italy is decidedly unprepared for a modern world war its economy remains the weakest of the competing great powers all the advice that mussolini gets in in the spring anyway of 1940 is be careful look we really can't do this as hitler's armies rampage through northern europe against all his general's advice mussolini instructs his forces to begin their own separate invasions without telling it decides to go for the balkans in a big way and plans are drawn up for invasion of greece which is assumed will be fairly over fairly quickly [Music] for all mussolini's success in ethiopia the invasion of greece is a disaster the italian army is defeated and immediately retreat [Music] the nazis are forced to rescue their weaker ally and occupy greece on june the 22nd 1941 hitler independently attacks the soviet union but mussolini insists italian troops have to be involved mussolini looked at hitler with admiration but also hate hate because hitler had become the master and mussolini had become simply an ally and moreover a secondary ally in the russian campaign mussolini insisted on sending italian troops which hitler didn't want it because of their leader's desperation to please his master around thirty thousand italians are killed on the eastern front and another fifty thousand die in captivity in 1942 news filters through of further defeats to the british in north africa the war is becoming a humiliation for italy unstable personality emerges again with violent mood swings and erratic behavior [Music] when mussolini had aligned himself with hitler he developed this kind of manic depressive kind of behavior going from one extreme to another he takes refuge in his arrogance and self-obsession he believes that he can do no wrong he's a great believer his own intuition he says to his son-in-law at one stage i am the most intelligent animal that's ever existed [Music] but his bluster seems absurd given the tragedy about to engulf his people in 1943 italy is losing the war and mussolini becomes seriously ill with an ulcer that's plagued him throughout his life his grip on the country is loosening and the writing is on the wall for his regime the allies are bombing the entire peninsula and have invaded sicily [Music] air raids on italian cities take a huge toll both in terms of material damage but also on the morale of italian people there are increasing food shortages rationing comes in in a major way and people are getting increasingly desperate despite the suffering of his people the duchy is too proud to surrender his character begins to change he becomes more isolated um he won't listen to anyone's advice unable to accept any blame mussolini casts around for scapegoats he began to use propaganda in an effort to blame the war on the jews he started to blame his generals and when disaster really struck he accused the italian people of not being in control of their own dreams and objectives it was always somebody else's fault italians who had once been frightened into submission even his own political allies now turn on their leader mussolini's son-in-law count gianna leads a vote on the grand council to remove him from office and end the war the king places him under house arrest he is confined under armed guard mussolini thought that he was finished he wanted to dedicate himself to his family but if mussolini thinks he can spend the rest of his days in relative peace hitler has other plans [Applause] in one of the most daring rescues of the war he dispatches gliders to where mussolini is being held in the mountains without a shot being fired he is rescued and installed as head of a new puppet regime in the north of italy the republic of salon under nazi control [Music] the reversal of roles is now complete mussolini the once powerful leader who wrote the book on leading by intimidation is now utterly subservient to hitler [Music] he now served nearly as a puppet in a way just repeating the words hitler had already written and hitler places conditions on mussolini's return he tells him he must send what jews remain in italy to auschwitz six thousand are sent to the gas chambers making his regime complicit in the worst crime in history next hitler orders mussolini to execute the members of his government who had conspired to have him removed including his own son-in-law count jan isolated and hated by his people reviled by his own family his love of the nazis and a new roman empire brings him close to the end confessed to being finished to being a walking corpse the italian population cursed the war and cursed mussolini in this period he was a broken man responsible for an italian catastrophe even worse it's all been for nothing little by little the nazis are driven out of italy the duchess tries to escape with one of his many mistresses claretta patachi but the game is up orders come through that muslim should be executed before the allies get their hands on him that it should be italian people who make judgment over him [Music] [Music] the pierzale loreto in milan [Music] there the italian people shattered by a war only their leader wanted display their feelings mussolini's corpse was battered spat upon his head was kicked in and the bodies were tied around the ankles and then hoisted up so that the is hung upside down [Music] [Applause] our old events are old events our old events our old events horrible events our old events our old events our old events our old events our old events our old events our 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Channel: criminals and crime fighters

Views: 11,128

Keywords: Hard Time, Hard Time Series, Hard Time Full Series, Hard Time Full Episode, Hard Time Season 3, Hard Time Season three, Hard Time Documentary, Hard Time Prison Documentary, Hard Time Crime Documentary

Id: 7F7_mDrLR4E

Length: 10min 28sec (628 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021