Correct Answer - Option 2 : Mussolini
Benito Mussolini was the founder of the fascist party in Italy.
- Mussolini drew support from a wide range of Italians. Business owners, government officials, and landowners wanted a strong government that would end strikes and curb working-class political power.
- Fascism also spread to Italy’s middle class, including university students, shopkeepers, and professional people.
- By early 1922 the Fascist Party had more than 300,000 members and controlled several major Italian cities.
In October 1922, Mussolini made his bid for power.
- Speaking at a giant rally of his followers, he said, “Either they will give us the government or we shall take it by descending on Rome.”
- A few days later, thousands of Fascists began a march on Rome.
- When key officials in the government, army and the police sided with the Fascists, King Victor Emmanuel III made Mussolini head of the Italian government.
- Mussolini saw democracy as a weak and ineffective system. He created a dictatorship in which the Fascist Party would have complete control.
- He cracked down on other political parties, started a secret police force to spy on possible enemies, and had many of his opponents thrown into jail.
- The government also took over the press.
Thus, it is clear that Mussolini declared "Either they will give us the government or we shall take it by descending on Rome".
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