Mussolini was caught by Italian communists as he tried to flee Italy and was executed. His body was hung upside down along with those of fifteen other fascists. The angry townspeople beat the dangling corpses which had brought such chaos to their country.
Mussolini, like many other dictators (Stalin, Napoleon, Hitler), was a short man at five foot six inches. Perhaps there is some connection between small stature and a desire to have ultimate power. In order to stay fit, Mussolini swam, fenced, rode horseback and boxed. His voice had an alluring quality to it which added to the effectiveness of his speeches. Mussolini rarely ate and when he did eat, he never spent more than a few minutes on a meal. He didn't smoke or drink and he always went to sleep early.
Mussolini, not unlike Bolshevik revolutionary Trotsky, was never very sure of his own ability and was always out to prove himself. This was emphasized by his numerous fleeting affairs with beautiful women and his need to show off such things as his speed reading ability. He attempted to mask this fact by portraying himself as the decisive man of action. In fact he knew virtually nothing of the state of Italy's military or about economics in general.
He would not tolerate independent thought, even from party members acting in his best interest. Once the party realized this, they seldom bothered to give him advice, thus creating a government blind to reality. When he should have been dealing with real issues, he was instead hard at work on propaganda or a foreign policy that Italy could scarcely afford.
Why did Mussolini's regime fail? Italy was always something of a second rate power, but Mussolini refused to accept reality. Everything he did was for short term glory that would strengthen his power. Without Germany's help, Mussolini would have been stopped much sooner. The Italians found an outlet for their nationalism in fascism and they loved the seeming efficiency it created. Once the harsh realities of war were upon them, however, they lost faith in Il Duce and he soon lost faith in himself.
