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Benito Mussolini’s Death – Mussolini Was Executed In 1945

Published on April 26, 2018June 7, 2018

Benito Mussolini was executed on April 28th, 1945, together with his mistress Clara Petacci. They were killed by the partisans while trying to flee Italy. At that time in the war, the Allies have entered the Boot and were heading north from Sicily. For Mussolini’s Italy that was a signal that fascist regime has come to an end.

His last attempt to rally the troops occurred on July 24, 1943. At a Grand Council, Benito Mussolini held a two-hour speech fueled with a passion for trying to provoke fighting spirit in hearts of his comrades. But, he failed, as the council decided that the best way to pursue action was through a peace treaty with Allies. By a 19–8 margin vote, the Council voted to give back constitutional powers to King Victor Emmanuel III, effectively removing Mussolini from power. Even his son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano voted against him. He tried to shrug it off by coming to work the next day as if nothing happened, only to be summoned to the royal palace.

Dismissed

One day after the Council meeting, Italian King Victor Emmanuel III, relived Mussolini from his duty declaring: “At this moment you are the most hated man in Italy.” Shortly after that Benito was arrested and imprisoned. Entire Italy celebrated and Italians soon joined the allied forces. This happened on September 8th. The country wanted to remain neutral for the remainder of the war, but Winston Churchill demanded that Italian troops aid Allies in the fight with the Germans. He said that that’s the only way for them to have a “passage back.” On October 13th, partially unwillingly, Italy declared war on Germany. Third Reich responded by capturing Italians and sending them to concentration camps. The persecution of Italian Jews started at the same time.

The daring rescue

Mussolini was rescued from his mountain prison by German SS paratroopers who consequentially transported him to Germany. There he met with Hitler, who set up Mussolini as the head of a republic in the north part of Italy which was occupied by Germany.

Although the credit for his rescue is often given to Hitler’s favorite commando, Otto Scorzeny, his SS team of 26 men was just a small part of Gran Sasso raid or Operation Eiche, as it was called. The majority of the assault group was compromised of Fallschirmjäger, or German paratroopers. The raid commander was Major Otto-Harald Mors, acting on direct orders from Hitler himself.

At first, Mussolini objected to Hitler’s idea of creating a new state and continuing the war, citing exhaustion of Italian people and huge casualties among the civilian population. Hitler then threatened him with the complete destruction of several Italian cities and Il Duce caved in. The Italian Social Republic was created in 1943, with Mussolini as head of state. The newly formed republic depended on Germany for everything, from money to weapons. Its armed forces nominally fought against the Allies, but apart from few hard-core fascist units, its soldiers were largely demoralized and either surrendered or deserted in droves.

Mussolini spent the last year of his life writing his memoirs, resigned to the fact that the war is lost and that his personal future is grim. In an interview with Madeleine Mollier in January 1945, he said: “Seven years ago, I was an interesting person. Now, I am little more than a corpse. Yes, madam, I am finished. My star has fallen. I have no fight left in me. I work and I try, yet know that all is but a farce… I await the end of the tragedy and – strangely detached from everything – I do not feel any more an actor. I feel I am the last of spectators.”

The execution of Benito Mussolini

The end for Benito Mussolini cam in April of 1945 when Allies reached North Italy. Running in front of evading force, Mussolini planned to cross the Swiss border accompanied by his mistress Clara and a couple of loyal followers. He was stopped by partisans on April 26th, despite his attempts to pass as a Luftwaffe pilot.

On April 28th, the car in which he was transported to Milan was stopped. Both Mussolini and Clara Petacci were escorted out and set up against a wall. It was then that partisans passed the death sentence and Petacci hugged Benito and screamed: “No, he mustn’t die.” She was immediately shot. After this Mussolini opened his jacket, fell to his knees and said: “Shoot me in the chest!” His executioner, a communist partisan called Walter Audisio, granted Mussolini’s last request. After the first bullet, he was still alive, but another one followed to finish the job. Their bodies were loaded into a van, and transported to Milan.

At Milan, their bodies were brought to Piazzale Loreto where many partisans were executed a year before. Their corpses were beaten up, urinated on, only to be left to hang upside down. Pettaci had not been wearing underwear, so her skirt was rearranged to cover her intimate parts by courtesy of a couple of old women. The large crowd was around their bodies for hours trying to get a good look at the scene. People wanted to be sure that Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Italy for 23 years, is finally dead.

Benito Mussolini’s Death Video Youtube:

Mussolini’s Grave

Mussolini’s Tomb – 80,000 to 100,000 visitors come to pay tribute to one of the worst dictators in history – Source: shotinthedark.info

Winston Churchill Was Right About The Middle East

Published on April 11, 2018May 22, 2018

History/News

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, commonly known as Winston Churchill was a British politician, writer, and army officer. He served as a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was a brilliant political mind, and some of his quotes are being cited to this day. Today, we are going to talk about two things that he said on the situation in the Middle East. He was regarded as a great speaker, and some of his words resonate even today.

His two quotes about the Middle East were right on point. The first one was made back in 1929, and it is true now as it was back in the late 20s. It goes as follows: “The whole of the Middle East is intimately related. Beneath the smooth surface of British rule and the slender garrisons which normally sustain it are smoldering the antagonisms of centuries. There are always feuds and animosities. There are always scores to be settled and fanatical thirsts to be slaked. Any appearance of lack of will-power on the part of the British Government or of lack of confidence in its mission in these countries blows like a draught of air on the dull, fierce embers.”

The Churchill knew what he was talking about. Britain had supremacy over the Middle East since the end of the World War I to 1956. They were the dominant force in this area with their influence stretching from Suez Canal to the Persian Gulf. The dominance lasted all till the end of the World War II. In between two world wars, there wasn’t bigger world power than Great Britain. But after the end of WWII, British influence disappeared, and its place as the super-power was taken by the U.S.

Later in 1958, long after Brits lost their control of Middle East, Winston Churchill made another remark regarding this part of the world: “The Middle East is one of the hardest-hearted areas in the world. It has always been fought over, and peace has only reigned when a major power has established firm influence and shown that it will maintain its will. Your friends must be supported with every vigor and if necessary they must be avenged. Force, or perhaps force and bribery, are the only things that will be respected. It is very sad, but we had all better recognize it. At present, our friendship is not valued, and our enmity is not feared.”

Winston Churchill hat — Source: indiansnews.com

Now, different words resonate in people’s heads: “Churchill was right.” He was, and what’s even worse he is right as we speak. After 1958 there were so many conflicts that it is hard to count. We’re going to name just some that were the most significant ones.

* 1958 Iraqi Revolution
* November 1963 Iraqi coup
* Black September in Jordan
* Lebanese Civil War
* Kurdish–Turkish conflict (still ongoing)
* 1980 Turkish coup d’état
* 1980 -1988 Iran – Iraq War
* 1990-1991 Gulf War
* 2003-2011 Iraq War
* 2011 Syrian Civil War (ongoing)

John Quincy Adams and Grand Strategy

Published on October 9, 2016May 22, 2018

History/News

Last year, Dr. Charles N. Edel, a professor at the National War College spoke about his experiences in the academic world and the world of politics. He also talked about his book called “Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic.” Apparently, this grand strategy can be applied to the modern society and the world we live in.

What were some of the key points of Edel’s speech?

John Quincy Adams had a chance to change the country for the better after a devastating War that took place in 1812. This was the time when the US could experience economic growth and territorial expansion. Before becoming a president, he was Secretary of State, but his politics and philosophy remained the same. He was against the Old World monarchies, and he advocated republicanism. Adams wanted to prevent European expansion and facilitate the American instead, but he was also against slavery which spread like wildfire.

In order for the US to become a relevant country worldwide, domestic institutions and infrastructure needed to develop first. Among the most important tasks Adams had was instilling a sense of civic duty among the people who lived in America. This was just a part of the grand strategy.

Adams firmly believed that the United States was supposed to remain neutral in foreign affairs, but at the same time, he wanted large sums of money to go into developing military infrastructure. With the country which is strong internally, defense of the territory would be a lot easier, and that was what Adams hoped to achieve.

When he was the Secretary of State, the country spread its borders to Florida and the hinterlands. However, before spreading its powers and displaying it on the global level, the U.S. needed a safe western border. During his presidency, Adams facilitated education, commerce, and industry. Introducing some of the changes and rules was difficult to translate into legislation due to structural shifts in the American politics, but he had a goal to delegitimize monarchy and put republicanism first.

The reason why Adams had such views lies in his upbringing. When he was a boy, his father exposed him to the international politics which sparked his interest in politics and modeled his ambitions. When he was a US diplomat, John Quincy Adams met world leaders, statesmen, and scholars from different corners of Earth. He was familiar with different cultures, philosophies and governing systems which affected his forward-thinking philosophy in large measure.

For Adams, history was quite important, and he learned much from it. He believed that nations, whether they were monarchic or republican, had same universal laws and strategic interests. Thanks to history, he was able to predict what was going to happen and he mostly relied on the Roman history and the history of the Ancient Greeks. Adams wanted all policymakers to be familiar with the rise and fall of all of these great nations so that they could use the knowledge to make better sense of the current affairs and consequently make better decisions. The wars were waged in Europe and Adams advocated a strong centralized government in the US which would protect the then-fragile republic from foreign influence or possible attacks.

However, it took a lot of time for these objectives to be applied and America needed to go through Civil War first. Obviously, his thoughts on foreign policy influence the American grand strategy as we speak. Adams was able to recognize threats which were imminent and those less pressing were dealt later on. This has helped America achieve domestic stability before spreading democracy around the world. Although the changes were not that drastic during his rule, he managed to instill such an opinion and establish himself as one of the most prominent figures of delicate US.