Spiderman
Veteran Member
So, I'm the biggest Mussolini fan I know when I learned all he did to halt Hitler's advances in Chzeclosovakia, how he despised the attack on Poland, how he put his troops at the Austrian border delaying Hitler's annexation of Austria and declared he would join the allies if they declared war on him when he did that, how he stayed out of the war as long as he could despite Hitler sending him threats to invade Italy for being unfaithful to the pact of steel, psychological warfare from Hitler with almost daily letters glorifying Germany's victories, pressure from the Italian people to grab some spoils and not be a wimp, reading how much his wife and he despised Hitler and thought him to be an idiot, how he loved Chamberlain, Gandhi, and Saint Francis of Assissi, how he created the Independent Vatican City state, how the Doctrine of Fascism is deeply spiritual, condemns selfishness, is not racist, is not violent, is ingenious, and countless other discoveries lead me to believe I have a responsibility to defend and promote a man so misunderstood, lied about, and whose good deeds are forgotten.
His enemies rewrote history about him, urinated on his corpse, hung his mistress next to him who had done no wrong, denied him a trial, forged documents, destroyed documents, and attributed many falsehoods and false quotes to him, killed him in cold blood without a trial, and people pretending to be his followers betrayed him once it became convenient, because Italy was hated by the Soviet Union and about to fall to Communism when Mussolini showed up and miraculously rose to power, ended democracy, brought a wedding between Church and state, and gave the Vatican independence.
Non-Catholics and lukewarm Catholics secretly resented him all a long, even hated him, yet paid him lip service because he was so tough and unstoppable, even pressuring him to enter World War 2 for the chances to see him sink, even at the cost of Italian lives. I have the same birthday as his wife Rachel, and see all the evidence that what she is saying is true, and she doesn't cover for his faults. For instance, when I google quotes by Mussolini, almost everything that comes up makes him sound EXTREMELY stupid and a lover of violence.
However, when I read a book written by him, it is indeed extremely the opposite, extremely spiritual, deeply religious, rational, inspiring, and in my opinion, without serious fault, and far more peaceful and rational than the Bible or Quran, leading me to believe that most of the quotes that show up as his aren't really his, and the stupid claims like he raped a virgin and declared peace to be a catastrophe totally asinine. All of this has made me feel I have a duty to defend a man so misunderstood and hated.
So, I keep a detailed defense of Mussolini on the outside of my door and march on Capitol Hill each day in honor of Mussolini's March on his capitol. Sometimes I bring cardboard with Mussolini pictures and ask people if they have a minute for Mussolini and fascism. I'm going to stop asking them if they have a minute and just start talking because everyone immediately assumes I'm hateful, a lover of Hitler, or a racist, but I have received the nickname "Mussolini 2".
Well, that is actually kind of funny because my probation officer is Ethiopian, and the thing Mussolini did that I most object to is his invasion of Ethiopia. So, my probation officer visits me and sees the Mussolini pictures on the outside of my door and her eyes got wide and a look of horror when I defended him, but I like her and she likes me, but for someone called "Mussolini 2" what are the odds of being at the mercy of an Ethiopian probation officer haha?
I will never approve of Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia but believe he had altruistic intentions.
Mussolini believed wars of aggression were okay for Italy as long as they relieved suffering and made an area less impoverished, and improved the quality of life in the end, and Ethiopia was so full of poor leadership that he thought he could do a better job, creating less suffering and better use of Ethiopia's resources. Another justification for the attack was an incident during December 1934, between Italian and Abyssinian troops at the Wal-Wal Oasis on the border between Abyssinian Somaliland, where 200 soldiers lost their lives. Both parties were exonerated in the incident, much to the disgust of Mussolini, as he felt Abyssinia should have been held accountable for the incident.
Mussolini saw it as an opportunity to provide land for unemployed Italians and also acquire more mineral resources to fight off the effects of the Great Depression.
Mussolini wanted to compete with other European Empires and was under pressure from Italians to attack Ethiopia because of a previous war where Ethiopia defeated Italy. Mussolini also believed that creating a 20th century Roman Empire would in the end bring more joy and less suffering to the people and better uproot communism. The use of gas was to bring quick victory, and lets not forget that Nukes on Japan were not considered war crimes. After the war, Mussolini was hoping Ethiopia would be governed better and there be less suffering. The Solomonic dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire was very corrupt and terrible at governing the lands of the Ethiopian Empire.
Mussolini did not believe the Solomonic dynasty really descended from Solomon of Israel or existed during 10th century BC as they claimed, and thought it was one big fairy tale and scam with no historical evidence to back up the claims, so resented them, and the dynasty ran the country poorly, committed much violence in parts of modern-day Sudan and South Sudan, and coastal areas of the Red sea and Gulf of Aden which Mussolini thought they should be held accountable for, and wished to put an end to a ridiculous dynasty that cost a lot of Italian lives as well as killing an Italian officer shortly before the invasion.
Claimants to the throne in Ethiopia often fought each other, causing what Mussolini believed would overall cause more bloodshed than if they were part of an Italian Empire.
These weren't reasons for the war, but Mussolini also was mystified by Ethiopia for it's claim to have the original Ark of the covenant and that it would be nifty if the Italian Empire possessed the Ark. Mussolini loved the Lion being a Leo himself, was painted with a lion, loved the Lion symbolism of Jesus, said better to be a lion for one day than a lamb for 100 years, he liked the Lion on the Ethiopian flag, was interested in it's history, and thought the land to be sacred and mystical.
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