Mussolini: The First Fascist

Runtime : 52 mins

Genre : Documentary War & Politics

Vote Rating : 9.5/10

Last Episode To Air: 30 October 2022

Network : France 5

First Air Date : 23 October 2022

Plot : Mussolini seized power in Italy in 1922, after his March on Rome. He would hold it in his grasp until his death in 1945, establishing a dictatorship that lasted more than 20 years. Long considered a buffoon and a second-rate dictator, Il Duce invented fascism that was imitated by Hitler, who viewed the Italian as his political master. He wanted to transform his country into a warrior nation and promised Italians a return to the grandeur of the Roman Empire. He governed by violence and trickery and was one of the first populist leaders of modern times, leading his country into the catastrophe of the World War II. But who was Mussolini, this former teacher who came from the extreme left to become a newspaper editor and creator of the Fascist Party? Why did he ally himself with Hitler? Were the Italians really behind him? With archives and interviews with the last-surviving witnesses of the era, this portrait takes a look back at one of the most notorious dictators of the 20th century.

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Cast Members

Narrator (voice)
played by
Jacques Gamblin

Self (archive footage)
played by
Benito Mussolini

Self
played by
Son of a fascist industrialist

Self
played by
Former communist deputy

Self
played by
Daughter of a fascist industrialist

Self (archive footage)
played by
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Self
played by
Fascist activist

Self
played by
Son of a fascist activist

Season 1 Episodes 2

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