2016-04-28 Thu

It has been 70 years since the World War II was ended. The war was the outcome of evil ambition of two leaders of two countries. One of them was Benito Mussolini.

Born in a small village of Italy, Benito Mussolini was an extreme nationalist and was highly influenced by French and German political philosophy. By the time the 1st World War was ended, Mussolini was no more a socialist. In fact, he was more inclined towards aggressive imperialist and fascist ideology.

By early 1920s, Mussolini was handed over the power to run the country. During the first decade of Mussolini’s leadership, Italy witnessed a great deal of all-round development. Mussolini, gradually, became the dictator of the country and was obsessed with the idea of unification of Europe under the German and Italian rule.

Under the leadership of Mussolini, Italy joined the World War II in Sept 1940 by declaring a war against Britain and France. When Germany was busy taking control of Eastern Europe, Mussolini focused on Southern Europe and East Africa. By mid 1943, the position of Italy in the war became unstable.

With the prominent members of the party turning against him and the growing resentment by public, Mussolini had no chance of surviving in this chaos. King Victor Emmanuel III to removed Mussolini from power and placed him under house arrest. He, further, was rescued by Hitler and placed as a Nazi puppet state in German-occupied northern Italy.

By April 1945 the end of the war and Hitler’s Dream of German Europe became apparent. Seeing his fate as a war criminal in the hands of Allies, Mussolini, along with his mistress – Clara Petacci - sought his escape from Italy. However, he was discovered by communist Partisans and on 28th April 1945 they were executed by machine gun fire. This was the end of the Fascist Dictator of Italy.

Mussolini, as the leader of Italy, appears on few stamps of Italy as well as in Italy occupied regions. The first appearance of Mussolini is seen on a 0.50 Lira stamp on which a statue of his is depicted. Mussolini appears as a Roman emperor on a horse.

Besides, Mussolini appears with Hitler on a 25 Cent stamp issued by Poste Italia. The stamp features portraits of both Hitler and Mussolini. Mussolini is surrounded by two bayonets. Text Dve Popoli Vna Gverra (Two People One War) is seen between the two portraits.

Postage stamp with the value of 25 cents issued during the Italian Occupation of Libya also features the Dictator. It shows Hitler and Mussolini with the caption "Two Peoples One War".