Post by naymissus on Jul 21, 2010 6:40:48 GMT
I must admit to quite some ignorance about this man, never having read any real in-depth literature about him
He was a Fascist, bu the popular image bandied about seems to be that he was an Italian fascist, which was rather jolly and good fun; a bit strict , but kept the trains on time and not really nasty in the vein of Hitler
That impression was reinforced by his public speaking performances which were masterpieces of showmanship, with him strutting, gesticulating , half turning away as if to forsake his adoring audience, then coming back, head thrown back, thumbs tucked into his belt looking to right and left. Superb! No wonder his audiences loved his performances. There were black bits the I knew of - his crushing of Libya and invasion of Ethiopia, but, quite frankly, Britain, and especially France have done far worse than that ; it was the accepted behaviour for that time and the 'condemnation' of his actions there from Britain and other was sheer hypocrisy
But last night on Five there was a very good documentary on this man.
He was, quite simply, a thug, literally murdering his way to the top. Any opposition was beaten to death by his Blackshirts, and the treatment he meted out to the Libyan rebels was appalling - he killed over 100,000 Libyans in this minor insurgency
His political gaffe, nay disaster, in aligning himself with Hitler is well known.
He killed his own fascists if they demurred fro his madness.
On the credit side he eliminated malaria from the Pontine marshes, and was not very hard on the Italian Jewish population
But he was a thug,
Charismatic, and amusing from a distance, but a thug and entirely a thug from close up
He was a Fascist, bu the popular image bandied about seems to be that he was an Italian fascist, which was rather jolly and good fun; a bit strict , but kept the trains on time and not really nasty in the vein of Hitler
That impression was reinforced by his public speaking performances which were masterpieces of showmanship, with him strutting, gesticulating , half turning away as if to forsake his adoring audience, then coming back, head thrown back, thumbs tucked into his belt looking to right and left. Superb! No wonder his audiences loved his performances. There were black bits the I knew of - his crushing of Libya and invasion of Ethiopia, but, quite frankly, Britain, and especially France have done far worse than that ; it was the accepted behaviour for that time and the 'condemnation' of his actions there from Britain and other was sheer hypocrisy
But last night on Five there was a very good documentary on this man.
He was, quite simply, a thug, literally murdering his way to the top. Any opposition was beaten to death by his Blackshirts, and the treatment he meted out to the Libyan rebels was appalling - he killed over 100,000 Libyans in this minor insurgency
His political gaffe, nay disaster, in aligning himself with Hitler is well known.
He killed his own fascists if they demurred fro his madness.
On the credit side he eliminated malaria from the Pontine marshes, and was not very hard on the Italian Jewish population
But he was a thug,
Charismatic, and amusing from a distance, but a thug and entirely a thug from close up