Mussolini – Hitler: The Killers’ Opera

On April 21, 1940, when Mussolini declared war on France and England, definitively siding with Hitler, it had already been 18 years since the two men had a complex relationship. Throughout the 1920s, during Hitler’s long rise to power, Mussolini initially appeared as the Master, full of condescension, even outright hostility towards the Nazi corporal.

However, with the strengthening of the Reich during the 1930s, their dynamic gradually shifted. When the conflict erupted, the reality of war quickly tore away the veil of appearances. Hitler began by manipulating his friend and partner, before becoming his executioner and crushing him mercilessly. It was as if the Führer wanted Mussolini to pay for his growing disdain for the Italian people, whom he partially blamed for all his setbacks.

The history of the personal relations between the two dictators, who met seventeen times, is an adventure in itself. Ultimately, their impossible understanding reflects the illusory alliance of two peoples with cultures and mentalities that were too different, with each man representing an extreme.