The Similarities Between Adolf Hitler And Benito Mussolini

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are leaders that have lead a country and either have made it better or worse. Hitler was the leader of Germany and Mussolini was the leader of Italy. They both made promises to their country saying that they will make it better. Some of that is true, but not all of it. This essay will explain the political ideologies, the treatment of their citizens, and the leader’s goals between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Both Hitler and Mussolini had their way on how they wanted to rule their country. According to World History: The Modern Era, on page 552, Adolf Hitler was an extreme nationalist, or someone who had extreme pride to their country. Adolf Hitler was a man of hatred. He did not like certain types of people; for example, the Jews. He hated Jewish people. He believed that he could make Germany better by forcing all of the Jews out of the country. Hitler was the leader of the Nazis. On November of 1938, the Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses. This is known as Kristallnacht (book page 55). On the other hand, Mussolini was a socialist. This meant that the people as a whole rather than private individuals own all property and operate all businesses. Mussolini was the first to build the

totalitarian state. This type of government was a one-party dictatorship attempts to regulate every aspect of the lives of its citizens (book-page 539). Leaders like Hitler followed Mussolini’s ideas. Mussolini’s rule was fascist in nature, as was Hitler’s, but totalitarian governments rise under other kinds of ideology, such as communism in Stalin’s Soviet Union. Fascism is any centralized authoritarian government system that is not communist whose policies glorify the state over the individual and are destructive to basic human rights. By the 1920s and 1930s, fascism meant different things in different countries.
As stated, Hitler was not a man of kind. He wanted all of citizens to believe what he wanted them to. He said Germans belonged to a superior “master race” of Aryans, or light-skinned Europeans, whose greatest enemies were the Jews. As said in the first paragraph, Hitler did not like a lot of people;mainly the Jews. He viewed the Jews not as members of a religion, but as a separate religion. He also blamed Germany’s defeat in WWI on a conspiracy of Marxists, Jews, corrupt politicians , and business leaders. In order to get revenge, or have a rival, he wanted Germans everywhere to unite as one nation (book-page 552). Similar to Hitler, Mussolini treated his citizens unfairly. He organized his supporters into “combat squads.” The squads wore black shirts to emulate an earlier nationalist revolt. These Black Shirts, which were party militants, rejected the democratic process in favor of violent action. Fascists gangs used intimidation and terror to oust elected officials in northern Italy. Then, in 1922, the Fascists made a bid for power. They wanted to march to Rome to demand that the government make changes. This started the March on Rome.
Like any other leader of a country, Hitler and Mussolini had goals that they wanted to meet.

Hitler wanted to do things such as rearm Germany, build highways, and build housing or replanting forests. In order for him to achieve his goals, he organized an efficient but brutal system of totalitarian rule. Nazi controlled all areas of German life- from government to religion to education (book-page 553). On the other hand, Mussolini promised to end corruption and replace turmoil with order. He also spoke of reviving Roman greatness, pledging to turn the Mediterranean into a “Roman lake” once again (book page 537) Mussolini’s main goal was to have Italy under fascism. He believed that that was the best way to run the country (book page

538).
In conclusion, Hitler and Mussolini were leaders for a country that did not exceed well. They did not let their citizens do what they wanted and believe what they wanted to believe. They had to do what Mussolini and Hitler wanted them to do. However, they both had goals and had a plan on how they wanted to improve their country, although they may not have met their expectations.