In October 1922 at the fascist party convention in Naples, 39-year-old Benito Mussolini began mounting a campaign to overthrow the government. Mussolini vowed to take by the throat the miserable political class that governed. He would march on Rome, force the King to dismiss the government, and make him prime minister. Frightened, King Vittorio Emanuele II decided there was no point in resisting and made Mussolini Italy's 27th Prime Minister. Mussolini had told the nation he'd come to power through a violent takeover though, so he ordered his irregular troops to converge on Rome and had all his photographers waiting to show them waving sticks and guns to convince people that he won power by force. Mussolini wanted complete control. He still had to contend with the king and Parliament, which he threatened just one month after he came to power. Many of the powers to govern Mussolini wanted control over every aspect of the government, so when he began building his cabinet, he chose men he knew he could trust. Fifty opposition members of parliament were physically attacked and three were killed. In 1924, this violence nearly brought him down. A …show more content…
Mussolini's popularity now faltered between 1925 and 1926, but with his superb political skills, Mussolini won the people back. Mussolini always knew how to adapt to his audience. He knew how to fit in at bat, even at the price of contradicting himself. Continually it made Mussolini a very cunning politician. Mussolini knew his popularity would flourish if he could win the support of the Catholic Church. In 1923, the lifelong atheist had a religious marriage to his common-law wife. He then increased state allowances to priests and bishops. In 1929, his government won the Vatican's approval and he soon made his first visit to the Pope. Mussolini attracted fans worldwide including Thomas Edison, Sigmund Freud, and Mohandas