Italian Dictator. Known as "Il Duce" (The Leader), he founded Fascism and ruled Italy for 21 years. As a dictator, he reduced unemployment and improved the railroad services, making the trains run on time. In the late 1930s, he teamed with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to form the Axis powers. Born in Dovia, Italy, he graduated from Teacher training school in Forli and taught elementary school for a short time. In 1904 he performed his required military service, returning to his profession of school teacher in 1907 to 1908. In 1909, he went to Trent, Austria where he worked for a socialist newspaper, and returned to Italy in 1912 to become editor of "Avanti," the foremost socialist newspaper in Italy. When World War I broke out in 1914, he urged Italy to enter the war on the Allied side, and when Italy declared war in 1915 on Germany, he joined the Italian Army, serving until he was wounded in 1917. In 1919, he founded the Italian Fascist Party, with a strong nationalist platform. In 1922, he became elected head of the government, and immediately began to consolidate his power, outlawing other political parties and taking control of the news media. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, taking control of the country, while Mussolini espoused the rebuilding of the glory of the Roman Empire. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, both Mussolini and Adolph Hitler supported the fascist leader, General Francisco Franco, with military aid and manpower. When Italy attacked Yugoslavia and was soundly defeated, Germany had to send forces to aid him. This was repeated in Greece and in North Africa, where Italian forces proved less than reliable. When the allies landed on the Italian mainland in 1943, the Fascist Grand Council turned against him, ousting him from power and imprisoning him. German forces were required to invade Italy to keep it in the war, and Mussolini was set up to head the Italian Socialist Republic under German control. In April 1945, when German forces in Northern Italy collapsed, he fled towards Germany with his mistress, Clara Petacci, but was taken prisoner by Italian partisans and both were executed. Their bodies were hung for all to see in a gas station in Milan, Italy.