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Benito Mussolini: Initially Italians
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Mussolini stilled craved the respectability of being a statesman. His agreement with Pope Pius XI was giving him this perceived respectability. The signing of the Lateran treaty and Concordat settled a fifty-year dispute between the Italian government and the Vatican. The Vatican recognized the Italian state and vice versa. The Vatican was given compensation for the taking of Rome in 1870 and the Catholic Church was recognized as the sole religion of Italy.
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As the 1930s began, Mussolini was seated safely in power and enjoyed wide support. The strongest groups who had put Mussolini into power now profited from it. However, the living standard of the working majority fell; the average Italian worker's income amounted to one-half of that of a worker in France, one-third of that of a worker in England, and one-fourth of that of a worker in America. As national leader, Mussolini offered no solutions for Italy's problems. He surrounded himself with ambitious and greedy people and let them bleed Italy dry while his secret agents gathered information on opponents.
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In the beginning Mussolini was given support from all political spectrums in Italy, from liberals to conservatives. Unbeknownst to them, he was dismantling parliament democratically with legislation that they had approved. By 1926 he had complete control over the Italian government and people.
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Mussolini's imperial ambitions focused on Albania. Italian forces had been humiliated there in 1920 by Albanian nationalist forces. The Italians were driven out of Vlorë which they had occupied for six years since 1914. If there was a single thread running through the fabric of Mussolini's imperial ambitions it was the need to restore Italy's honor.[16]
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Initially Italians and foreign observers saw Mussolini as a strong leader who brought needed discipline to the economy and social structure of Italy. He poured money into building the infrastructure of a modern country. In a country known for disorganization, it was said that Mussolini made the trains run on time. He ... however, abolished trade unions and closed newspapers that did not follow the party line. He used the police to enforce his rule and imprisoned thousands of people for their political views.
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Mussolini ordered the Italian navy to bombard Corfu (Kerkyra) off the Greek coast. The shelling was then followed by an amphibious landing of Italian marines. After the League of Nations condemned the act, Mussolini threatened to pull Italy out of the League.
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Initially Italians