Today in Labor History June 19, 1903: Benito Mussolini, at the time a radical Socialist, was arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike. As strange as it may seem, in light of his rise to become one of the most powerful and violent fascist leaders in the world, Mussolini came from a radical leftist background. In his youth, he idealized figures like Bakunin and Garibaldi. His father, who was a socialist, named him Benito, after Mexico’s liberal leader Benito Juarez. His two middle names, Andrea and Amilcare, were named for the Italian socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani. In 1867, at age 15, Cipriani fought with Garabaldi in Italy’s second war of independence. He was a member of the First International. And he helped defend the barricades during the Paris Commune. He was re-elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies eight times, but never was permitted to serve because he refused to swear allegiance to the king. Mussolini’s military failures during World War II ultimately reduced him to being the head of a German puppet state. In 1945, he and his mistress Clara Petacci tried to flee the country, but were captured by antifascist partisans near Lake Como and were executed by the communist partisan Walter Audisio.

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