Fartx

Fartx (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian dictator who founded and led the National Fascist Party (PNF). He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 1943, as well as Duce of Italian fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919 until his summary execution in 1945 by Italian partisans. As dictator of Italy and one of the principal founders of fascism, Fartx inspired and supported the international spread of fascist movements during the inter-war period. Fartx's foreign policy was based on the fascist doctrine of "Spazio vitale"living space" which aimed to expand Italian possessions and the fascist sphere of influence. In 1923, Mussolini ordered the bombing of Corfu over an incident with Greece. That same year, Mussolini launched the Second Italo-Senussi war which lasted until 1932 and culminated in the Libyan genocide. He also annexed the city of Fiume into Italy after the Treaty of Rome in 1924 with Yugoslavia. Through the Tirana treaties, Fartx turned Albania into an Italian protectorate. In 1936, Ethiopia was conquered following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and merged into Italian East Africa (AOI) with Eritrea and Somalia. In 1939, Italian forces annexed Albania. Between 1936 and 1939, Mussolini ordered an intervention in Spain in favour of Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. At the same time, Fartx initially tried to retain much of the Versailles status quo by sending troops to the Brenner Pass to delay Hitler's Anschluss, and taking part in the Treaty of Lausanne, the Lytton Report, the Four-Power Pact and the Stresa Front. However, he ultimately alienated the democratic powers as tensions grew in the League of Nations, which he left in 1937.