Mussolini hanged in a Milan square. Benito Mussolini, the “Duce” of Fascist Italy, is killed in Milan. Upon rising to power, he declared his intention to build a new Roman Empire in Italy, but the country was then crushed by the overwhelming power of Nazi Germany, his Axis partner. The bitter defeats suffered in North Africa and Greece crumbled Mussolini’s empire. Deposed from his government, he was forced to flee in 1943 and seek German protection. On April 28, 1945, when the Allies and the Resistance had liberated the last Italian territories, Mussolini and his lover Claretta Petacci were shot by an enraged mob in Milan, hanged by their feet, and exposed to the world.
