Mussolini was originally a socialist politician and a journalist at the
Avanti! newspaper.
In 1912, he became a member of the National Directorate of the
Italian Socialist Party (PSI), but he was expelled from the PSI for advocating military intervention in
World War I, in opposition to the party's stance on neutrality.
In 1914, Mussolini founded a new newspaper,
Il Popolo d'Italia, and served in the
Royal Italian Army during the war until he was wounded and discharged in 1917.
Mussolini denounced the PSI, his views now centering on
Italian nationalism instead of
socialism, and later founded the fascist movement which came to oppose
egalitarianism and
class conflict, instead advocating "
revolutionary nationalism"
transcending class lines.
After removing all political opposition through his secret police and outlawing labor strikes, Mussolini and his followers consolidated power through a series of laws that transformed the nation into a
one-party dictatorship. Within five years, Mussolini had established dictatorial authority by both legal and illegal means and aspired to create a
totalitarian state.