Germany And Italy example essay topic

I stared into the faces of the crowd; they looked enraged and vengeful. I guess I had part expected this I knew I had upset a lot of people in my lifetime, and expected this day to come but maybe not quite so soon. The angry mob was getting closer and as it got closer I realized I was the one who had brought my rapid death upon my lady companion and me. As they drew to mere feet away I thought back on what events had brought me here: I didn't have that strange of an upbringing I was born into low class, as many of the population were, I had good parents, hardworking and loving. My father was a blacksmith, so we were a little better off than our neighbors were but not by much. My father was also a socialist which had a lot to do with my views on how the country should actually been run, that was before I became, and I will admit it, a little corrupt.

When I was young man I had my first taste of a job when I was about eighteen years of age, I worked as a bricklayer. On my very first day I worked eleven hours, and in that time I must have made over one hundred and twenty trips form the ground floor to the second floor with a full load of bricks, it was dreadful. After all that work, all that backbreaking labor, I earned nearly ninety cents. I did have other jobs after that, but none I could really do, I am not a mule, I can not do mule jobs, I am better suited in a job where I command respect.

I was constantly fired from jobs, and sometimes even thrown in jail, they said I was preaching socialism, which I might have done, and that I was encouraging strikes, which I might have also done, but I was really just trying to enlighten my fellow man I quickly got fed up with the constant jumping from bad jobs to even worse ones, I decided the only way I was going to get a good job was if I could get an education. I headed down to the university and listened in on lectures, I really had no time and no money, but I knew it was something I had to do. In the next little while I learned to speak and write French and developed my skill as a writer. The next step was to get a good job, which I did at the tender age of twenty-five I was an employee at a socialist newspaper, in just a few years I became editor of one of the most important newspapers in Italy, Avanti. After I acquired this position people in the socialist party started to look at me with more respect and they seemed to make me very prominent. Lets skip to 1914, it was during the time that people referred to as the "red week" a large amount of the workers all over Italy decided it was their turn to strike.

The workers laid down their tools and refused to work until they got pay increases, and every one thought this was part of a revolution that would make lives better for them. The people on strike were weak; they could not stop quarreling about what kind of new government they wanted, the only thing they ever agreed on was that they did not like the current government. They could have won but they would not make up their minds, and people became restless, and the workers wives started to complain, they were running our of money and food, wives begged their husbands to go back to work so they could feed the children. The men were weak and they gave in and listened to their wives nagging. If only they had held out for a few more days they might have got what they wanted. Then a large fight broke out between the people how had become wiped by their wives and the strong men who had wanted to continue holding out.

Both men alike broke into stores and ransacked the cities looking for food to feed their families. A few of the strikers were shot but in the end they all returned to work at the same old wages. They were such cowards! If they had not been so stupid the socialist party could have taken over the government, and I could have been under rule so much easier. Shortly after the "red week" in Italy, the First World War broke out in Europe. Italy had signed a treaty in which we promised to help Germany in times of war.

Quite a few of the Italians regretted this promise and thought that Italy should remain neutral. I especially agreed with this, the only way for us to come out of the war in good shape would be to remain neutral. I was overjoyed when the government came out and declared on behalf of Italy that we were going to be neutral, but they had a hidden agenda. The government believed that The Allies were going to win, and they wanted to be on the winning team.

Also Germany was in alliance with Austria who had stolen some of our land eons ago, and the Italian government believed that if we were to be on the winning side we would gain back our stolen land. When the government made it clear that they were going to join the side of the Allies, I objected, loudly. I wrote articles, made speeches, I let my fellow working man know that they should resist the war, it was not going to benefit them, and the only people it would benefit would be the "fat cats". But the king made some good points and I astounded everyone who had been religiously been listening to my speeches when I changed my mind and decided that the best thing for Italy would be to join the Allies in the war. People did not take my change in opinion very well, they believed that I had accepted a bribe, and it didn't help that I came into a lot of money around that time, so I resigned from Avanti. I began my own newspaper, I also was kicked out of the socialist group, they really did not take it well, one of my dear old friends challenged me to a duel, which I accepted and was only slightly harmed in.

The reason I changed my mind was not just because of a bribe it was because I realized that the only way for me to have any power was to go out and seek it, and I did just that. Many of the newspapers were announcing that "we must fight for Italy" I joined in along with them, and soon the people begun to believe that what we were saying was right. I enlisted the army right away and went to go fight with my fellow troops. I was no coward! We were slaughtered at the battle of Caporetto; many of my friends were killed there. I had no idea what was going to happen when the war ended we were pretty much screwed.

Just before that, in Russia there was a violent revolution where they overthrew the Czar. And the communist had gained power. Would Italy end up like Russia? I hoped not.

When the war would be over soldiers would return angry unemployed and have a hatred for the government, could this war work out to be an advantage? When I returned because Germany had surrendered, I began my own little branch of government 150 friends and I created what was known as "Fascia di combattimento". We were fighting for higher wages and shorter hours for the average man. Our main goal was to take away the control from the church, the aristocrats, and the businessmen and give all the power to the government who would be run by the workers and the lower class people.

Our party became pretty powerful pretty quickly. One night a wealthy businessman came to me and offered me his support and a large sum of money if I helped him destroy the labor unions. I had been waiting a while for an opportunity like this. The next day I had turned against the unions and started praising the conservatives A strike broke out, and it was my chance to show all of Italy my new way, I marched my fighting groups into the town. We saw the strikers parading around and I sent my men after them, a few shots rang out, and the clubs came out, and in a short amount of time the workers went back to work at the same wages. In the next week we went to all kinds of strikes and socialist meetings and "broke them up".

The people that were following me were starting to get confused so I had to explain to them the new plan, where every citizen had to obey the state, no more strikes, parliament would be abolished, and only one very powerful man could run Italy. I came to power very easily the country was weak and tired and thought they would give me a chance. I quickly made changes in the government to help me out, I had to make sure the citizens were not getting any ideas so I sent out Fascist spies to keep an open ear for me. Anyone who was loyal to me I would help out in return and I later on abolished all the political parties and turned it into a debating society for fascist only and I of course took away the freedom from the press.

I enlarged the army and stocked it more with guns and tank and planes, I was ready for war. I knew from looking at history the only way to make people less miserable about the situation they are in is by making them feel like they are fighting for a cause like the good of their country. To keep up the moral in the cities I had the armies march threw cities with music, where all the people could see. I made many speeches, wrote many articles and explained to the citizens that people who complained about little things like the price of bread were not worthy of being Italians. The glitz and glamour of the parades worked for awhile but the people soon got restless and I had to come up with something to distract them, what is better then war?

So I declared war against Ethiopia, the Allies said they would not protect it, and it would be an easy war because we out ranked them with our tanks and planes. Late in the year of 1935 we marched into Ethiopia. In a matter of months they surrendered. The war had cost a lot of money, but it had distracted the people for a while, so it did its job. I knew the excitement of our victory wouldn't last long, so before it wore off I gave every one a new thrill, Spain.

Spain had no king it was republic, and the conservatives were scared so they asked Germany and Italy to help them overthrow the republic. The republicans fought intensely. I began an alliance with Hitler and we decided it was time to get more territory, so we did. Germany spread over Europe and we conquered Albania.

The English and the French were getting antsy, and the last straw was when Germany invaded Poland. The French and English went to help the Polish. Soon Germany overran Belgium and France and France's army was completely useless, things were looking good for us. Just when I believed that France was weak enough I sent our army in, thinking it would be quite easy, I never in a million years thought that the united states would join in on the fight. A few years later America and England were beating the crap out of us, the citizens were going to revolt and surrender but when Germany realized that they were going to lose their alliance, they came in and took control of Italy.

I at this point was pretty much screwed. I was now Hitler's puppet. After a while Germany, England, and France left Italy and the minute they did, a group of army officers, (my own officers!) Came and arrested me and threw me in jail (at least I was safe there, at least I thought I was.) Then out of now where one day, Germans dropped from the sky, sneaked through Rome and came and took me prisoner and brought me back to Hitler. I was kept under close guard in the north of Italy in the hands of Hitler; it wasn't that bad, I was indeed safe. They were afraid that I would turn against Hitler, what fools? I would have to be pretty stupid to do that.

A few months went by, and I received horrible news, the German Generals had given up the fight in Italy, so I was no longer any use to the Germans so I was set free. At this time in Italy there were many groups of guerrillas. I sneaked around for a few days undetected but they finally caught up to me and now they are standing out side this door, and I know my time is here, and my only regret was that.