Vladimir Lenin on Benito Mussolini
← Back to Benito Mussolini ProfileLenin, lamenting the loss of a potential revolutionary ally, reportedly praised Mussolini's leadership abilities shortly after the Fascist leader's rise to power in Italy.
“What a waste that we lost Mussolini. He is a first-rate man who would have led our party to power in Italy.”
“Mussolini was the only one among you with the mind and temperament to make a revolution. Why did you allow him to leave?”
Lenin's surprising praise of Mussolini, as recounted in *Revolutionary Fascism*, highlights the complex and sometimes blurred lines between revolutionary ideologies in the early 20th century.
“In Italy, comrades, in Italy there was but a Socialist able enough to lead the people through a revolutionary path, Benito Mussolini.”