On October 24, 1922, Benito Mussolini, leader of the Fascist party in Italy, announced at a conference in Naples his intent to seize power by marching on Rome. Six days later, some 40,000 armed Fascists entered Rome without resistance and the king appointed Mussolini to the Italian premiership. Initially the head of a coalition government, Mussolini gradually transformed himself into the dictator of a one-party State.
