Italian Fascism: The Rise of Mussolini's Fascist Government in Italy Benito Mussolini's Fascist movement rose to power in the late 1920's as a reactionary force, responding to pervasive popular disillusionment with the ineffective government in place at the time. Devastating economic conditions disillusioned Italian citizens and embittered them towards their leaders, creating prime conditions for a coup. One particular grievance of the Italian people in the 1920's was the Treaty of Versailles, which was the Treaty that ended World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was perceived as unfair by the Italian people because it allotted no war reparation payments to Italy, though Italy had suffered great losses fighting for Allies. The nation was left impoverished by the war effort, the government was perceived as unable to solve any problems, and middle-class fear of the socialist revolution paved the way for extreme right wing factions to rise to power. In the midst of widespread economic and social upheaval, Benito Mussolini founded an extreme right-wing movement in 1919 and termed it 'fascism'. On October 28, 1922 Mussolini and his armed squadrons known as the Blackshirts marched on Rome. Mussolini demanded to be made Prime Minister and threatened to take over the government by force if his orders were not followed. The acting Prime Minister attempted to bring Italian troops to resist the fascist militia, but the king refused to sign the order, and, on the following day, asked Mussolini to form his own cabinet. Power was given to him within the precepts set by the Italian constitution, and on October 30th he traveled to Milan ahead of his fascist forces to organize a parade for his followers. By January of 1923 he had outlawed all political parties other than his own Fascist Party. By doing so he eliminated Italy's fragile democratic state and established his own dictatorial rule. As Prime Minister, Mussolini attempted to establish an Italian empire by a brutal invasion of Ethiopia, and responded to the issue of deep social divisions in Italian society by repressing unrest. He entered the Pact of Steel with Adolf Hitler on May 22, 1939. The consequences of Mussolini's military rule included repression of any sentiment perceived as disloyal to the regime, the persecution of left-wing activists and, ultimately, the deportation of more than 20 per cent of Italy's Jews to Germany for extermination as part of Hitler's Final Solution.