Benito Mussolini

Rise of Dictators

The aim of this lesson is to assess whether Mussolini’s legacy can be compared to Julius Caesar. Did he match up to his accomplishments such as the Julian calendar, being a successful military leader, a consul of Rome as well as an Imperator.

Students begin by explaining what they already know about Italy and its historical past.

They also analyse the rule of Julius Caesar and what he achieved in his lifetime.
They will then be given facts about Mussolini’s early life and use the information to make a judgement about him as a person, using key words and a writing framework if required.

The main task will then involve them plotting Mussolini’s life on a graph taking into account his successes and failures.

From this, they will then be able to evaluate if he indeed deserves to have a similar reputation and legacy to Caesar, whom he admired and attempted to emulate in his Fascist Dictatorship from 1922-43.

There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson, together with challenging tasks culminating in a ‘what is the question task’ and an ‘odd one out’ activity.

The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.

The resource includes some retrieval practice on Dictators, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.