Giacomo Matteoti (1885-1924) was leader of the Italian Socialist Party and bitter and effective critic of Benito Mussolini's dictatorship, whose murder by Fascist thugs led to a crisis that nearly overthrew Mussolini.

Giacomo Matteotti, one of the foremost leaders of Italian socialism following World War I, contested the rise of fascism with courage and eloquence. With his death in 1924, Fascist Italy was soon transformed into a full-fledged dictatorship. On the other hand, the murder of the prominent Socialist stimulated the growth of an anti-Fascist movement that lasted until the overthrow of Mussolini in 1945.

Italy at the start of the 20th century was a recently created country suffering from severe social, economic, and political problems. Unified only in 1861, there remained vast economic and cultural differences between the relatively prosperous northern regions and the poor areas south of Rome. With the unrest in the country's cities, a Socialist Party emerged...