View source for Duce

{{Short description|Italian title}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Italics title}}
{{Infobox official post
| post                    = Head
| body                    = Government, Leader of Fascism and Founder of the Empire
| native_name             = {{native name|it|Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero}}
| insignia                = 
| insigniasize            = 
| insigniacaption         = 
| insigniaalt             = 
| flag                    = Flag of Mussolini as Capo del governo of Fascist Italy.svg
| flagsize                = 
| flagalt                 = 
| flagborder              = 
| flagcaption             = [[List of Italian flags|Standard of the Duce]]
| image                   = Mussolini mezzobusto.jpg
| imagesize               = 
| imagecaption            = '''[[Benito Mussolini]]'''<br />23 March 1919 – 28 April 1945
| department              = 
| style                   = 
| type                    = 
| status                  = 
| abbreviation            = 
| member_of               = 
| reports_to              = 
| residence               = [[Palazzo Chigi]]<br/>{{small|(1925–1929)}}<br/>[[Palazzo Venezia]]<br/>{{small|(1929–1943)}}<br/>[[Villa Torlonia (Rome)|Villa Torlonia]]<br/>{{small|(1925–1943)}}
| seat                    = 
| nominator               = 
| appointer               = [[Grand Council of Fascism]]
| appointer_qualified     = 
| termlength              = 
| termlength_qualified    = 
| constituting_instrument = 
| precursor               = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]]
| formation               = 23 March 1919
| first                   = Benito Mussolini
| last                    = Benito Mussolini
| abolished               = 28 April 1945
| superseded_by           = 
| succession              = 
| unofficial_names        = 
| deputy                  = 
| salary                  = 
| website                 = <!-- {{url|example.com}}-->
| footnotes               = 
}}

'''{{lang|it|Duce}}''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|uː|tʃ|eɪ}} {{respell|DOO|chay}}, {{IPA|it|ˈduːtʃe|lang}}) is an [[Italian language|Italian]] title, derived from the [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|[[dux]]}}, 'leader', and a [[cognate]] of ''[[duke]]''. [[National Fascist Party]] leader [[Benito Mussolini]] was identified by Fascists as {{lang|it|Il Duce}} ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the {{lang|it|[[Fasci Italiani di Combattimento]]}} in 1919. In 1925 it became a reference to the [[dictator]]ial position of {{lang|it|Sua Eccellenza Benito Mussolini, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero}} ('His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Leader of Fascism and Founder of the Empire').<ref>[[commons:Image:Mussoliniposter.jpg|Image Description: Propaganda poster of Benito Mussolini, with caption "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Leader of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire&nbsp;...".]]</ref> Mussolini held this title together with that of [[President of the Council of Ministers (Italy)|President of the Council of Ministers]]: this was the constitutional position which entitled him to rule Italy on behalf of the [[king of Italy]]. ''Founder of the Empire'' was added for the exclusive use by Mussolini in recognition of his founding of an official legal entity of the [[Italian Empire]] on behalf of the king in 1936 following Italy's victory in the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]]. The position was held by Mussolini until 1943, when he was [[Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy|removed from office by the king]] and the position of {{lang|it|Duce}} was discontinued, while [[Marshal of Italy|Marshal]] [[Pietro Badoglio]] was appointed {{lang|it|Presidente del Consiglio}}.

This position was the model which other [[Fascism|fascist]] leaders adopted, such as the position of {{lang|de|[[Führer]]}} by [[Adolf Hitler]] and {{lang|es|[[Caudillo]]}} by [[Francisco Franco]]. In September 1943, Mussolini styled himself as the "Duce of the [[Italian Social Republic]]" ({{langx|it|Duce della Repubblica Sociale Italiana}}), and held the position until the [[Spring 1945 offensive in Italy|collapse]] of the Italian Social Republic and [[Death of Benito Mussolini|his execution]] in April 1945.<ref>Quartermaine, L. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vwx6hN8zyIsC&q=%22italian+social+republic%22 Mussolini's Last Republic: Propaganda and Politics in the Italian Social Republic]. p. 21.</ref>

==History of the term==
The title was used outside its traditional noble sense in some of the publications praising [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] during the [[Italian unification]] in 1860, although not taken up officially by Garibaldi himself.<ref>Lucy Riall, "Garibaldi, Invention of a Hero", London, 2007, Ch. 9.</ref>

{{lang|it|Duce Supremo}} ({{literally|Supreme Leader}}) was more formally used by [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|Victor Emmanuel III]] in 1915, during World War I, referring to his role as the commander in chief of the armed forces. The term was also used by [[Gabriele d'Annunzio]] as [[dictator]] of the self-proclaimed [[Italian Regency of Carnaro]] in 1920, and most significantly by [[Italian fascist]] dictator [[Benito Mussolini]]. The first record of the term being used in reference to Mussolini dates to a banquet held in his honor in [[Forlì]] in 1912, celebrating his new position as editor-in-chief of {{lang|it|[[Avanti! (newspaper)|Avanti!]]}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gallo |first=Max |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n161DwAAQBAJ&dq=mussolini+duce+1912+avanti&pg=PT37 |title=Mussolini's Italy: Twenty Years of the Fascist Era |date=2019-10-10 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-65543-2 |language=en}}</ref>

Because the title {{lang|it|Il Duce}} has become associated with [[fascism]], it is no longer in common use other than in reference to Mussolini. Because of modern [[anti-fascist]] sentiment, Italian speakers in general now use other words for leader, mainly including the English loanword. {{lang|it|Duce}} survives as an [[antonomasia]] for Mussolini.

==Succession==
Mussolini intended that the [[Grand Council of Fascism]] would choose a successor from a list of three men chosen by him, and submit the name for approval by the king. As of 1940, he may have been preparing his son-in-law [[Galeazzo Ciano]] for the role.<ref name="gunther1940">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.149663/2015.149663.Inside-Europe#page/n277/mode/2up | title=Inside Europe | publisher=Harper & Brothers | author=Gunther, John | author-link=John Gunther | location=New York | year=1940 | pages=255, 257–258}}</ref>

==Title holder==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; style="width=90%"
|-
! width=10%|Portrait
! width=15%|Duce<br>{{small|(Born–Died)}}
! width=13%|Took office
! width=13%|Left office
! width=8%|Tenure
! colspan=2 width=15%|Affiliation

|- style="height:5em;"
!rowspan=3| [[File:Benito Mussolini portrait as dictator (retouched).jpg|150px]]
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal" rowspan=3| '''[[Benito Mussolini]]'''<br /><small>(1883–1945)</small>
|23 March<br>1919
|9 November<br>1921
|rowspan=3|{{small|{{age in years and days|1919|03|23|1945|04|25}}}}
!rowspan=3 style="background:{{party color|National Fascist Party}};" |
|[[Italian Fasces of Combat]]
|- style="height:5em;"
|9 November<br>1921
|[[Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy|25 July<br>1943]]
|[[National Fascist Party]]
|- style="height:5em;"
|23 September<br>1943
|[[Death of Benito Mussolini|28 April<br>1945]] †
|[[Republican Fascist Party]]
|}

==See also==
{{Wiktionary-inline}}
* [[Caudillo]]
* [[Conducător]]
* [[Doge (title)|Doge]]
* [[Führer]]
* [[Poglavnik]]
* [[Supreme Leader (disambiguation)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fascism}}
{{Prime ministers of Italy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Benito Mussolini|*]]
[[Category:Italian fascism]]
[[Category:Italian Social Republic]]
[[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]]
[[Category:Dictatorship]]
[[Category:Duci| ]]