“The fascist movement in Italy was a spontaneous movement of large masses, with new leaders from the rank and file. It is a plebian movement in origin, directed and financed by big capitalist powers. It issued forth from the petty bourgeoisie, the slum proletariat, and even to a certain extent from the proletarian masses; Mussolini, a former socialist, is a "self-made" man arising from this movement.”

—  Leon Trotsky

Source: Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It (1944), Ch. 1

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Leon Trotsky 106
Marxist revolutionary from Russia 1879–1940

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