Founded right in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, this plaza became a location of great importance, especially in the beginning of World War II. In the left building where the Italian flag is, a famous Italian dictator spoke there, Benito Mussolini. The building was also his office, and the window was where he would give large speeches to crowds. On June 10th, 1940, thousands of people gathered around this location to hear Mussolini declare war on France and England. The rise of fascism just began in Italy. Mussolini was able to bring unity to the country, and form an alliance with Adolf Hitler of Germany. However, in 1943 when the Allies started to invade Italy, Mussolini was arrested by his own people and Italy declared war on Germany. However, this caused Germany to come back in and invade Italy. With the Italian citizens fighting back, it caused a large number of deaths to occur. Soon after, Mussolini tried to flee north of Italy but ended up being executed by Italian partisans. When the war ended, Italy’s government became dominated by Christian democracy for 50 years