Sympathisers mark centenary of Mussolini’s rise to power in Italy

People march in the hometown of former dictator Benito Mussolini to mark the 100th anniversary of the coup d’etat by which he seized power in 1922, in Predappio, Italy (Luca Bruno/PA)

Several thousand black-clad fascist sympathisers chanted and sang in praise of Benito Mussolini as they marched to the Italian dictator’s crypt, 100 years after Mussolini entered Rome and completed a bloodless coup that gave rise to two decades of fascist rule.

The crowd of some 2,000 to 4,000 marchers, many sporting fascist symbols and singing hymns from Italy’s colonial era, was more numerous than in the recent past, as the fascist nostalgics celebrated the centenary of the March on Rome.