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Italian forces in WW2 were not soft and Mussolini wasn't a clown, British historian claims

He was the butt of British jokes and even his German allies portrayed Mussolini as a clown.

But now a British historian claims the Italian fascist leader was actually a mentor to Adolf Hitler - and says claims that his troops were cowards are a myth.

Dr Christian Goeschel of Manchester University, says that the real Il Duce was a guiding light behind the rise of Hitler - who idealised his Italian counterpart and did not see him as a political stooge.

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Political satire: In this Beano cartoon strip, Mussolini is shown as a drunk. The comic book took many swipes at the leader and the Nazis, with Hitler and his cronies being bested by the likes of Lord Snooty and Pansy Potter

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Beano: Mussolini is once again the butt of the joke as he runs from a horse - 'Musso The Wop - He's a Big-a-da-Flop', became a lampoon of him and he was shown as vain, stupid and greedy

Read entire article at Daily Mail