Which Fascist leader was called "Il Duce" by his followers?

The Fascist leader called “Il Duce” by his followers was Benito Mussolini. The Italian title duce means “leader” and derives from the Latin dux, meaning commander or guide.

Mussolini founded Italy’s Fascist movement in 1919 and became prime minister after the March on Rome in 1922. He gradually dismantled Italy’s liberal political system, creating a dictatorship in which propaganda presented him as the nation’s decisive, tireless leader. “Il Duce” became his official political style, much as “Führer” was used for Adolf Hitler.

Mussolini ruled Fascist Italy until 1943, later leading the German-backed Italian Social Republic in northern Italy. He allied Italy with Nazi Germany, entered World War II in 1940, and was captured and executed by Italian partisans in April 1945. A common mix-up is to associate the title with Hitler, but “Il Duce” specifically identifies Mussolini.