Fascism is an extreme political philosophy that holds nation and race above the individual and supports the establishment of an authoritarian government, where absolute power is vested in the leader. In post-World War I Italy, a fascist movement developed, led by Benito Mussolini (1883–1945), paralleling the rise of Nazism in Germany. Mussolini took power of the Italian government in 1922, instituting programs of economic and social regimentation. Opposition to his dictatorship was forcibly suppressed. Italy became allied with Germany (under German chancellor and führer Adolf Hitler [1889–1945]) and Japan in 1936 to form the Axis powers, an alliance that was ultimately defeated by the Allied nations (chiefly Great Britain, the United States, and Soviet Union) in World War II (1939–45). Mussolini died by execution in 1945. Italy’s fascist movement dramatically declined at the end of the war.