ROME — In the last week of October 1922, Mussolini marched on Rome and took control of Italy. In the last week of October 2022, Giorgia Meloni completed her own journey from the fringe to the center and closed a circle in Italian history. On Sept. 25, Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia (the Brothers of Italy), won the largest share of the vote, 26%, in Italy’s general elections. A month later, on Oct. 25, Meloni formed a government with two other parties of the Right: Forza Italia, which is led by the hard-partying Silvio Berlusconi, and Lega Nord, the Northern League, which is led by Matteo Salvini.

Fratelli d’Italia is the ideological descendant of Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, via three generations of politicians and two successor parties, the National Alliance and the Italian Social Movement. Meloni is a populist and nationalist who says Italy is besieged by immigrants, the family is under attack, and Italians are being turned into “perfect consumer slaves” by “financial speculators.” Is history repeating itself, or, as Mark Twain said, only rhyming?