Before 1940, and especially before the invasion of Ethiopia, Mussolini was generally an admired statesman abroad. He was widely praised by foreign leaders including Churchill and Roosevelt. It was thought that he was able to take a generally chaotic society and "make the trains run on time".
The Lateran Treaty of 1929 was a highpoint for the fascist regime and was generally seen in a positive light especially in the highly religious southern part of Italy. His standing up to Hitler after the assassination of Austrian Premier Engelbert Dollfuss in July of 1934 by mobilizing Italian troops and sending them to the Brenner Pass had also won him a great deal of international support.
It seems that the Italian population for the most part was content with Mussolini prior to his entry to the war. Under his leadership Italy had weathered the depression far better than the traditional emigrant destinations (Argentina, Brazil and the U.S.) as well as the UK and Germany.
GDP Decline 1929-1932
U.S.A. 28.2%
Germany 15.8%
France 14.6%
U.K. 5.8%
Italy 2.5%
Decline in Exports 1929-1932
U.S.A. 48%
France 41%
Germany 41%
U.K. 37%
Italy 19%
Large public spending projects by Mussolini made it so that Italy's real wages had recovered to 1929 levels by 1931 and would grow from 1932-1939. This was in contrast to the U.S. where this didn't take place until 1941. Industrial unemployment in Italy peaked at 22% in 1932, this was in contrast to the U.S. where it was 40%. Due to this an interesting phenomenon occurred, the number of Italians returning to Italy from abroad exceeded the number of those emigrating after 1931. Between 1930-1939 over 600,000 Italians "returned home" of these 325,000 were from outside of Europe.
Amongst the diaspora, Mussolini was generally well regarded, especially in the U.S. Many felt that he had restored the glory of Italy and many became proud to be Italian. A survey was taken of the 136 Italian-American newspapers and only 8 were found to be critical of fascism. "Il Progresso Italo-Americano" became the leading paper with a circulation of over 100,000 and was widely regarded as a propaganda tool of the fascist government. The Order of the Sons of Italy was led by an overt fascist Giovanni Di Silvestro and it had over 160,000 member sin the U.S. In "The Lost World of Italian American Radicalism" Philip Cannistraro explains the shift Italian Americans from being socialist radicals and anarchists to what he terms "philo-fascists", saying it reached a fever pitch in 1935-1936 with the invasion of Ethiopia. Mass rallies in Little Italy's, Catholic priests offering benediction of Italy's civilizing mission in Africa. Italian-Americans contributed over $500,000 to the Italian red cross during the war with women donating their gold wedding rings (emulating Italy's Queen Elena).
This was not limited to North America. In Argentina almost 1,000 volunteers sailed for Italy and arrived in Mogadiscio to take part in the campaign. The largest Italian newspaper "Il Mattino d'Italia" which espoused fascist ideology had readers all over Italian communities in Latin and North America. In 1939, a reporter from the Associated Press in Tunis noted that the Italian children in the French protectorate attended Italian schools run by the Italian government and that the children dressed as Giovani Fascisti.