Mussolini in Abyssinia
When fascist dictator Benito Mussolini came to power, he promised to rebuild Italy into a new "Roman Empire". He built up the Italian army, and although Italy was one of the key players in the League of Nations, which was supposed to resolve problems without resulting in war, Mussolini attacked Abyssinia (Ethiopia), which was ruled by Emperor Haile Selassie, and situated between the two small Italian colonies of Eritrea and Somaliland. Its lands were fertile and rich in mineral wealth. Italy was a poor country and Mussolini's attempts to help the economy were failing. In 1935, he began preparing for an invasion, and launched. This prompted Hitler to launch an attack on Rhineland, and World War II had begun.
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