Benito Mussolini

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ssion by compensation with parts of British West Africa”.4
Mussolini seemed enthusiastic and very understandable why this was the case, since this scheme included the gaining of Tunis, Corsica, and Nice (annexed by Napoleon III in 1860) from France. Hitler then hurried home to his house in Berlin to arrange visits to Franco and Petan. “Back in the capital Hitler created a letter to Stalin inviting Molotov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, to visit early, when Germany and the U.S.S.R. might then agree among themselves how to profit from Britain not having a defense. A week later, on October 20, he left in his command train, Amerika, to meet Petan and Franco. The meeting with Franco took place on October 23 at Hendaye on the Franco-Spanish frontier.”5 It had become quite famous in the history of World War Two for Hitlers furious parting shot that he would “rather have three or four teeth extracted from than go through that again.” Franco, who was greatly supported by his Prime Minister, Serrano Suner, stonewalled throughout the hours toward!
s negotiation with Franco. When his train left at two in the morning, Hitler had not advanced an inch towards co-belligerency with Franco. Petan met Hitler on October 24, and proved to be equally unresponsive. Petan convinced Hitler that they had a meeting of minds. Petan had only agreed to a promise to consult his government, Hitler decided to make a bigger deal out of it and believed that they were united in a productive hostility to Britain. Hitler now had the outlines, despite Francos struggle, of a larger coalition war to present to Molotov at his next visit. “When Hitler was waiting for the Soviet Foreign minister to come, he was distracted by the weird behavior of Mussolini, who then chose t...