 Franco of the recently victorious Fascist side in the Spanish Civil War was pondering entrance into World War II, but Italy's failure in Greece put him off of the idea.Hitler then came in to rescue Mussolini's troops, gaining him the upper hand in all politics and military operations for the rest of the war.Mussolini was actually in the middle of negotiating a commercial treaty with the Soviet Union when Hitler invaded his former ally in fighting Poland 22 June 1941.