Italy's Duce, Benito Mussolini, was persuaded that the war could be decided in the Mediterranean theater. On 29 April 1943, at the meeting in Klessheim, Hitler rejected Mussolini's proposition to seek a separate peace with Russia and move the bulk of the German Army south.[7] The request for reinforcements to defend the bridgehead in Tunisia was refused by the Wehrmacht, which no longer trusted the Italian will to maintain resistance.[8] Mussolini's health was another main factor of uncertainty.