In June 1935, production plans for the aircraft were proposed; two weeks later, a production specification, Specification F.14/35, had been rapidly drawn up; this had been partially prompted by events in continental Europe, such as the invasion of Abyssinia by Fascist Italy and the rise of the Adolf Hitler to power in Germany, in response to which the British government had mandated the initiation of an urgent expansion of the RAF to counter the emerging threats.[5] This cumulated in an initial order being placed for 23 aircraft; on 1 July 1935, the aircraft formally received the name Gladiator.[9][5]