Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, felt very strongly about territorial expansionism and believed that it was necessary to restore the greatness of the Italian nation. He believed that Italy had a right to expand its territory and to gain control of the Mediterranean Sea, which he referred to as "our sea". Mussolini's expansionist policies were often referred to as "Mediterraneanism", and he believed that Italy should be a major power in the region. He also had designs on Italian territory in the Balkans, such as Albania and Yugoslavia, and in Africa, such as Ethiopia and Libya. Mussolini's expansionist policies led to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the invasion of Albania, and Italy's entry into World War II on the side of the Axis powers.