<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Italian nationalist and pan-German claims clashed over the issue of Tyrol . The region had been administered along with Italy (as the province of Italia) by the Roman Empire, but it had been populated primarily by ethnic Germans and was a part of the Austrian Empire and then Austria - Hungary for centuries afterwards . With the collapse of Austria in World War I, an independent Austria was no longer a serious threat to Italy, but the popularity of pan-German nationalism in both Germany and Austria remained . The fascist regime opposed the Nazis expansionist efforts towards Austria and supported Austria's sovereignty and promoted the adoption of fascism in the country . </P> <P> In the 1920s, Hitler wanted to form an alliance between the Nazi movement and Mussolini's regime as he recognized that his pan-German nationalism was seen as a threat by Italy . In Hitler's unpublished sequel to Mein Kampf, he attempts to address concerns among Italian fascists about Nazism . In the book, Hitler puts aside the issue of Germans in Tyrol by explaining that overall Germany and Italy have more in common than not and that the Tyrol Germans must accept that it is in Germany's interests to be allied with Italy . Hitler claims that Germany, like Italy, was subjected to oppression by its neighbours and he denounces the Austrian Empire as having oppressed Italy from completing national unification just as France oppressed Germany from completing its national unification . Hitler's denunciation of Austria in the book is important because Italian fascists were skeptical about him due to the fact that he was born in Austria which Italy had considered to be its primary enemy for centuries and Italy saw Germany as an ally of Austria . By declaring that the Nazi movement was not interested in the territorial legacy of the Austrian Empire, this is a way to assure the Italian fascists that Hitler, the Nazi movement and Germany were not enemies of Italy . </P> <P> Despite public attempts of goodwill by Hitler towards Mussolini, Germany and Italy came into conflict in 1934 when Engelbert Dollfuss, the Austrofascist leader of Italy's ally Austria, was assassinated by Austrian Nazis on Hitler's orders in preparation for a planned Anschluss (annexation of Austria). Mussolini ordered troops to the Austrian - Italian border in readiness for war against Germany . Hitler backed down and defer plans to annex Austria . </P>

Fascism in europe during the 1920's and 1930's is best described as a