Originally, many Italian Fascists were opposed to Nazism as fascism in Italy did not espouse Nordicism and did not initially espouse the antisemitism inherent in Nazi ideology, although many fascists, in particular Mussolini himself, held racist ideas that were enshrined into law as official policy over the course of Fascist rule. As Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany grew politically closer in the latter half of the 1930s, Italian laws and policies became explicitly antisemitic due to pressure from Nazi Germany (even though antisemitic laws were not commonly enforced in Italy), including the passage of the Italian racial laws. When the Fascists were in power, they also persecuted some linguistic minorities in Italy.