Italian Mare Nostrum
In summer/autumn 1942 Italy controlled the European seashores of the Mediterranean from the Rhone river in occupied France to Mount Olympus in Aegean Greece. A similar situation happened in the African shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where Mussolini's control went from Tunisia to El Alamein in Egypt. This Italian domination was increased by the fact that most of the remaining shores of the Mediterranean were controlled by the fascist Spain of General Franco, the France of Vichy and the Turkey of Kemal Atatürk, all of them with friendliness toward Mussolini.