The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, Italy's imperialist desires were eventually focused on the following struggling African country prior to World War II: Ethiopia.
As was the case of other European superpowers, Benito Mussolini had imperialistic ideas and one of them focused on the colonization of Ethiopia. We are referring to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War that started in October 1935 and ended in February 1937. On May 7, 1937, Italy annexed Ethiopia to the kingdom that was ruled by Emperor Victor Emmanuel III. Benito Mussolini's Italy was part of the Axis Power with Germany, and Japan, that fought during World War II against the Allied Forces.
