There were few reasons why Mussolini aligned with Germany in WWII, one of this reasons was the fact of the political ideological similarity, the Italians being governed by a fascist regime under Benito Mussolini and Germany by a Nazi like Adolf Hitler and also because Mussolini own national interest, he was an Italian Nationalist poisoned with the triumphs of ancient Rome, and so he has the vision of building a new Italian empire to replicate the glories of ancient Rome and his first target was invading Abyssinia (Modern Ethiopia) one of the few African kingdoms not under control of Europe, later back up by Hittler.