Italy / Japan: Postcard published by the Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party) depicting a...

The National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism (previously represented by groups known as Fasci). The party ruled Italy from 1922 when Fascists took the power with the March on Rome, to 1943, when Mussolini was deposed by the Grand Council of Fascism. Although the main operations theatre of the Italian navy in World War II lay in the Mediterranean, The Regia Marina had a naval base in the concession territory of Tianjin in China. The primary Italian vessels based in China were the mine-layer Lepanto and the gunboat Carlotto. During World War II, Italian supply ships, auxiliary cruisers and submarines operated throughout the waters of the Far East, often in disguise. The Italians also utilized Japanese-controlled port facilities such as Shanghai, China, and Kobe, Japan.