Mahatma Gandhi accepted an invitation to visit Rome in December 1931 and meet then-Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. Mussolini hailed Gandhi as a "genius and a saint" and admired his ability to challenge the British Empire. After his visit, Gandhi wrote a letter to a friend stating, "Mussolini is a riddle to me. Many of his reforms attract me. He seems to have done much for the peasant class. I admit an iron hand is there. But as violence is the basis of Western society, Mussolini's reforms deserve an impartial study ... What strikes me is that behind Mussolini's implacability is a desire to serve his people. Even behind his emphatic speeches there is a nucleus of sincerity and of passionate love for his people. It seems to me that the majority of the Italian people love the iron government of Mussolini." Gandhi also hailed Mussolini as the “one of the great statesmen of our time." However, by the time Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935, Gandhi disavowed Mussolini.