In September 1941 , Italy 's fascist dictator , Benito Mussolini , ordered the military occupation of the entire Dalmatian coast , including the city of Dubrovnik ( `` Ragusa '' ) , and islands such as Vis ( Lissa ) and Pag ( Pago ) which had been given to the puppet Independent State of Croatia of Ante Pavelić : Mussolini tried to annex those areas to the Governorship of Dalmatia , but was temporarily stopped by the strong opposition of Pavelić , who retained nominal control of them .
In September 1941 , Italy 's fascist dictator , Benito Mussolini , ordered the military occupation of the entire Dalmatian coast and islands ( like Ragusa , Lissa , and Pago ) that belonged to fascist Croatia of Ante Pavelić : he tried to annex those areas to the Governorship of Dalmatia , but was temporarily stopped by the strong opposition of Pavelić , who retained nominal control of those areas .