Germany and Italy had worked well during the Spanish Civil War and had brought about a fascist victory over communism. Hitler and Mussolini recognised that each had much in common with the other and that working together would be in their interest. This interest also expanded to Imperial Japan which was run as a military dictatorship. In 1936, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern pact, followed by the addition of Italy in 1937. The agreement would become known as the Axis Alliance or Axis Powers.