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Benito Mussolini's doomed alliance with Nazi Germany during WWII is well documented—but new archival materials suggest that Mussolini worked for British intelligence during WWI, serving as an agent for a nation that he would later lead a war against. Cambridge historian Peter Martland explained his discovery to The Guardian: "Britain's least-reliable ally in the war at the time was Italy after revolutionary Russia's pullout from the conflict. Mussolini was paid £100 a week from the autumn of 1917 for at least a year to keep up the pro-war campaigning—equivalent to about £6,000 a week today." As a 34-year-old newspaper man, Mussolini's job was likely related to propaganda efforts. "The last thing Britain wanted were pro-peace strikes bringing the factories in Milan to a halt." After the armistice, Mussolini began his rise to power.