Poet, soldier, patriot, and quintessential "man of action," Gabriele D'Annunzio was one of the glories of the regime. His most celebrated feat, which won him Mussolini's early admiration, was his military expedition to reclaim the Adriatic city of Fiume for Italy in 1919. Although the secret Treaty of London (26 April 1915) had assigned Fiume to Yugoslavia, the Italians claimed it at the Paris Peace Conference on the principle of self-determination.