Pact of Steel

The Pact of Steel (German: Stahlpakt, Italian: Patto d'Acciaio), formally known as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, was a military and political alliance between Italy and Germany.

Pact of Steel

Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy
Galeazzo Ciano, Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop at the signing of the Pact of Steel in the Reichskanzlei in Berlin
Type	Military-political
Signed	22 May 1939
Location	Berlin, Germany
Expiration	1949 (effectively in 1943)
Signatories	Joachim von Ribbentrop Galeazzo Ciano
Parties	Germany  Italy
Languages	German, Italian

Events leading to World War II

1. Revolutions of 1917–1923
2. Aftermath of World War I 1918–1939
3. Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War 1918–1925
4. Province of the Sudetenland 1918–1920
5. 1918–1920 unrest in Split
6. Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919
7. Heimosodat 1918–1922
8. Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia 1918–1919
9. Hungarian–Romanian War 1918–1919
10. Hungarian–Czechoslovak War 1918–1919
11. 1919 Egyptian Revolution
12. Christmas Uprising 1919
13. Irish War of Independence 1919
14. Comintern World Congresses 1919–1935
15. Treaty of Versailles 1919
16. Shandong Problem 1919–1922
17. Polish–Soviet War 1919–1921
18. Polish–Czechoslovak War 1919
19. Polish–Lithuanian War 1919–1920
20. Silesian Uprisings 1919–1921
21. Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1919
22. Turkish War of Independence 1919–1923
23. Venizelos–Tittoni agreement 1919
24. Italian Regency of Carnaro 1919–1920
25. Iraqi Revolt 1920
26. Treaty of Trianon 1920
27. Treaty of Rapallo 1920
28. Little Entente 1920–1938
29. Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia) 1920–1938
30. Mongolian Revolution of 1921
31. Soviet intervention in Mongolia 1921–1924
32. Franco-Polish alliance 1921–1940
33. Polish–Romanian alliance 1921–1939
34. Genoa Conference (1922)
35. Treaty of Rapallo (1922)
36. March on Rome 1922
37. Sun–Joffe Manifesto 1923
38. Corfu incident 1923
39. Occupation of the Ruhr 1923–1925
40. Treaty of Lausanne 1923–1924
41. Mein Kampf 1925
42. Second Italo-Senussi War 1923–1932
43. First United Front 1923–1927
44. Dawes Plan 1924
45. Treaty of Rome (1924)
46. Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention 1925
47. German–Polish customs war 1925–1934
48. Treaty of Nettuno 1925
49. Locarno Treaties 1925
50. Anti-Fengtian War 1925–1926
51. Treaty of Berlin (1926)
52. May Coup (Poland) 1926
53. Northern Expedition 1926–1928
54. Nanking incident of 1927
55. Chinese Civil War 1927–1937
56. Jinan incident 1928
57. Huanggutun incident 1928
58. Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928
59. Chinese reunification 1928
60. Lateran Treaty 1928
61. Central Plains War 1929–1930
62. Young Plan 1929
63. Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
64. Great Depression 1929
65. London Naval Treaty 1930
66. Kumul Rebellion 1931–1934
67. Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931
68. Pacification of Manchukuo 1931–1942
69. January 28 incident 1932
70. Soviet–Japanese border conflicts 1932–1939
71. Geneva Conference 1932–1934
72. May 15 incident 1932
73. Lausanne Conference of 1932
74. Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact 1932
75. Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact 1932
76. Proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1932
77. Defense of the Great Wall 1933
78. Battle of Rehe 1933
79. Nazis' rise to power in Germany 1933
80. Reichskonkordat 1933
81. Tanggu Truce 1933
82. Italo-Soviet Pact 1933
83. Inner Mongolian Campaign 1933–1936
84. Austrian Civil War 1934
85. Balkan Pact 1934–1940
86. July Putsch 1934
87. German–Polish declaration of non-aggression 1934–1939
88. Baltic Entente 1934–1939
89. 1934 Montreux Fascist conference
90. Stresa Front 1935
91. Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935
92. Soviet–Czechoslovakia Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935
93. He–Umezu Agreement 1935
94. Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935
95. December 9th Movement
96. Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935–1936
97. February 26 incident 1936
98. Remilitarization of the Rhineland 1936
99. Soviet-Mongolian alliance 1936
100. Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
101. Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936
102. Italo-German "Axis" protocol 1936
103. Anti-Comintern Pact 1936
104. Suiyuan campaign 1936
105. Xi'an Incident 1936
106. Second Sino-Japanese War 1937–1945
107. USS Panay incident 1937
108. Anschluss Mar. 1938
109. 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1938
110. Easter Accords April 1938
111. May Crisis May 1938
112. Battle of Lake Khasan July–Aug. 1938
113. Salonika Agreement July 1938
114. Bled Agreement Aug. 1938
115. Undeclared German–Czechoslovak War Sep. 1938
116. Munich Agreement Sep. 1938
117. First Vienna Award Nov. 1938
118. German occupation of Czechoslovakia Mar. 1939
119. Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine Mar. 1939
120. German ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1939
121. Slovak–Hungarian War Mar. 1939
122. Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War Mar.–Apr. 1939
123. Danzig crisis Mar.–Aug. 1939
124. British guarantee to Poland Mar. 1939
125. Italian invasion of Albania Apr. 1939
126. Soviet–British–French Moscow negotiations Apr.–Aug. 1939
127. Pact of Steel May 1939
128. Battles of Khalkhin Gol May–Sep. 1939
129. Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Aug. 1939
130. Invasion of Poland Sep. 1939

The pact was initially drafted as a tripartite military alliance between Japan, Italy and Germany. While Japan wanted the focus of the pact to be aimed at the Soviet Union, Italy and Germany wanted the focus of it to be aimed at the British Empire and France. Due to this disagreement, the pact was signed without Japan and as a result, it became an agreement which only existed between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, signed on 22 May 1939 by foreign ministers Galeazzo Ciano of Italy and Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany.

The pact consisted of two parts. The first section was an open declaration of continuing trust and co-operation between Germany and Italy. The second section, the "Secret Supplementary Protocol", encouraged a union of policies concerning the military and the economy.^[1]

Background

Germany and Italy fought against each other in World War I.^[2] Popularity and support for radical political parties (such as the Nazis of Adolf Hitler and the Fascists of Benito Mussolini) exploded after the Great Depression had severely hampered the economies of both countries.^[2]

In 1922, Mussolini secured his position as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy.^[3] His first actions made him immensely popular - massive programs of public works provided employment and transformed Italy's infrastructure.^[4] In the Mediterranean, Mussolini built a powerful navy, larger than the combined might of the British and French Mediterranean fleets.^[2]

When he was appointed Chancellor in 1933, Hitler initiated a huge wave of public works and secret rearmament.^[5] Fascism and Nazism shared similar principles and Hitler and Mussolini met on several state and private occasions in the 1930s.^[6] On 23 October 1936, Italy and Germany signed a secret protocol aligning their foreign policy for the first time on such issues as the Spanish Civil War, the League of Nations and the Abyssinia Crisis.^[7]

Japan

In 1931, Japanese forces invaded the region of Manchuria because of its rich grain fields and reserves of raw minerals.^[2] This, however, provoked a diplomatic clash with the Soviet Union, which bordered Manchuria.^[2] To combat this Soviet threat, the Japanese signed a Pact with Germany in 1936.^[2] The aim of the pact was to guard against any attack from Soviet Russia were it to move on China.^[2]

Japan elected to focus on anti-Soviet alliances instead of anti-Western alliances like Italy and Germany.^[8] Germany, however, feared that an anti-USSR alliance would create the possibility of a two-front war before they could conquer Western Europe.^[8] So when Italy invited Japan to sign the Pact of Steel, it demurred.^[8]

Clauses

Officially, the Pact of Steel obliged Germany and Italy to aid the other country militarily, economically or otherwise in the event of war, and to collaborate in wartime production.^[9] The Pact aimed to ensure that neither country was able to make peace without the agreement of the other.^[10] The agreement was based on the assumption that a war would not occur within three years.^[10] When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and war broke out on 3 September, Italy was not yet prepared for conflict and had difficulty meeting its obligations.^[11] Consequently, Italy did not enter World War II until June 1940, with a delayed invasion of Southern France.^[12]

Article I

The Contracting Parties will remain in permanent contact with each other in order to come to an understanding of all common interests or the European situation as a whole.^[10]

Article II

In the event that the common interests of the Contracting Parties be jeopardized through international happenings of any kind, they will immediately enter into consultation regarding the necessary measures to preserve these interests. Should the security or other vital interests of one of the Contracting Parties be threatened from outside, the other Contracting Party will afford the threatened Party its full political and diplomatic support in order to remove this threat.^[10]

Article III

If it should happen, against the wishes and hopes of the Contracting Parties, that one of them becomes involved in military complications with another power or other Powers, the other Contracting Party will immediately step to its side as an ally and will support it with all its military might on land, at sea and in the air.^[10]

Article IV

In order to ensure, in any given case, the rapid implementation of the alliance obligations of Article III, the Governments of the two Contracting Parties will further intensify their cooperation in the military sphere and the sphere of war economy. Similarly the two Governments will keep each other regularly informed of other measures necessary for the practical implementation of this Pact. The two Governments will create standing commissions, under the direction of the Foreign Ministers, for the purposes indicated in Article I and II.^[10]

Article V

The Contracting Parties already at this point bind themselves, in the event of a jointly waged war, to conclude any armistice or peace only in full agreement with each other.^[10]

Article VI

The two Contracting Parties are aware of the importance of their joint relations to the Powers which are friendly to them. They are determined to maintain these relations in future and to promote the adequate development of the common interests which bind them to these Powers.^[10]

Article VII

This Pact comes into force immediately upon its signing. The two Contracting Parties are agreed upon fixing the first period of its validity at 10 years. In good time before the elapse of this period they will come to an agreement regarding the extension of the validity of the Pact.^[10]

Secret supplementary protocols

The secret supplementary protocols of the Pact of Steel, which were split into two sections, were not made public at the time of the signing of the Pact.^[13]

The first section urged the countries to quicken their joint military and economic cooperation whilst the second section committed the two countries to cooperate in "matters of press, the news service and the propaganda" to promote the power and image of the Rome-Berlin Axis.^[13] To aid in this, each country was to assign "one or several specialists" of their country in the capital city of the other for close liaisons with the Foreign Minister of that country.^[13]

Name change

After being told the original name, "Pact of Blood", would likely be poorly received in Italy, Mussolini proposed the name "Pact of Steel", which was ultimately chosen.^[14]

Dissolution

According to Article VII, the pact was to last 10 years, but this did not happen.^[10] In November 1942, the Axis forces in North Africa, led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, were decisively defeated by the British and British Commonwealth forces at the Second Battle of El Alamein.^[15] In July 1943 the Western Allies opened up a new front by invading Sicily.^[15] In the aftermath of this, Mussolini was overthrown by 19 members of the Gran Consiglio who voted in favour of the Ordine Grandi. The new Italian government, under Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, signed an armistice with the Allies in September and became a non-belligerent, thus effectively ending Italy's involvement in the pact.^[15]

Although a puppet government under Mussolini, the Italian Social Republic, was established in Northern Italy by Nazi Germany, Italy continued as a member of the pact in name only.^[15]

See also

• Anti-Comintern Pact
• Causes of World War II
• Tripartite Pact

References

Notes

1. Gibler, Douglas M. 2008. International Military Alliances, 1648-2008. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. pp. 326-327.
2. The Road To War.
3. Knight 2013, p. 22.
4. Knight 2013, pp. 68–69.
5. Shirer 1960, pp. 258–262.
6. Corvaja 2013, p. 13.
7. Stumpf 2001, p. 146.
8. Maltarich 2005, p. 75.
9. Hiden 2014, pp. 187–188.
10. The Italo-German Alliance.
11. Belco 2010, p. 37.
12. Knox 2002, p. 181.
13. The Pact of Steel.
14. Nicholls 2000, p. 195.
15. The Mediterranean And North Africa.

Bibliography

Print

• Belco, Victoria (2010). War, Massacre, and Recovery in Central Italy, 1943–1948. University of Toronto. ISBN 978-0-8020-9314-1.
• Corvaja, Santi (2013). Hitler & Mussolini: The Secret Meetings. Enigma Books. ISBN 978-0982491164.
• Hiden, John (2014). Germany and Europe 1919–1939. Routledge Publishing. ISBN 978-1-317-89627-2.
• Knight, Patricia (2013). Mussolini and Fascism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1136477508.
• Knox, MacGregor (2002). Hitler's Italian Allies: Royal Armed Forces, Fascist Regime, and the War of 1940–1943. Cambridge University. ISBN 978-1-139-43203-0.
• Maltarich, William (2005). Samurai and Supermen: National Socialist Views of Japan. Peter Lang Publishing. ISBN 978-3-03-910303-4.
• Nicholls, David (2000). Adolf Hitler: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-965-6.
• Shirer, William (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0.
• Stumpf, Reinhard (2001). "From the Berlin–Rome Axis to the Military Agreement of the Tripartite Pact: The Sequence of Treaties from 1936 to 1942". Germany and the Second World War. Vol. VI: The Global War – Widening of the Conflict into a World War and the Shift of the Initiative 1941–1943. Clarendon Press. pp. 144–160.

Online

• . United States Office of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
• "The Pact of Steel – the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, May 24, 1941". Historical Resources. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

Media

• The Mediterranean And North Africa (television documentary). United States: World Media Rights. 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
• (television documentary). United States: World Media Rights. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.