The alliance originated in a series of agreements between Germany and Italy, followed by the proclamation of an axis binding Rome and Berlin (October 25, 1936), with the two powers claiming that the world would henceforth rotate on the Rome-Berlin axis.This was followed by the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact against the Soviet Union (November 25, 1936).Axis leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini Adolf Hitler (right) with Benito Mussolini.
Photos.comThinkstock. See all videos for this article Hostile acts of expansionism by the three countries during the 1930s sowed the seeds of world war. Nazi Germany occupied the Rhineland in 1936 and annexed Austria and the Sudetenland two years later. Hitlers tirades against bolshevism were delivered not only in order to justify German intervention on the side of the fascist-oriented Falange in the Spanish Civil War (193639) but also to prepare the ground for alliance with Japan, where nationalism and militarism had been ascendant since Japans occupation of Manchuria. Germany had not enacted any sanctions against Italy during the Italo-Ethiopian War (193536): firmly resolved on annexing Austria to Germany, Hitler was waiting until Italys war was over before making his next move on the international chessboard. A draft agreement between Germany and Austria was submitted to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, whose approval was obtained on June 5. Axis & Allies 2004 Video Game Full Sovereignty AndAn official communique published in Berlin and in Vienna on July 11 stated that the German Reich recognized Austrias full sovereignty and that Austria undertook, both in general and toward the German Reich, to pursue the policy of a German state. A visit by Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolinis son-in-law and minister of foreign affairs, to Hitler at Berchtesgaden on October 24 was followed by Germanys becoming the first power to recognize Italys annexation of Ethiopia. On November 1, in Milan, Mussolini completed the bargain by proclaiming the Rome-Berlin Axis and by violently attacking communism. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Convinced that in a forthcoming war the Nazi Reich would be victorious, he formally subscribed to the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact on November 6 of that year, and on December 11 he withdrew Italy from the League of Nations. Benito Mussolini with Adolf Hitler Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (left) touring the Eastern Front with German dictator Adolf Hitler (second from right) during World War II. Walking with them are German Nazi leaders Hermann Gring (between Mussolini and Hitler) and Wilhelm Keitel. APREXShutterstock.com The connections among the Axis powers were strengthened by a full military and political alliance between Germany and Italy (the Pact of Steel, May 22, 1939) and by the Tripartite Pact, signed by all three powers on September 27, 1940, one year after Germanys invasion of Poland and the beginning of World War II. During the war a number of other countries joined the Axis, induced by coercion or promises of territory or protection by the Axis powers. They included Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia (after Czechoslovakia had divided in 1939) in November 1940, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in March 1941, and, after the wartime breakup of Yugoslavia, Croatia (June 1941). Finland, although it did not formally join the Tripartite Pact, cooperated with the Axis because of its opposition to the Soviet Union (to which Finland had been forced to cede territory in 1940) and entered the war in 1941. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray, Editor.
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