Pact of Steel

• 1. Rising Dictators Align

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  Benito Mussolini secured his position as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy in 1922. His first actions included massive programs of public works that transformed Italy's infrastructure. He built a powerful navy larger than the combined might of British and French Mediterranean fleets. Adolf Hitler initiated a huge wave of public works and secret rearmament when he was appointed Chancellor in 1933. Popularity for radical political parties exploded after the Great Depression severely hampered economies of both countries. Fascism and Nazism shared similar principles, leading to meetings between Hitler and Mussolini on several state and private occasions during the 1930s. On the 23rd of October 1936, Italy and Germany signed a secret protocol aligning their foreign policy for the first time.

• 2. Japan Excluded From Pact

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  Japanese forces invaded the region of Manchuria in 1931 because of its rich grain fields and reserves of raw minerals. This provoked a diplomatic clash with the Soviet Union which bordered Manchuria. To combat this Soviet threat, Japan signed a pact with Germany in 1936. The aim was to guard against any attack from Soviet Russia were it to move on China. Japan elected to focus on anti-Soviet alliances instead of anti-Western alliances like Italy and Germany. Germany feared that an anti-USSR alliance would create the possibility of a two-front war before they could conquer Western Europe. When Italy invited Japan to sign the Pact of Steel, it demurred due to these conflicting strategic goals regarding the Soviet Union versus Western powers.

• 3. Obligations Of War And Peace

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  The Pact of Steel obliged Germany and Italy to aid the other country militarily, economically or otherwise in the event of war. It required collaboration in wartime production between the two nations. The agreement aimed to ensure that neither country was able to make peace without the agreement of the other. The pact consisted of two parts including an open declaration of continuing trust and co-operation. The second section encouraged a union of policies concerning the military and the economy. The agreement was based on the assumption that a war would not occur within three years. When Germany invaded Poland on the 1st of September 1939, war broke out on the 3rd of September.

• 4. Secret Press Coordination

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  The secret supplementary protocols of the Pact of Steel were split into two sections and not made public at the time of signing. The first section urged countries to quicken their joint military and economic cooperation. The second section committed the two countries to cooperate in matters of press, news service and propaganda. This effort promoted the power and image of the Rome-Berlin Axis. To aid in this, each country assigned one or several specialists of their country in the capital city of the other for close liaisons with the Foreign Minister of that country. These clandestine agreements regarding press coordination remained hidden from the general public until much later.

• 5. Mussolini Changes Name

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  After being told the original name Pact of Blood would likely be poorly received in Italy, Mussolini proposed the name Pact of Steel. This new title was ultimately chosen by both parties. The formal name became the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy. The change reflected political sensitivity rather than strategic alteration. Mussolini rejected the aggressive connotation of blood in favor of steel which sounded more palatable to Italian audiences. The pact was signed on the 22nd of May 1939 by foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany and Galeazzo Ciano of Italy.

• 6. Italy Delays Entry

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  When war broke out on the 3rd of September after Germany invaded Poland, Italy was not yet prepared for conflict. It had difficulty meeting its obligations due to unpreparedness following Germany's invasion of Poland. Consequently, Italy did not enter World War II until June 1940. This delay included a late invasion of Southern France. The pact was initially drafted as a tripartite military alliance but became an agreement only between Italy and Germany. Italy's lack of readiness meant it could not fulfill the joint military action requirements immediately when the war began.

• 7. Allied Invasion Ends Pact

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  In November 1942, Axis forces in North Africa were decisively defeated by British and Commonwealth forces at the Second Battle of El Alamein. In July 1943 Western Allies opened up a new front by invading Sicily. 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. This made Italy a non-belligerent and effectively ended its involvement in the pact. Although a puppet government under Mussolini called the Italian Social Republic was established in Northern Italy, Italy continued as a member of the pact in name only.