The Pact of Steel was a military alliance between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, signed in Berlin by the foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano. It formalized the Rome–Berlin Axis proclaimed in 1936 and obliged each side to give full military support if the other became involved in a war, even one it had started. Mussolini had hoped for several more years of peace, and Italy was not ready for a major war. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Italy declared itself non-belligerent and entered the war only in June 1940, when France was collapsing. Ciano noted that the Germans had concealed their plans from their ally. The alliance was extended in 1940 by the Tripartite Pact with Japan.
Before and after
- 13 April 1939Birth of Seamus Heaney
- 14 April 1939Publication of The Grapes of Wrath
- 19 April 1939Birth of Ali Khamenei
- from 11 May 1939 to 16 September 1939Battles of Khalkhin Gol
- 22 May 1939Pact of Steel
- 2 July 1939Founding of Hewlett-Packard
- 9 August 1939Birth of Romano Prodi
- 23 August 1939Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
- 31 August 1939Gleiwitz incident
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916Gallipoli Campaign
- 4 June 1917Pulitzer Prize
- from February 1919 to March 1921Polish–Soviet War
- 24 July 1923Treaty of Lausanne
- from 7 December 1941 to 2 September 1945Pacific War
- from 6 June 1944 to 29 August 1944Normandy landings
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.