Steel pact

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Announcement of June 15, 1939 in the Reichsgesetzblatt

The steel pact was an alliance treaty between the German Reich and Italy . It was signed by the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and his Italian colleague Galeazzo Ciano in the presence of Hitler on May 22, 1939 in Berlin .

history

This was preceded by a rapprochement between Germany and Italy since 1936 ( Berlin-Rome axis ). However, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had long blocked the German desire for a permanent military alliance.

The pact provided for military cooperation and unconditional mutual support in the event of a war , whereby the treaty obligations also applied to a war of aggression .

Mussolini sent Hitler a memorandum ( Italian: Memoriale Cavallero ) eight days after the contract was signed on May 30, 1939 . Mussolini reminded Hitler, among other things, of pointing out to him that Italy would need a war preparation period until around the end of 1942.

The Germans therefore assumed Italian participation in the German attack on Poland . However, the Italians were only informed about these plans in mid-August. It was only with difficulty that Rome succeeded in breaking free from the contractual obligations of the agreement without breaking it. In the end, Italy did not take part in the attack on Poland, but instead proclaimed the Nonbelligeranza : they did not want to be considered "neutral", but rather as "non-belligerent".

The Kingdom of Romania joined the "Steel Pact" on November 23, 1940.

The end of the steel pact came with Mussolini's deposition on 24/25. July 1943 and the subsequent declaration of war by Italy on Germany and the armistice between Italy and the Allies .

One aspect of the deliveries was the possibility of using the Gotthard Railway guaranteed for both countries in the Gotthard Agreement . H. with sealed trains through Switzerland .

See also

literature

  • Ferdinand Siebert : The German-Italian steel pact. Origin and significance of the contract of May 22, 1939 (Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 7), 1959 ( PDF ).
  • Frederick W.Deakin: The Brutal Friendship. Hitler, Mussolini and the fall of Italian fascism. Translated by Karl Römer. Kiepenheuer & Witsch , Cologne 1964. Ex-libris, Zurich 1964; Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart 1964 ( The brutal friendship. Mussolini, Hitler and the fall of Italian fascism. Penguin, Harmondsworth 1966)
  • Gianluca Falanga: Mussolini's outpost in Hitler's empire. Italy's Politics in Berlin 1933–1945. Christian Links, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-493-8 .
  • Richard Collier: Mussolini. Rise and Fall of the Duce. Translated from the English by Elisabeth Ambrozy & Brigitte John. Heyne, Munich 1974, 1983 (columnist)
  • HS Hegner (di Harry Wilde ): The Reich Chancellery 1933–1945. Beginning & end of the Third Reich. Cape. 12: The Steel Pact. The Berlin-Rome axis. Societäts, Frankfurt 1966.
  • Jobst etiquette : Hitler's image of Italy. Origins and confrontation with reality , Verlag Dr. Kovac Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8300-6170-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.ns-archiv.de: full text of the memorandum
  2. ^ Gilles Forster: Transit ferroviaire à travers la Suisse (1939-1945). Hrs: Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War - Commission Indépendante d'Experts Suisse - Seconde Guerre Mondiale, Volume 4, 2001. ISBN 978-3-0340-0604-0 .