Berlin Pact of 1940

a treaty establishing an aggressive alliance, signed September 27 in Berlin by representatives of Germany (J. Ribbentrop), Italy (G. Ciano), and Japan (S. Kurusu) for a period of ten years.

The Berlin Pact provided for the division of the world among the three imperialist states. Germany and Italy were assigned a leading role in creating the so-called new order in Europe, and Japan was to have the leading role in Asia. The parties to the Berlin Pact pledged to give each other political, economic, and military aid. The Berlin Pact was also joined by governments under German control, including Hungary (Nov. 20, 1940), Rumania (Nov. 23, 1940), Slovakia (Nov. 24, 1940), and Bulgaria (Mar. 1, 1941). On Mar. 25, 1941, the Cvetkovič government of Yugoslavia joined the Berlin Pact. But the Cvetkovič government was overthrown on March 27, and the new Simovič government did not ratify the act of joining the pact. Later, Finland, Spain, and Thailand, as well as the puppet governments of Croatia, Manchukuo, and the so-called government of Wang Chingwei in China, joined the Berlin Pact. The pact was closely related to the aggressors’ plans for attacking the USSR. The defeat of the fascist bloc in World War II, 1939–45, led to the liquidation of the Berlin Pact.