German-Italian Treaty of 1939

(the so-called Pact of Steel), a pact of political and military cooperation that completed the formation of an aggressive military-political bloc of fascist Germany and Italy, a bloc that had a clearly anti-Soviet character. It was signed by the respective ministers of foreign affairs in Berlin on May 22 for a term of ten years. It represented a continuation of the 1936 agreement that created the so-called Berlin-Rome Axis. In the case of war by either signatory with another power or powers, the other was obligated to immediately offer the support of all its armed forces, and neither was to conclude any armistice or peace without mutual agreement. The treaty was an important stage in the military and diplomatic preparation for the unleashing of World War II (1939-45). In June 1940, fascist Italy entered the war on the side of Hitlerite Germany.