Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Treaty (1906) also refers to a 1906 treaty concerning the Nile river (see Hydropolitics in the Nile Basin.)
The Tripartite Pact, also called the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27 1940 by Saburo Kurusu of Imperial Japan, Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, and Galeazzo Ciano (foreign minister of Italy) of Fascist Italy entering as a military alliance and officially founding the Axis Powers of World War II that opposed the Allied Powers.
Background and the agreement
The agreement formalized the Axis Powers' partnership, and can be read as a warning to the United States to remain neutral in World War II — or become involved in a war on two fronts.
The pact the three nations agreed that for the next ten years they would "stand by and co-operate with one another in... their prime purpose to establish and maintain a new order of things... to promote the mutual prosperity and welfare of the peoples concerned." They recognized each other's spheres of interest and undertook "to assist one another with all political, economic and military means when one of the three contracting powers is attacked" by a country not already involved in the war, excluding the Soviet Union.
The pact supplemented the previous German-Japanese Agreement and the Anti-Comintern Pact, both of 1936 and helped overcome the rift that had developed between Japan and Germany following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.
The Tripartite Pact was subsequently joined by Hungary (November 20, 1940), Romania (November 23, 1940), Slovakia (November 24, 1940), Bulgaria (March 1, 1941)prior to the arrival of German troops, and Yugoslavia (March 25, 1941).
Hungary
The Austro-Hungarian Empire had sided with Imperial Germany during World War I and had collapsed following the defeat by the Allies. Following the Treaty of Trianon, the Kingdom of Hungary was reduced greatly in size and this caused much resentment. In order to assuage this resentment, Germany and Italy implemented the Vienna Awards in 1938 and 1940 and this was subsequently followed by Hungary joining the Tripartite Pact in November 1940. Collusion was further heightened when the Fascist Arrow Cross Party later came to power.
Romania
The Kingdom of Romania had joined the Allied Powers in World War I and had received Transylvania from Hungary. After Germany and Italy awarded parts of Transylvania back to Hungary and southern Dobruja back to Bulgaria and after the Soviet Union had taken Bessarabia, the Fascist Iron Guard party came to power and Romania joined the Tripartite Pact on November 23, 1940. This was partly due to the Romanian desire for protection against the Soviet Union.
Slovakia
On 14 March 1939, after the Munich Agreement, the Slovak Republic was formed from a portion of the dismembered Czechoslovakia. Hitler invited Monsignor Jozef Tiso to be the new nation's leader. Soon after it was formed, Sovakia was involved in a war with neighboring Hungary and supported the German invasion of Poland. Slovakia joined the Tripartite Pact on 24 November 1940.
Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria had been on the losing side in World War I, losing territory to Serbia and Greece. During World War II, Germany needed military access through Bulgaria in order to attack Greece. Adolf Hitler promised the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III that Bulgaria would receive all the territory she had lost in return for Bulgaria joining the Axis. Boris agreed and signed the Pact on March 1, 1941.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
On March 25 1941 in Vienna, Prince Paul (Pavle), Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, signed the Tripartite Pact, which was declared defunct only two days later. It was not easy for Hitler to gain Yugoslavia's cooperation. There were strong anti-German feelings in the country, especially among the dominant Serbian population. On March 27, the regime was overthrown by a military coup d'état with British support, and the 18 year old King Peter II of Yugoslavia seized power. General Dušan Simović became Peter's Prime Minister and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia withdrew from the pact with the Axis.
The initial agreement of the document was only regarding Yugoslavia's acceptance of the free movement of German troops around the country, but Serbia declined, this was unsatisfactory to the Führer, and resulted in the invasion of Yugoslavia.
Postponing Operation Barbarossa, the Germans simultaneously attacked Yugoslavia and Greece. Starting on April 6, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) bombed Belgrade for three days and nights. German ground troops (Wehrmacht Heer) moved in, and Yugoslavia capitulated on April 17.
The Independent State of Croatia and the rump state of Serbia which were created from dismembered Kingdom Yugoslavia were not signatories to the Tripartite Pact.
Soviet Union
Just prior to the formation of Tripartite Pact, the Soviet Union was informed of its existence, and the potential of its joining.[Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, pg. 199] Vyacheslav Molotov was thus sent to Berlin to discuss the pact and the possibility of the Soviet Union joining it.
For the Soviets, they considered joining the Tripartite Pact to be an update of existing agreements with Germany.[Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, pg. 200] The Soviet government sent a revised version of the pact to Germany on November 25.[Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, pg. 200] To demonstrate the benefits of partnership, the Soviet Union made large economic offerings to Germany.[Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, pg. 201]
Regardless of the talks however, the Germans had no intention of allowing the Soviets to join the pact. They were already in the preparation stages for their invasion of the Soviet Union and were committed to doing so regardless of any action the Soviets took.
When they received the Soviet offer in November, they simply did not reply. They did, however, accept the new economic offerings, and signed an agreement for such on January 10, 1941.[Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, pg. 202]
End of the Pact
The Kingdom of Italy surrendered to the Western Allies in 1943, marking the beginning of the end for the Tripartite Pact. While dictator Benito Mussolini's Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI) continued to maintain its alliance with Germany until the end of the war, the RSI was never more than a puppet state. In 1944, both Bulgaria and Romania changed sides and became military allies of the Soviet Union. After the Slovak National Uprising in mid-1944, the Germans ended what little was left of the independence of Slovakia. Hungary was the last minor member of the pact aside from the big two (Germany and Japan). But, by early April 1945, Hungary was completely overrun and its pro-German dictator Ferenc Szálasi and his Fascist government were forced to flee. While technically still in operation until Japan's surrender, the quelling of Germany brought an end to any effective meaning of the treaty.
See also
 Pact of Steel
Anti-Comintern Pact
References
External links
The text of the Tripartite Pact
Youtube: The signing of the Tripatite Pact
Youtube: Japanese Ambassador visits Berlin
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