# data[].attributes.body
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement to outlaw war signed on August 27, 1928.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NOTE TO READERS
"Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations" has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see the full notice.

Introduction

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement to outlaw war signed on . Sometimes called the Pact of Paris for the city in which it was signed, the pact was one of many international efforts to prevent another World War, but it had little effect in stopping the rising militarism of the 1930s or preventing World War II.

Photograph with representatives who signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact in the White House

U.S. Peace Advocates

In the wake of World War I, U.S. officials and private citizens made significant efforts to guarantee that the nation would not be drawn into another war. Some focused on disarmament, such as the series of naval conferences that began in Washington in 1921, and some focused on cooperation with the League of Nations and the newly formed World Court. Others initiated a movement to try to outlaw war outright. Peace advocates Nicholas Murray Butler and James T. Shotwell were part of this movement. Both men were affiliated with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an organization dedicated to promoting internationalism that was established in 1910 by leading American industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

French Involvement

With the influence and assistance of Shotwell and Butler, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Aristide Briand proposed a peace pact as a bilateral agreement between the United States and France to outlaw war between them. Particularly hard hit by World War I, France faced continuing insecurity from its German neighbor and sought alliances to shore up its defenses. Briand published an open letter in April of 1927 containing the proposal. Though the suggestion had the enthusiastic support of some members of the American peace movement, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg were less eager than Briand to enter into a bilateral arrangement. They worried that the agreement against war could be interpreted as a bilateral alliance and require the United States to intervene if France was ever threatened. To avoid this, they suggested that the two nations take the lead in inviting all nations to join them in outlawing war.

Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg

The extension of the pact to include other nations was well-received internationally. After the severe losses of the First World War, the idea of declaring war to be illegal was immensely popular in international public opinion. Because the language of the pact established the important point that only wars of aggression - not military acts of self-defense - would be covered under the pact, many nations had no objections to signing it. If the pact served to limit conflicts, then everyone would benefit; if it did not, there were no legal consequences. In early 1928, negotiations over the agreement expanded to include all of the initial signatories. In the final version of the pact, they agreed upon two clauses: the first outlawed war as an instrument of national policy and the second called upon signatories to settle their disputes by peaceful means.

On August 27, 1928, fifteen nations signed the pact at Paris. Signatories included France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy and Japan. Later, an additional forty-seven nations followed suit, so the pact was eventually signed by most of the established nations in the world. The U.S. Senate ratified the agreement by a vote of 85-1, though it did so only after making reservations to note that U.S. participation did not limit its right to self-defense or require it to act against signatories breaking the agreement.

Mukden Incident

The first major test of the pact came just a few years later in 1931, when the Mukden Incident led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Though Japan had signed the pact, the combination of the worldwide depression and a limited desire to go to war to preserve China prevented the League of Nations or the United States from taking any action to enforce it. Further threats to the Peace Agreement also came from fellow signatories Germany, Austria and Italy. It soon became clear that there was no way to enforce the pact or sanction those who broke it; it also never fully defined what constituted "self-defense," so there were many ways around its terms. In the end, the Kellogg-Briand Pact did little to prevent World War II or any of the conflicts that followed. Its legacy remains as a statement of the idealism expressed by advocates for peace in the interwar period. Frank Kellogg earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 for his work on the Peace Pact.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1921-1936 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.headline
Mukden Incident-Invasion of Manchuria - 1931

# data[].attributes.subject
Mukden Incident-Invasion of Manchuria - 1931

# data[].attributes.body
On September 18, 1931, an explosion destroyed a section of railway track near the city of Mukden. The Japanese, who owned the railway, blamed Chinese nationalists for the incident and used the opportunity to retaliate and invade Manchuria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction

In 1931, a dispute near the Chinese city of Mukden (Shenyang) precipitated events that led to the Japanese conquest of Manchuria. In response, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Stimson issued what would become known as the Stimson Doctrine, stating that the United States would not recognize any agreements between the Japanese and Chinese that limited free commercial intercourse in the region.

Secretary of State Henry Stimson

In the 1920s and 1930s, the United States had a number of interests in the Far East. The United States engaged in trade and investment in China. American missionaries representing many denominations worked within the region. The United States also claimed Pacific territories, including the Philippines, Guam, and Hawaii. The United States defended its interests in the region through a three-pronged Far Eastern policy: it included the principle of the Open Door for guaranteeing equal access to commercial opportunities in China, a belief in the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of China, and a commitment to cooperation with other powers with interests in the region.

Japanese Invasion of China

In the 1930s, events transpired that challenged all of these policies. On September 18, 1931, an explosion destroyed a section of railway track near the city of Mukden. The Japanese, who owned the railway, blamed Chinese nationalists for the incident and used the opportunity to retaliate and invade Manchuria. However, others speculated that the bomb may have been planted by mid-level officers in the Japanese Army to provide a pretext for the subsequent military action. Within a few short months, the Japanese Army had overrun the region, having encountered next to no resistance from an untrained Chinese Army, and it went about consolidating its control on the resource-rich area. The Japanese declared the area to be the new autonomous state of Manchukuo, though the new nation was in fact under the control of the local Japanese Army.

The United States and other western powers were at a loss on how to respond to the rapidly developing crisis. Even as the Japanese moved far from the original site of the "attack" at Mukden to bomb the city of Jinzhou (Chinchow), there was little sense that U.S. interests in the area were anywhere near profound enough to make military intervention necessary or desirable. Given the 1930s worldwide depression, there was little support for economic sanctions to punish the Japanese. Instead, the United States sat in on League of Nations council meetings for the first time to try to convince the League to enforce the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which both Japan and China had signed. Appeals based on the pact, however, proved ineffective.

The Stimson Doctrine

Therefore Secretary Stimson issued the Stimson Doctrine in early 1932. This Doctrine stated that the United States would not recognize any treaty or agreement between Japan and China that violated U.S. rights or agreements to which the United States subscribed.

This doctrine of non-recognition proved incredibly ineffectual in the face of on-going Japanese aggression and expansion. Japan had been expanding its influence in Manchuria for years, and now it formally controlled the territory. Moreover, after its successful conquest of Manchuria, the Japanese attacked the city of Shanghai in 1932. As Shanghai was home to the largest international settlements in China, the sudden invasion threatened foreign concessions as well. Stimson responded to this development by declaring that as a result of Japanese violation of the Nine Power Treaty, the United States would no longer consider itself bound by the naval limitations agreements. This meant a potential new naval arms race in the Pacific that would inevitably draw in the Japanese, but it did not change the situation in Manchuria.

Lytton Report

While the United States sought its own solution, it also sent an unofficial delegate along with the League of Nations group investigating the incident. The resulting report, written by the Lytton Commission, divided blame for the conflict in Manchuria equally between Chinese nationalism and Japanese militarism. Still, the report stated that it would not recognize the new state of Manchukuo on the grounds that its establishment violated the territorial integrity of China, and therefore the Nine-Power Treaty to which many of the prominent league members subscribed. When the Lytton Report was ratified by the League in 1933, the Japanese delegation walked out and never returned to the League Council. The Chinese and Japanese signed a truce, but that agreement left the Japanese firmly in control of Manchuria.

The Manchurian Crisis of 1931-33 demonstrated the futility of the 1920s-era agreements on peace, nonaggression and disarmament in the face of a power determined to march forward. Responses like the Stimson Doctrine of non-recognition similarly had little effect. In the years following the crisis, changing alliances, economic necessities and altered policies would result in an all-out Sino-Japanese War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1921-1936 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.body
Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar Republic on January 30, 1933.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Following Hitler's appointment as chancellor the Nazis were finally in a position of power.

However, this power was limited, as the Nazis were just one party in a three party coalition government, under President Hindenburg.

This topic will explore how the Nazis managed to eliminate their opposition and consolidate ultimate power over Germany, whilst maintaining an illusion of democracy.

It will first explore this topic in chronological order, from the Reichstag Fire through to the death of President Hindenburg, and then explore it thematically in the last section.

On the 31 January 1933, Hitler, conscious of his lack of a majority in the Reichstag, immediately called for new elections to try and strengthen his position. The Nazis aimed to increase their share of the vote so that they would have a majority in the Reichstag. This would allow them to rule unopposed and unhindered by coalition governments.

Over the next two months, they launched themselves into an intense election campaign.

On 27 February 1933, as the campaign moved into its final, frantic days, the Reichstag, the German Parliament building, was set on fire and burnt down. An atmosphere of panic and terror followed the event.

This continued when a young Dutch communist, Van der Lubbe was arrested for the crime.

The Nazi Party used the atmosphere of panic to their advantage, encouraging anti-communism. Göring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. This hysteria helped to turn the public against the communists, one of the Nazis main opponents, and 4000 people were imprisoned.

The day after the fire, Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People.

On the 23 March 1933, Hitler proposed the Enabling Law to the Reichstag. This new law gave Hitler the power to rule by decree rather than passing laws through the Reichstag and the president. If passed, the law would establish the conditions needed for dictatorial rule.

The atmosphere of terror that had followed the Reichstag Fire, and Hindenburg's and von Papen's support, made the proposal seem legitimate and, to some, necessary.

The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. The Nazi's had the support of the DNVP, and had banned the communist party, the KPD, from attending.

The SA and the SS had also been on a month long campaign of violence to scare or imprison other opponents to the party. They had placed many in the first concentration camp , Dachau , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933.

The Centre Party's vote was crucial. After Hitler had promised to protect the interests of the Catholic Church, the party conceded and supported the bill. Only the SPD opposed it.

The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933.

Although President Hindenburg and the Reichstag continued to exist, Hitler could now govern by decree.

The Night of Long Knives, also known as the Röhm Putsch, was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from 30 June 1934 to 2 July 1934. Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested.

In August 1932 there were approximately 445,000 members of the SA. By June 1934 this had grown to over 3,000,000 members. They were often given a free rein on their activities and were violent and difficult to control.

Hitler feared that the SA and Ernst Röhm, their leader, were a potential threat to his leadership. This fear was intensified by Göring and Himmler, who gave Hitler news of Röhm organising a potential coup .

In addition to this, there was a mutual dislike between the traditional conservative elite - who maintained many key positions in the government and the army during the first years of the Third Reich - and the SA. During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support.

However, following Hitler being elected chancellor, the SA, and particularly Röhm, were keen to continue the 'revolution' and replace the traditional conservative elite with Nazis. Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership disagreed with their approach. They understood the need to appear moderate and take over slowly by democratic means where possible, maintaining the stability and illusion of a democracy. The tension between the SA and the Nazi leadership grew.

On 30 June 1934 these tensions came to a head. The leaders of the SA were ordered to attend a meeting at a hotel in Bad Wiesse, Bavaria. Hitler arrived and personally placed Röhm and other high ranking SA leaders under arrest.

Over the next two days, most of the SA leadership were placed under arrest and murdered without trial. Röhm, who was initially pardoned , was then given the choice of suicide or murder. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards.

Whilst the purge focused on the SA, the Nazis also used the event to eliminate other political opponents, such as the former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher.

The Night of the Long Knives (in addition to Hindenburg's death a few months later) helped Hitler and the Nazi Party to consolidate absolute power in Germany by removing their political opposition.

From 20 August onwards, the Reichswehr , who had previously been a separate organisation, now swore a personal allegiance to Hitler. The SA were dramatically reduced in size, dropping by 40% to 1.8 million by 1935.

Goebbels engineered the media coverage following the attack to present it as a preventative measure, in response to the SA's 'plan to overthrow the government'. As the SA were known for being violent and unruly, many saw this as a legitimate move by the government to ensure public order.

On 13 July 1934 the Reichstag retrospectively approved a bill legalising the purge as emergency defence measures.

Gleichschaltung was the process of the Nazi Party taking control over all aspects of Germany. It is otherwise known as coordination or Nazification. The process primarily took place between 1933-1934.

The Nazi's started with the Civil Service , issuing the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on the 7 April 1933. This act legalised removing anyone of non-Ayran descent from the civil service.

In the judicial system specifically, this act removed any judges that were deemed non-compliant with Nazi laws or principles. This act was reinforced by the German Civil Service code of 26 January 1937, which retired any judges or judicial official who would not intervene in cases and rule in favour of the Nazis. The People's Court, a court created by the Nazis in April 1934 with judges chosen specifically for their Nazi beliefs, replaced the Supreme Court. With these measures in place, the Nazification of the judicial system was complete.

Gleichschaltung was applied across every possible aspect of government policy.

To take control of cultural policy, the Nazis appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for Public Engagement and Propaganda on the 13 March 1933. Goebbels became responsible for controlling the national media, film, theatre, arts, and other cultural aspects. Goebbels soon radicalised each of these areas, ensuring that they advocated Nazi ideas.

Whilst Gleichschaltung aimed to reach every aspect of rule in Germany, this was not always possible. Local governments proved more difficult to infiltrate, and even at the end of 1945 only 60% of local mayors were Nazi Party members.

Despite this, on the whole, Gleichschaltung was largely successful. By the end of 1934, the Nazis had managed to infiltrate and take control of every major aspect of German government.

The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation.
Pseudo-legal
Germany feared revolution. As such, the Nazis' consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. This essentially meant that the Nazis used the atmosphere of panic following the Reichstag Fire to put forward the Enabling Law. Once the Enabling Law was in place, the Nazis could bypass the Reichstag and rule by decree - seemingly creating laws that stabilised Germany and got rid of its 'internal enemies'. In reality, the laws that the Nazi's put forward secured their future as the sole ruling party in Germany.

The support of respected individuals such as von Papen and Hindenburg's son, Oskar von Hindenburg, gave the Nazis further legitimacy for these actions.

The Nazis immediately used the Enabling Law to remove civil rights. This meant, as well as removing other personal freedoms, that the Nazis could now imprison their political opposition for an indefinite period for any, or no, reason. The Enabling Law allowed them to do this under the guise of legality. As such the Nazi's justified this measure as implementing necessary security measures, rather than revealing their true motive - to remove opposition.

The Nazis' also took several more steps to reduce their political opposition 'legally'. On the 2 May 1933 trade unions were banned. Just two months later, on 14 July 1933 the Nazis used the Enabling Act to ban all political parties except the Nazi Party.

The Nazis also took steps to ensure they couldn't be openly opposed in the press. On the 4 October 1933, it was declared that all editors must be Aryan. Censorship was heightened, and any person publishing actively anti-Nazi material was threatened or imprisoned. By 1935, over 1,600 newspapers had been closed.

These acts removed people's ability to oppose the Nazi Party, in any form. However, it did so under the guise of legality, and 'protecting' the German people and their democracy.
Terror and intimidation
Whilst the pseudo-legal measures were one factor that helped the Nazi's to consolidate power, another was terror and intimidation.

The Nazi's used the SA and the newly expanded SS to harass and imprison any potential opponents of the Nazi Party. Following the Enabling Law, much of this harassment and imprisonment was legal.

In 1933, up to 200,000 people were seized and imprisoned by the SA and the SS. Prisons soon became stretched for space. The Nazis improvised. They used any space they could get their hands on to create temporary 'camps'. The first concentration camp, Dachau, opened in a broken-down munitions factory on the 20 March 1933, imprisoning primarily political prisoners.

The camps were brutal and had extremely unsanitary conditions. Many of the prisoners were tortured and abused.

Many of those that were harassed by the SA and the SS or imprisoned in camps were terrified to speak out about their ordeal - fearing that they would be further abused or re-imprisoned.

Terror and intimidation became one of the main ways that the Nazis sought to control or suppress their opposition, and German's in general.
Pseudo moderation
The Nazis used the guise of moderation to conceal their rapid consolidation of power.

One key example of an event posed as moderate was the Night of Long Knives.

The Night of Long Knives was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from the 30 June 1934 to the 2 July 1934. Over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested.

Following the purge, the Nazi's sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and uncontrollable force, rather than a series of political murders.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Following Hitler's appointment as chancellor the Nazis were finally in a position of power. However, this power was limited, as the Nazis were just one party in a three party coalition government, under President Hindenburg. This topic will explore how the Nazis managed to eliminate their opposition and consolidate ultimate power over Germany, whilst maintaining an illusion of democracy.

# data[].attributes.body
Germany annexes Austria in March 1933.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On March 12, 1938, German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich.

In early 1938, Austrian Nazis conspired for the second time in four years to seize the Austrian government by force and unite their nation with Nazi Germany. Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, learning of the conspiracy, met with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the hopes of reasserting his country's independence but was instead bullied into naming several top Austrian Nazis to his cabinet. On March 9, Schuschnigg called a national vote to resolve the question of Anschluss, or "annexation," once and for all. Before the plebiscite could take place, however, Schuschnigg gave in to pressure from Hitler and resigned on March 11. In his resignation address, under coercion from the Nazis, he pleaded with Austrian forces not to resist a German "advance" into the country.

The next day, March 12, Hitler accompanied German troops into Austria, where enthusiastic crowds met them. Hitler appointed a new Nazi government, and on March 13 the Anschluss was proclaimed. Austria existed as a federal state of Germany until the end of World War II, when the Allied powers declared the Anschluss void and reestablished an independent Austria. Schuschnigg, who had been imprisoned soon after resigning, was released in 1945.
READ MORE: How Did the Nazis Really Lose World War II?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On March 12, 1938, German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. In early 1938, Austrian Nazis conspired for the second time in four years to seize the Austrian government by force and unite their nation with Nazi Germany.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hitler defies the Treaty of Versailles - 1935

# data[].attributes.subject
Hitler defies the Treaty of Versailles - 1935

# data[].attributes.body
Adolf Hitler announced that he would rearm Germany in violation of the Treaty of Versailles on March 16, 1935,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In early May, it was reported that Germany's federal prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Dmitriy Badin, the Russian hacker behind the 2015 cyberattacks targeting the Bundestag. Despite this, it is unclear what steps the German government has taken to pursue Badin internationally and how Germany and the United States will manage their separate efforts to arrest him.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lessons Learned: Hitler's Rearmament of Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CFR's James M. Lindsay remembers Adolf Hitler's announcement in 1935 that he would reintroduce conscription in Germany, and discusses instances when a country should be confronted rather than accommo...

# data[].attributes.body
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a war fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Italo-Ethiopian War, (1935-36), an armed conflict that resulted in Ethiopia's subjection to Italian rule. Often seen as one of the episodes that prepared the way for World War II, the war demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations when League decisions were not supported by the great powers.

Ethiopia (Abyssinia), which Italy had unsuccessfully tried to conquer in the 1890s, was in 1934 one of the few independent states in a European-dominated Africa. A border incident between Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland that December gave Benito Mussolini an excuse to intervene. Rejecting all arbitration offers, the Italians invaded Ethiopia on October 3, 1935.

Under Generals Rodolfo Graziani and Pietro Badoglio, the invading forces steadily pushed back the ill-armed and poorly trained Ethiopian army, winning a major victory near Lake Ascianghi (Ashangi) on April 9, 1936, and taking the capital, Addis Ababa, on May 5. The nation's leader, Emperor Haile Selassie, went into exile. In Rome, Mussolini proclaimed Italy's king Victor Emmanuel III emperor of Ethiopia and appointed Badoglio to rule as viceroy.

In response to Ethiopian appeals, the League of Nations condemned the Italian invasion in 1935 and voted to impose economic sanctions on the aggressor. The sanctions remained ineffective because of general lack of support. Although Mussolini's aggression was viewed with disfavour by the British, who had a stake in East Africa, the other major powers had no real interest in opposing him. The war, by giving substance to Italian imperialist claims, contributed to international tensions between the fascist states and the Western democracies. It also served as a rallying point, especially after World War II, for developing African nationalist movements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Italo-Ethiopian War | Causes, Summary, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Italo-Ethiopian War, an armed conflict in 1935-36 that resulted in Ethiopia's subjection to Italian rule. Often seen as one of the episodes that prepared the way for World War II, the war demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations when League decisions were not supported by the great powers.

# data[].attributes.body
Adolf Hitler sent over 20,000 troops back into the Rhineland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hitler Reoccupies the Rhineland - Ohio History Connection

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On March 7, 1936, Adolf Hitler sent over 20,000 troops back into the Rhineland, an area that was supposed to remain a demilitarized zone according to

# data[].attributes.body
An agreement formulated by Italy's foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano informally linking the two fascist countries on October 25, 1936

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Rome-Berlin Axis, Coalition formed in 1936 between Italy and Germany. An agreement formulated by Italy's foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano informally linking the two fascist countries was reached on October 25, 1936. It was formalized by the Pact of Steel in 1939. The term Axis Powers came to include Japan as well.

Maren Goldberg.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rome-Berlin Axis | Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy & Mussolini

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rome-Berlin Axis, Coalition formed in 1936 between Italy and Germany. An agreement formulated by Italy's foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano informally linking the two fascist countries was reached on October 25, 1936. It was formalized by the Pact of Steel in 1939. The term Axis Powers came to include

# data[].attributes.body
The Anti-Comintern Pact was an anti-Communist pact concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on November 25, 1936

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Anti-Comintern Pact, agreement concluded first between Germany and Japan (Nov. 25, 1936) and then between Italy, Germany, and Japan (Nov. 6, 1937), ostensibly directed against the Communist International (Comintern) but, by implication, specifically against the Soviet Union.

The treaties were sought by Adolf Hitler, who at the time was publicly inveighing against Bolshevism and who was interested in Japan's successes in the opening war against China. The Japanese were angered by a Soviet-Chinese nonaggression treaty of August 1936 and by the subsequent sale of Soviet military aircraft and munitions to China. For propaganda purposes, Hitler and Benito Mussolini were able to present themselves as defenders of Western values against the threat of Soviet Communism.

On Aug. 23, 1939, Japan, outraged by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, renounced the Anti-Comintern Pact but later acceded to the Tripartite Pact (Sept. 27, 1940), which pledged Germany, Italy, and Japan "to assist one another with all political, economic and military means" when any one of them was attacked by "a Power at present not involved in the European War or in the Sino-Japanese Conflict" ( i.e., the Soviet Union or the United States).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Anti-Comintern Pact | Axis Powers, Nazi Germany, Japan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Anti-Comintern Pact, agreement concluded first between Germany and Japan (Nov. 25, 1936) and then between Italy, Germany, and Japan (Nov. 6, 1937), ostensibly directed against the Communist International (Comintern) but, by implication, specifically against the Soviet Union. The treaties were

# data[].attributes.body
The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) was one of the most destructive conflicts of World War II.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Asian Reading Room provides public access to more than 4 million items in approximately 200 languages and dialects from across Asia, including Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Thai, Tibetan, Urdu, Vietnamese, and many others. In the reading room, researchers can use the Asian Division's collections of printed materials, microform, and databases and confer with reference librarians to answer research questions about the countries of East, South, and Southeast Asia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Research Guides: Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945: A Resource Guide: Introduction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This guide provides an overview of books, journals, newspapers, manuscripts, and other materials pertaining to the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 available in Chinese, Japanese, and English at the Library of Congress.

# data[].attributes.body
In late 1937, the Japanese Army murdered hundreds of thousands of people in the Chinese city of Nanjing. Tens of thousands of women and girls were sexually assaulted, giving it the name of Rape of Nanjing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rape of Nanjing: Massacre, Facts & Aftermath

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Rape of Nanjing, or the Nanjing Massacre, was the 1937 sacking of Nanjing by invading Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

# data[].attributes.body
The Allies gave Germany Sudetenland in the Munich Pact

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Germany was economically and militarily weak.

As the Nazis focused on stabilising internal problems, they maintained the guise of moderation abroad.

However, the Nazi regime still took steps to break with international order , even at this early stage.
Concordat with the Vatican
The first success in Nazi diplomacy was the Concordat signed between the Vatican and Nazi Germany on 20 July 1933.

This Concordat agreed that the Nazis would not interfere in the activities of the Catholic Church. In return, the Vatican would diplomatically recognise the Nazi regime - the first state to officially do so.

The Concordat was an international success. It also helped to consolidate Nazi power internally within Germany by reducing Catholic opposition to the party.
Withdrawal from the League of Nations
One of the key priorities of early Nazi foreign policy was overturning aspects of the Treaty of Versailles.

Just three months after signing the Concordat, Hitler made his first major break with the Treaty of Versailles by withdrawing Germany from the League of Nations on the 14 October 1933.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , and following the creation of the League of Nations , there was an international consensus that disarmament should take place.

France, however, had refused to disarm due to fears about future wars with Germany following the devastation that they experienced in the First World War.

Hitler used other countries refusal to disarm as a pretext for withdrawing Germany from the League of Nations.

On 12 November 1933, Hitler held a plebiscite on his decision to withdraw Germany from the League of Nations. The results of the plebiscite seemed to show that the German public overwhelmingly voted in support of the move, although this should not be taken at face value, as there was a large amount of pressure from the Nazis to vote this way.
Polish Non-Aggression Pact
On 26 January 1934, the Nazis made an unexpected diplomatic peace move by signing the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact. Hitler signed this pact because he wanted to ensure that Poland did not sign a military alliance with France, as Germany was not yet prepared for another war.

This pact gave Poland assurance that Germany would not invade in the immediate future and therefore gave them no reason to have a military alliance with France. This, in turn, gave Germany time to fully rearm.

The pact agreed that both countries would work together diplomatically to address any issues, and would not engage in armed conflict with each other for a minimum of ten years.

The pact caused some concern to France, who was a close ally of Poland. France was still highly suspicious of Germany following the devastation that France suffered during the First World War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Germany was economically and militarily weak. As the Nazis focused on stabilising internal problems, they maintained the guise of moderation abroad. However, the Nazi regime still took steps to break with international order , even at this early stage.

# data[].attributes.body
A settlement reached by Germany and the Allies that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Munich Agreement | Definition, Summary, & Significance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Munich Agreement, settlement reached by Germany, Britain, France, and Italy in Munich in September 1938 that let Germany annex the Sudetenland, in western Czechoslovakia. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain claimed that the agreement had achieved ‘peace for our time,’ but World War II began i…

# data[].attributes.body
On April 7, 1939, Italy invaded Albania on Good Friday

# data[].attributes.headline
Italian alliance with Germany-Pact of Steel - 1939

# data[].attributes.subject
Italian alliance with Germany-Pact of Steel - 1939

# data[].attributes.body
On May 22, 1939, Germany and Italy expanded their political alliance into a military one by signing the Pact of Friendship and Alliance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There were two major alliances during World War II: the Axis powers and the Allied powers.

The three principal partners in what was eventually referred to as the Axis alliance were . These countries were led by German dictator Each of Germany's six European Axis allies Germany, Italy, and Japan Adolf Hitler, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and Japanese Emperor Hirohito. In September 1940, the three countries formalized their alliance through the Tripartite Pact. Five other countries subsequently joined the Tripartite Pact and became Axis powers. They were Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. participated in the Holocaust by murdering Jews or by transferring them to German custody to be murdered.

The Allied Powers were led by . These countries were led by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. They formally allied by signing the Declaration by United Nations on January 1, 1942. Fifteen other independent states also signed the Declaration on that date. In addition, the Declaration was signed by the governments-in-exile of another eight states that were occupied by the Axis powers at the time. Twenty-one other states declared war on Germany and signed the Declaration by March 1945.

Unlike the Allies, the Axis powers never developed institutions to coordinate foreign policy or direct combined military operations. Nevertheless, they pledged mutual military and political support.

Formation of the Axis Alliance

In the late 1930s, each of the three powers that would form the Axis alliance launched campaigns of territorial expansion that alienated most of the world's other major powers.

Italy invaded Ethiopia (then also known as Abyssinia) on October 3, 1935.

Japan had already seized Manchuria (a part of China) on September 18, 1931. Then, on July 7, 1937, Japan invaded the rest of China, initiating the war in the Pacific.

Germany began its prewar expansion in 1938 by annexing Austria and the Sudetenland (a part of Czechoslovakia). In March 1939, the Germans divided the rest of Czechoslovakia between the German-controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the newly created satellite state of Slovakia.

Their aggression against other states left Germany, Italy, and Japan with few friends among the world's countries. To end their isolation, the three nations began to draw closer and entered into treaties and pacts.

Rome-Berlin Axis

Italy and Germany began to pursue closer relations in 1936 after the League of Nations imposed sanctions on Italy for invading Abyssinia and after Italy's alliance with Britain and France ended. On October 25, 1936, Germany and Italy entered into a treaty of friendship in which they pledged to pursue a common foreign policy. Based on a speech given by Mussolini a week later, the alliance became known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

Anti-Comintern Pact

On November 25, 1936, a month after Germany and Italy entered into a treaty of friendship, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact. In this pact, the two countries pledged mutual assistance in combating the threat posed by the Communist International. Although the pact does not mention the Soviet Union, it was directed at that country, which was in hostilities with Japan at the time. Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact on November 6, 1937.

Pact of Steel

On May 22, 1939, Germany and Italy expanded their political alliance into a military one by signing the Pact of Friendship and Alliance. Dubbed the Pact of Steel by Mussolini, the agreement provided for military cooperation and mutual defensive support between Germany and Italy.

World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Despite the Pact of Steel, Italy at first remained neutral. On June 10, 1940, shortly before Germany defeated France, Italy joined the war as Germany's ally. In addition to invading France, Italian forces attacked British interests in North and East Africa.

Tripartite Pact

On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact. This pact formalized the alliance between the three countries, which subsequently were referred to as the Axis powers.

In the Pact, Japan recognized "the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe." In return, Germany and Italy recognized Japan's right to establish a new order "in greater East Asia."

The signatories agreed to come to one another's aid in the event of an attack by a nation with which none of the signatories was then at war. This provision was intended as a warning to the United States to stay out of Germany and Italy's wars in Europe and North Africa. It was also a warning to the United States to refrain from interfering with Japan's conquests in East Asia.

Germany Pressures other European States to Join the Axis Powers

In July 1940, just weeks after the defeat of France, Hitler decided that Nazi Germany would attack the Soviet Union the following spring. To do so, Germany needed to secure raw materials; establish transit rights for German troops; and ensure the cooperation or participation of other European states. Thus, Germany began to cajole and pressure those European states that were sympathetic to the Nazi regime to join the Axis. Nazi Germany offered economic aid to Slovakia. It also offered military protection and Soviet territory to Romania. And it warned Hungary that Germany might retract its recent support for Hungarian annexations of Czechoslovak and Romanian territory.

When Italy failed to conquer Greece in the late autumn and winter of 1940 - 1941, Germany became more concerned about securing its southeastern flank in the Balkans. Greece's success in repulsing Italian forces allowed its ally, Great Britain, to establish a foothold on the European continent. To subdue Greece and move the British off the European mainland, Nazi Germany sought to bring Yugoslavia and Bulgaria into the Axis alliance as well.

Hungary

Hungary was beholden to Germany and Italy for awarding it part of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and approving its annexation of Northern Transylvania from Romania in September 1940. Hungary's leaders were also eager for preferential economic treatment from Nazi Germany. Hungary joined the Axis alliance on November 20, 1940.

Romania

Having requested and received a German military mission in October 1940, Romania joined the Axis on November 23, 1940. The Romanians hoped that loyal support for a German invasion of the Soviet Union and faithful oil deliveries would: 1) destroy the Soviet threat; 2) return to Romania provinces annexed by the Soviet Union in June 1940; and 3) win German support for the return of Northern Transylvania.

Slovakia

Slovakia was both politically and economically dependent on Germany for its existence as a sovereign state. Thus, Slovakia followed suit and joined the Axis alliance on November 24, 1940.

Bulgaria

Initially, Bulgarian leaders stalled and resisted German pressure to join the Axis alliance. They were reluctant to get involved in a war with the Soviet Union. They also did not want to antagonize Yugoslavia, which was nominally an ally of Greece. However, Bulgaria joined the Axis after the Germans offered them Greek territory in Thrace. The Germans also exempted Bulgaria from participation in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Bulgaria joined the Axis on March 1, 1941.

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia reluctantly joined the Axis on March 25, 1941. It did so because the Germans agreed to respect Yugoslav neutrality in the war against Greece and did not demand transit rights for Axis troops. Two days later, Serbian military officers who objected to the Tripartite Pact overthrew the Yugoslav government that had signed it. This enraged Hitler. Germany attacked Yugoslavia on April 6 and Italy and Hungary soon joined in the invasion. Yugoslavia was defeated, dismembered, and occupied by the Axis powers by mid-April 1941. Consequently, Yugoslavia never actually became one of the Axis powers.

Croatia

As part of the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, the Axis powers created a satellite state called the Independent State of Croatia. It was run by Croats who belonged to the fascist Ustaša movement. The Independent State of Croatia joined the Axis on June 15, 1941.

Finland

On June 26, 1941, four days after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Finland entered the war against the USSR as a "co-belligerent." The Finns sought to regain territory lost during the 1939 - 1940 Winter War with the Soviet Union. Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact or entered into a formal alliance with Nazi Germany. However, it did allow German forces to transit and operate from Finnish territory, and Finnish forces fought alongside the Germans. Since it functioned as an ally of Nazi Germany, Finland is sometimes incorrectly referred to as one of the Axis powers.

Disintegration and Defeat of the Axis

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor. Within days, Germany and the European Axis powers declared war against the United States. In response, the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and twenty-two other governments formally declared that they would work together to defeat the Axis powers. Twenty-one additional governments joined their alliance before the end of the war.

Consequently, at the start of 1942, Germany and its allies found themselves fighting a world war. By early 1943, accumulating military losses in Europe and Africa began to erode some of the Axis powers' commitments to one another.

Italy

Italy was the first Axis partner to give up.

In late July 1943, leaders of the Italian Fascist Party deposed and arrested Fascist leader and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943.

German forces occupied the northern half of Italy and freed Mussolini from prison. Mussolini then established the Italian Social Republic, which was based in the northern Italian town of Salò and was completely dependent upon Germany.

Romania

On August 23, 1944, following the overthrow of dictator Marshal Ion Antonescu, Romania switched sides. Romanian troops fought alongside Soviet troops for the remainder of the war.

Bulgaria

After the Soviets rejected its offer of an armistice, Bulgaria surrendered on September 8, 1944. The Bulgarian Communist-led Fatherland Front seized power in a coup from the pro-Axis Bulgarian government. It then declared war on Nazi Germany.

Finland

On September 19, 1944, Finland signed an armistice with the Soviet Union.

Hungary

In March 1944, Germany forced Hungary to accept occupation by German forces. The primary reason for Germany's occupation was its legitimate fear that Hungary would desert the Axis, as Italy had done six months earlier. Hungary never surrendered. The war ended for Hungary in early April 1945, when the Soviet Union's Red Army drove the last German and Hungarian forces from Hungarian territory.

Slovakia

A national uprising against the pro-Nazi Slovak government broke out in Slovakia in late August 1944. In response, Germany occupied Slovakia to suppress the revolt. Slovakia remained in the Axis until the Soviets captured the capital, Bratislava, in early April 1945.

Croatia

Fanatical remnants of the Croatian Ustaša remained in Croatia until the end of April 1945, when they were captured or driven across the border into German-occupied Slovenia and Austria by Yugoslav Communist-led partisans.

Germany

Following Hitler's suicide on April 30, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on May 8 - 9.

Japan

After the defeat of all its Axis allies, Japan fought alone during the summer of 1945. It formally surrendered on September 2, 1945.

Last Edited: Apr 22, 2022

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy, and Japan. Learn more about the Axis powers in WW2.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hitler and Stalin sign Non-Aggression Pact - 1939

# data[].attributes.subject
Hitler and Stalin sign Non-Aggression Pact - 1939

# data[].attributes.body
In the night of August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact., known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the night of 23-24 August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact., known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The countries agreed that they would not attack each other and secretly divided the countries that lay between them. Germany claimed Western Poland and part of Lithuania.

# data[].attributes.body
On September 1, 1939, German forces under the control of Adolf Hitler invades Poland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Germany invades Poland | September 1, 1939 | HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On September 1, 1939, German forces under the control of Adolf Hitler invade Poland, beginning World War II.

# data[].attributes.body
On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On September 17, 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the "fine print" of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact -the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland.

Hitler's troops were already wreaking havoc in Poland, having invaded on the first of the month. The Polish army began retreating and regrouping east, near Lvov, in eastern Galicia, attempting to escape relentless German land and air offensives. But Polish troops had jumped from the frying pan into the fire-as Soviet troops began occupying eastern Poland. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Non-aggression Pact, signed in August, had eliminated any hope Poland had of a Russian ally in a war against Germany. Little did Poles know that a secret clause of that pact, the details of which would not become public until 1990, gave the U.S.S.R. the right to mark off for itself a chunk of Poland's eastern region. The "reason" given was that Russia had to come to the aid of its "blood brothers," the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who were trapped in territory that had been illegally annexed by Poland. Now Poland was squeezed from West and East-trapped between two behemoths. Its forces overwhelmed by the mechanized modern German army, Poland had nothing left with which to fight the Soviets.

As Soviet troops broke into Poland, they unexpectedly met up with German troops who had fought their way that far east in a little more than two weeks. The Germans receded when confronted by the Soviets, handing over their Polish prisoners of war. Thousands of Polish troops were taken into captivity; some Poles simply surrendered to the Soviets to avoid being captured by the Germans.

The Soviet Union would wind up with about three-fifths of Poland and 13 million of its people as a result of the invasion.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Soviet Union invades Poland | September 17, 1939 | HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On September 17, 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the "fine print" of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact-the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland. Hitler's troops were already wreaking havoc in Poland, having invaded on the first of the month.

# data[].attributes.body
Under the code name 'Operation Weserübung', Germany attacked Denmark and Norway on April 9, 1940

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Germany invades Denmark and Norway | Anne Frank House

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Under the code name ‘Operation Weserübung’, Nazi Germany attacked Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940. On that same day, Denmark surrendered and was occupied. The country was a useful base of operations for the fight against Norway. The Norwegians resisted for two months but surrendered on 9 June 194…

# data[].attributes.headline
Hideki Tojo promoted to Minister of War - 1940

# data[].attributes.subject
Hideki Tojo promoted to Minister of War - 1940

# data[].attributes.body
In July 1940, he was appointed minister of war to the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How did Tōjō Hideki change the world?

Where was Tōjō Hideki educated?

Where is Tōjō Hideki buried?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Tōjō Hideki, (born December 30, 1884, Tokyo, Japan-died December 23, 1948, Tokyo), soldier and statesman who was prime minister of Japan (1941-44) during most of the Pacific theatre portion of World War II and who was subsequently tried and executed for war crimes.

Early life and rise to power

A graduate of the Imperial Military Academy and the Military Staff College, Tōjō served briefly as military attaché in Japan's embassy in Berlin after World War I. He was an esteemed administrator and skillful field commander and became noted as a stern disciplinarian. In 1928 he was made commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment, members of which participated in a mutiny of the Tokyo garrison in late February 1936 that he helped suppress. In 1937 he was named chief of staff of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria.

He returned to Tokyo in 1938 as vice-minister of war and was one of the leading advocates of Japan's Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy (1940). In July 1940 he was appointed minister of war in the cabinet of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro. Tōjō succeeded Konoe as prime minister on October 18, 1941, and pledged his government to a Greater East Asia program, a "New Order in Asia." He retained control of the Ministry of War and was also minister of commerce and industry from 1943.

World War II and conviction for war crimes

A hardworking and efficient bureaucrat, Tōjō was also one of the most aggressive militarists in the Japanese leadership. He led his country's war efforts after the attack on the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, and under his direction smashing victories were initially scored throughout Southeast Asia and the western Pacific region. After a series of Japanese military reverses in the Pacific, Tōjō assumed virtual dictatorial powers, taking over the post of the chief of the General Staff. The successful Allied invasion of the Mariana Islands so weakened his government, however, that he was removed as chief of staff on July 16, 1944, and on July 18 he and his entire cabinet announced their resignation. Four days later he was succeeded as prime minister by Koiso Kuniaki. Tōjō spent the remainder of the war in the military reserve, effectively banned from power.

On September 11, 1945, after Japan's formal surrender, Tōjō shot himself in a suicide attempt, but he was nursed back to health and on April 29, 1946, with other Japanese wartime leaders, was indicted for war crimes before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. At the trial he was found guilty and then hanged. Tōjō's legacy continued, as he was one of those convicted of war crimes who also had been included among Japan's military dead commemorated in the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Periodic visits to the shrine by various Japanese prime ministers and other government officials have sparked strong protests from China, South Korea, and other countries that were under Japanese occupation during the war.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Michael Ray.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tojo Hideki | Biography, Early Years, World War II, Facts, & Death

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tojo Hideki, soldier and statesman who was prime minister of Japan (1941-44) during most of the Pacific theater portion of World War II and who was subsequently tried and executed for war crimes. Learn more about Tojo's early life, military career, and political leadership in this article.