Tripartite Pact Facts & Worksheets

Tripartite Pact facts and information plus worksheet packs and fact file. Includes 5 activities aimed at students 11-14 years old (KS3) & 5 activities aimed at students 14-16 years old (GCSE). Great for home study or to use within the classroom environment.

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Tripartite Pact Worksheets

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Fact File

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Student Activities

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    Summary

    • Unresolved disputes during the inter-war years
    • Relations between Germany, Japan and Italy
    • Terms of the Tripartite Pact and later development

    Key Facts And Information

    Let’s know more about the Tripartite Pact!

    In the inter-war years, there had been attempts to form a strategic alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan. A series of agreements were reached between the three powers in the 1930s, such as the Rome-Berlin Axis, the Anti-Comintern Pact and the Pact of Steel. This was followed by the Tripartite Pact signed on 27 September 1940 in Berlin.

    Directed mainly at the United States, the Tripartite Pact effectively allied the Axis powers with one another, with each agreeing to aid one another with all political, economic and military means. Several states soon joined the pact. However, the defensive alliance was never invoked and economic co-operation proved to be limited.

    The Japanese embassy in Berlin in September 1940
    The Japanese embassy in Berlin in September 1940

    Unresolved disputes during the inter-war years

    • The First World War resolved the immediate conflict over European imperialism and power, bringing about the collapse of four empires: Imperial Germany, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. With the signing of the Treaty of  Versailles that stipulated huge German reparations and the creation of the League of Nations, there was hope for long-term international peace. Over the two decades following the end of the war, the failure of the League of Nations to uphold its mandate in keeping peace and order was accompanied by unresolved tensions and the emergence of secondary problems from postwar negotiations.

    Brief timeline of events during the inter-war period

    1919

    • Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
    • Creation of the League of Nations

    1925

    • Signing and implementation of the Locarno Treaties, whereby Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain and Italy mutually guaranteed peace in Western Europe.

    1928 

    • The Kellogg-Briand Pact was agreed upon, which was an attempt to eliminate war as an instrument of national policy.

    1929

    • The Great Depression began and would last until 1939. It impacted many countries across the world.

    1931 

    • The Manchurian Crisis arose from Japan’s use of force in Manchuria in Northern China. It posed a major challenge to the League of Nations.

    1932

    • The Lausanne Conference was held, which aimed to liquidate Germany’s reparation payments to former Allied powers during the First World War.

    1934 

    • The Abyssinian Crisis arose from a dispute over the town of Walwal, which turned into a conflict between the Fascist-ruled Italy and the Ethiopian Empire.

    1936 

    1937 

    • The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out. The same year witnessed the Japanese atrocities against the residents of Nanjing.

    1938 

    The inter-war years also saw the emergence of dictators in Germany, Russia, Hungary, Poland and Spain. The rise of aggressive militaristic regimes threatened the fragile postwar peace.

    Relations between Germany, Japan and Italy

    • Since the early 1920s, Italy had attempted to form a strategic alliance with Germany against France. It recognised that the year 1935 was crucial for preparing for a war against France, as this was the year when Germany’s obligations under the Treaty of Versailles were set to expire. This was not concluded, however. In fact, Italy eventually ended diplomatic relations with Germany and turned to France instead. Relations between Germany and Italy were restored in 1935 owing to Adolf Hitler’s support of Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia. In the same year, interest in Germany and Japan in forming an alliance also started. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Germany, Italy and Japan, which maintained their ambitions to secure their own specific expansionist interests, entered into a series of agreements in the 1930s.

    Rome-Berlin Axis

    • On 25 October 1936, an agreement drawn up by Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano was reached. The Rome-Berlin Axis informally linked the two fascist countries.
    The signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936 in Berlin
    The signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936 in Berlin

    Anti-Comintern Pact

    • On 25 November 1936, an agreement was concluded between Germany and Japan, opposing the Communist International (Comintern). In essence, this alliance was specifically against the Soviet Union.
    • A year later, Italy joined the pact and was legally recognised as an original signatory by the terms of its entry.

    Pact of Steel

    • Initially drafted as a tripartite military alliance, the Pact of Steel was only signed by Germany and Italy on 22 May 1939 due to a disagreement with Japan.
    • The two signatory countries wanted the focus of their pact aimed at the British Empire and France.
    The signing of the Pact of Steel on 22 May 1939 in Berlin
    The signing of the Pact of Steel on 22 May 1939 in Berlin
    • In August 1939, Japan was angered by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and so renounced the Anti-Comintern Pact. This paved the way for Germany’s invasion of Poland the following week, initiating the Second World War. The agreements made between Germany, Italy and Japan in the 1930s were crucial in forming the main basis of the Axis alliance.

    Terms of the Tripartite Pact and later development

    • Another significant agreement was reached between Germany, Italy and Japan, a year after the beginning of the Second World War. 
    • Signed on 27 September 1940 in Berlin, the Tripartite Pact was a culmination of previous agreements, effectively allying the Axis powers with one another. More importantly, it was directed mainly at the United States.

    Terms of the pact

      • Japan recognised the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe, while Germany and Italy acknowledged the leadership of Japan in the establishment of a new order in Greater East Asia.
      • The three powers agreed to aid one another with all political, economic and military means if one of them was attacked by a power at present not involved in the European War or in the Japanese-Chinese conflict.
      • The three powers affirmed that the agreement did not affect the political status existing at present between each of the three powers and Soviet Russia.
      • Joint technical commissions were to be set up. The pact would remain in force for ten years. Its renewal would be negotiated before its expiration.
    • It appeared that German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop had suggested that the signatories of the pact were willing to consider the addition of new signatories in the future. Consequently, several states soon joined the defensive military alliance.
    • It appeared that German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop had suggested that the signatories of the pact were willing to consider the addition of new signatories in the future. Consequently, several states soon joined the defensive military alliance.
    • On 20 November 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan formally accepted the accession of Hungary to the pact, following the Hungarian regent’s request for Hungary to be the first new state to join the alliance.
    The signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin
    The signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin
    • On 23 November 1940, Romania joined the pact, owing to its desire for protection against the Soviet Union.
    • On 24 November 1940, Slovakia signed its accession to the pact, in order to improve the prime minister’s standing in Slovakia relative to that of Jozef Tiso.
    • On 1 March 1941, Bulgaria formally joined the pact after being pressured by Germany and partly in gratitude for Germany’s assistance to the state.
    • On 25 March 1941, Yugoslavia signed the pact after months of negotiations. The alliance, however, was short-lived.
    • On 15 June 1941, the Independent State of Croatia, which was created from some former territories of the conquered Yugoslavia, signed the pact.
    • An agreement concluded on 20 December 1940 provided for the creation of the joint technical commissions required by the pact.
    • On 11 December 1941, three days after the US issued its declaration of war on Japan, Germany and Italy declared war on the US, although they were not explicitly bound by the Tripartite Pact to do so.
    • On the same day, Germany, Italy and Japan finalised a second pact known as the No Separate Peace Agreement, in which neither one of them would agree individually to peace terms with the US or Britain.
    • On 15 December 1941, the first meeting of the joint technical commissions, also called the Tripartite Pact Conference, were held in Berlin a year later.
    • At the conference, a Permanent Council of the Tripartite Pact Powers was decided to be established. However, nothing came of it and there was not enough push for greater collaboration.
    • On 18 January 1942, Germany and Italy signed two secret operational agreements, one with the Imperial Japanese Army and another with the Imperial Japanese Navy. The agreements essentially bound the powers to mutual support in matters of commerce, intelligence and communication.
    • In the same month, negotiations on economic co-operation started, but an agreement was not reached until a year later.
    • When the Permanent Council convened in February 1942, it was declared that ‘the propaganda effect is one of the main reasons’ for its meetings.
    • By 1943, the military commission in Berlin only two or three times, but there had been no trilateral naval talks.
    • The defensive alliance under the Tripartite Pact was not initiated since the chief signatories were widely separated between Europe and Asia. This limited collaboration between them, hence the impact of their agreement seemed limited. Nevertheless, the pact significantly influenced the American perspective that Japan was acting in league with Germany, which was further seen as part of a coordinated Axis effort to achieve world domination. The creation of the joint technical commissions was also viewed as evidence of mutual support in aggression between the powers. All these impacted how the Axis powers were judged post-war.

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    • What is the Tripartite Pact?

      The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was a treaty signed on 27 September 1940 between Germany, Italy, and Japan. 

    • What were the main objectives of the Tripartite Pact?

      The main objectives were mutual defence and support in case any signatories were attacked by a country not already involved in the war.

    • Why did Germany, Italy, and Japan form the Tripartite Pact?

      The three countries shared common interests in expansionism and were already cooperating in various ways before the pact. They aimed to establish a strong coalition to pursue their territorial and strategic goals.