Conflicts & Resolutions · Treaty

Pact of Steel

22 May 1939 · 20th century · Also known as Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy

The Pact of Steel was a military and political alliance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, signed in Berlin on 22 May 1939 by the foreign ministers Galeazzo Ciano and Joachim von Ribbentrop. It bound each country to support the other with all its forces in any war. Italy, unprepared, stayed out when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 and entered the Second World War only in June 1940.

Pact of Steel
Image: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Pact of Steel. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/pact-of-steel
MLA
“Pact of Steel.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/pact-of-steel. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Pact of Steel.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/pact-of-steel.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Pact of Steel’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/pact-of-steel (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻