World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWhile Germany and China had traditionally enjoyed a productive friendship, Adolf Hitler increasingly wished to befriend Japan, which was unofficially waging a war against China. The resolve this dilemma, the German foreign ministry worked out a common anti-communist agenda that could potentially bring the three nations together. Although the Germans failed to persuade the Chinese to sign the treaty, Germany and Japan continued with the work. The two nations agreed to the pact on 23 Oct 1936, officially signing it on 25 Nov 1936. On the surface, the pact was only directed against the Comintern (Communist International), but a secret clause noted that should any of the signatories become involved in a war against the Soviet Union, the other party would remain neutral and that none of the signatories would make political treaties with the Soviet Union. As a part of this treaty, Germany also officially recognized the puppet state of Manchukuo, which Japan established in northeastern China.

ww2dbaseOn 6 Nov 1937, Italy also signed the pact.

ww2dbaseThe pact was broken by Germany in Aug 1939 when Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Russia. On 25 Nov 1941, after the start of the Russo-German war, the pact was renewed with a greater number of participants, which included Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Japanese puppet regime in Nanjing China, Japanese puppet regime in Manchukuo, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.

Photographs

Anti-Comintern Pact Timeline