The Rome-Berlin Axis and the Anti-Comintern Pact

Question 1

What was the Hossbach Conference and Memorandum?

Answer 1

• The Hossbach Conference met on November 5th 1937. The conference gets its name after Friedrich Hossbach who wrote what was to be called the ‘Hossbach Memorandum’ after the conference had ended.
• Those at the conference were sworn to secrecy and the conference itself was held in secret and only Hitler’s closest advisers were invited to attend.
• Hitler outlined the steps he wanted to take for Nazi Germany to achieve ‘Lebensraum’ in Eastern Europe and the steps required so that the conquered land was ‘Germanised’.
• Those who attended the meeting included : Col Friedrich Hossbach, military adjutant to Hitler (he wrote the minutes), the German Minister for War, the German Foreign Minister, and Hermann Goering (Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe),
• The Hossbach Memorandum was written on November 10th, 1937, five days after the conference had occurred.
• It is sometimes known as the Hossbach Protocol or the ‘Hossbach Niederschrift’.
• Hossbach made notes during the conference and used them to compile the memorandum. It was used as evidence to support the charge of planning for war in the Nuremberg Trials in 1945.
• Historians’ views on the Conference:
• Some historians such as Richard Overy argue that in the Hossbach Conference Hitler announced his plans for war in Europe if he could not achieve by peace the living space in the east he believed Nazi Germany merited and that he had “a duty to war”.
• other historians such as Timothy Mason believe that the memorandum was no more than Hitler testing out the thoughts of those who surrounded him and that it was vague and that the final memorandum available to historians had been carefully edited before the start of the Nuremberg Trials by the Allies and as a result its contents have to be treated cautiously.

Question 2

What were 4-5 facts about Hossbach?

Answer 2

1) - Met on November 5 1937
- Those who attended were sworn to secrecy and were close to Hitler
- Hitler outlined the steps he wanted to take to achieve ‘Lebensraum’ and so that conquered land was ‘Germanised’
2) Hitler’s foreign policy has expanded and is more aggressive. he’s achieved his small aims. He wants to achieve ‘Lebensraum’ and wants to expand Germany eg. take over Czechoslovakia and Poland. He wants to expand his army even more
4) The Hossbach Memorandum was written 5 days after they met
5) Was used as evidence to support the charge of planning war for the Nuremburg Trials in 1945

Question 3

Who was part of the Anti-Cominterm pact?

Answer 3

Germany, Japan and Italy

Question 4

What was Comintern?

Answer 4

• Is the name given to the Communist International Organisation (later in 1919-dissolved in 1943). It was an association for different communist parties. To join, parties were required to model their structure in conformity with the Soviet Pattern and to expel moderate socialists and pacifists, Comintern’s stated purpose - promotion of world revolution, in reality, it was mainly an organ of Soviet control over the international communist movement

Question 5

What was the Anti-Comintern Pact?

Answer 5

• In 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact
• It was a political alliance
• In November 1936 - there was an agreement between japan and Germany to help each other in the fight against communism
• Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1937
• japan with its large military, was a powerful ally to Hitler
• Was aimed directly at the USSR
• The agreement would become known as the Axis Alliance or Axis Powers

Question 6

What was the Rome Berlin Axis?

Answer 6

• A coalition formed in 1936 between Italy and Germany
• Announced publicly by Mussolini
• An agreement formulated by Italy’s foreign minister - Ciano
• Informally linked to the 2 facist countries, agreed on October 25 1936
• laid the foundations for Italy to then join the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany and Japan in 1937
• It was formalized by the Pact of Steel in 1939

Question 7

What does the Anti-comintern Pact suggests about Hitler’s foreign Policy by 1937?

Answer 7

1) Focus on Anschluss: the uniting on German-speaking people. The pact suggested that Mussolini would not stand in the way of Anschluss now they were allies (unlike 1934)
2) Focus on uniting with powers opposed to Russia/Communism: Japan. Japan had long been an opponent of Russian power in the Asia Pacific region. This pact therefore strengthened Hitler in his policy of opposing communism and the USSR, potentially also helping him with his Lebensraum ambitions