provided with reciprocal deliveries of arms from the Reich. 163 Seemingly wherever the Reich sought to consolidate its position, it was confronted with an increasingly coherent and unified opposition, leaving it struggling once more. Though partly frustrated in Romania, the Reich continued to pin its hopes upon a military alliance with the Italians and Japanese. Here too it faced huge obstacles and such an alliance would not be forthcoming. The ‘Pact of Steel’ between Italy and Germany was signed on 22 May 1939 and asserted that each would ‘…immediately [in the case of war] step to its side as an ally and will support it with all its military might…’. 164 This pact could do little, however, to counterbalance the overwhelming combination of the Allies, and potentially the Soviet Union and the United States against Germany. Moreover, shortly after signing the pact Italy informed Germany, on 31 May, that their country would not be ready for war before 1943. 165 This need not have been a fatal setback to the Reich’s anti-British strategy, and waiting for war could still have been contemplated, so long as Japan committed itself to attacking the British and French empires in Asia when the time came. But Japan would commit to no such thing, however, and negotiations with them collapsed without agreement in July 1939. 166 Consequently, by early summer 1939 Germany found itself staring at the remnants and failures of its anti-British strategy. Poland 163 Tooze, pp. 308-309. 164 The Italo-German Alliance, May 22, 1939, Volkischer Beobachter, May 23, 1939,, <https://astro.temple.edu/~rimmerma/Italo_German_alliance_1939.htm>, [05/04/2018].
165 Tooze, p. 319. 166 Tooze, p. 320.
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