Germans: Axis or Allies?

[marcus69x]

Did the germans consider themselves as allies with Italy and Japan, and the british and American as the axis forces? Or did they still consider themselves as axis forces? And what does axis actually mean?

[von Poop]

Mussolini coined the phrase when he first began to ally with Germany, something along the lines of the "axis that Europe will turn around"... I think... college is starting to seem a long time ago
Cheers,
Adam.

[Kyt]

Wiki says the same as VP:

Tripartite Pact - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Introduction



As an aside - why does this question appear as three seperate posts?

[von Poop]

Woohoo! but shuftiing around from that Wikihooha I see the term predates the tripartite pact... Though I wouldn't trust anything on there fully without checking.
Axis powers of World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - origins.

(Marcus, you don't have to post the same question in several different places mate, it normally dilutes the answers you get )

[PeterG]

The Rome-Berlin Axis (axle) was the Italian Fascist regime's dominant international relationship from 1936 to 1945. Mussolini first publicly used the phrase in his 1 November 1936 Milan speech delivered from a podium set up before the Duomo. The Rome-Berlin entente, he proclaimed was 'not a diaphragm, but rather an axis around which may co-operate all European states animated by a will to collaboration and peace.'

Co-operation had little to do with it, and peace still less. However, it was not a military alliance. That came later with the politico-military Patto d'acciao (Pact of Steel) signed in Berlin on 22 May 1939 between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galleazzo Ciano. The Rome-Berlin Axis was the the axle around which the other European states would have to revolve.

The Rome-Berlin-Tokyo alliance was an entirely different matter. That military alliance was called the Tripartite Pact and was signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940. Japan, in Germany's and Italy's eyes, was never an Axis power (you can't have tri-polar axles). It was only the Allies who dubbed all three as Axis powers.

[marcus69x]

sorry guys. Couldn't figure out how to post it. ended up whacking it on 3 times. looks like admins took two off now though.

[marcus69x]

Peter G. Thankyou very much. That's more than answered it.

cheers

[PeterG]

You may be interested to know that Mussolini was foremost a journalist and had a great command of language and an eye for the telling phrase. He edited several papers and as a young man became the editor of the influential socialist newspaper Avanti, before breaking away from socialism and founding his own newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia in 1915.

As well as axis, it was Mussolini who coined the term Blitzkrieg (in Italian guerra-lampo) causing Hitler to quip:

"The expression 'Blitzkrieg' is an Italian invention. We picked it up from the newspapers. I have just learnt that I owe all my successes to an attentive study of Italian military theories" [Hitler's Table Talk, Night of 3rd-4th January 1942]

[Za Rodinu]

I had never heard of that one! Thanks, Peter.