The group of nations allied with Germany during World War II was known as the Axis. The alliance originated in 1936, when Germany and Italy proclaimed themselves bound together in an “axis” around which all of Europe would eventually revolve. Japan joined the Axis later that year, when it signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany. In 1939, the “Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis” was reinforced when Germany and Italy entered into a full military and political alliance (the Pact of Steel). In 1940, all three powers signed a mutual defense treaty (the Tripartite Pact). During the course of World War II, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland joined the Axis.
