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Anti-Comintern Pact
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<p>The Anti-Comintern Pact, officially the Agreement against the Communist International was an <a href="/facts/Anti-communist/bJuolzxo">anti-communist</a> pact concluded between <a href="/facts/Nazi_Germany/8kRbqRpo">Nazi Germany</a> and the <a href="/facts/Empire_of_Japan/gMpNKg2W">Empire of Japan</a> on 25 November 1936 and was directed against the <a href="/facts/Communist_International/lE7vfpeY">Communist International</a> (Comintern). It was signed by German ambassador-at-large <a href="/facts/Joachim_von_Ribbentrop/95n4Db6A">Joachim von Ribbentrop</a> and Japanese ambassador to Germany <a href="/facts/Kintomo_Mushanok%C5%8Dji/568AbRMC">Kintomo Mushanokōji</a>.: 188–189 <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Italy/X5hxYBvF">Italy</a> joined in 1937 (earlier it had signed the <a href="/facts/Italo-Soviet_Pact/HH07MXqe">Italo-Soviet Pact</a> directed partly against Hitler), but it was legally recognized as an original signatory by the terms of its entry. <a href="/facts/Francoist_Spain/YhRtTBc7">Spain</a> and <a href="/facts/Hungary/YRedQLtI">Hungary</a> joined in 1939. Other countries joined during World War II.: 49 </p><p>The Japanese signatories had hoped that the Anti-Comintern Pact would effectively be an alliance against the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a>, which was how the Soviets perceived it.: 226 There was also a secret additional protocol which specified a joint German-Japanese policy specifically aimed against the Soviet Union.: 188–189 : 197 </p><p>After August 1939, Japan distanced itself from Germany as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.: 24 : 40 The Anti-Comintern Pact was followed by the September 1940 <a href="/facts/Tripartite_Pact/KI0FzL0P">Tripartite Pact</a>, which identified the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> as the primary threat rather than the Soviet Union (although in theory applying to the Soviets as well: 14 ), however by December 1941 this too was virtually inoperative. The Anti-Comintern Pact was subsequently renewed in November 1941 and saw the entry of several new members into the pact.: 49 The Nazi regime saw signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact as a "litmus test of loyalty". </p><p>The Anti-Comintern Pact ceased to exist with the end of World War II. </p>