Tripartite Pact, agreement concluded by Germany, Italy, and Japan on September 27, 1940, one year after the start of World War II. It created a defense alliance between the countries and was largely intended to deter the United States from entering the conflict.

Triple Alliance, secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed in May 1882 and renewed periodically until World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been closely allied since 1879.

In 1882 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. The objective of the alliance was to encourage co-operation against the perceived threat of Germany. Three years later, Russia, who feared the growth in the German Army, joined Britain and France to form the Triple Entente.

Italy was economically weak, primarily due to the lack of domestic raw material resources. Italy had very limited coal reserves and no domestic oil. The Italian high command were well aware of their weaknesses, and told Mussolini that they would not be ready until 1942 to enter the war.

If for some reason, Italy chooses to remain neutral when WWII comes, there would still be a Balkan campaign but Germany would probably not be involved in it since there’s no reason for it to attack Greece, Albania and Yugoslavia (there are some historical notes which states that Nazi Germany has no plans of going south …

When war broke out between Germany and the allied forces of Europe in 1939, a short war was expected by both sides. When Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces in May 1945, Japan chose to see this surrender as an act of treason and made moves to distance themselves from Germany and its leaders.

German troops arrived in Finland and took up positions, mostly in Lapland, from where they would invade the Soviet Union. The Finnish military took part in the planning for Operation Barbarossa, and prepared to invade the Soviet Union alongside the Germans in the north, and independently in the south.

The main reason for Finland’s siding with Germany was to regain territory lost to the Soviets in the Winter War of 1939 – 1940. As opposed to Axis Power states and affiliates, Finland granted asylum to Jews and had Jewish soldiers serving in its military.

Finland resisted the Soviet pressure. As tension increased between Germany and the USSR, Finland saw in Hitler a possible ally in gaining back its lost territory. German troops were allowed on Finnish soil as the Germans prepared for their invasion of the Soviet Union—a war that the Finns joined.

There was mistrust between the two countries. Finland believed the Soviet Union wanted to expand into its territory and the Soviet Union feared Finland would allow itself to be used as a base from which enemies could attack. A faked border incident gave the Soviet Union the excuse to invade on 30 November 1939.

With assistance from the Nazis, Finland briefly recaptured its lost lands, but from 1944 onwards the Soviet Union regained control.

The nation of Finland has never been an independent sovereign monarchy: no attempt to establish a fully-fledged Finnish monarchy has been successful. When it finally became established as a modern independent nation-state, it was – despite a very brief flirtation with monarchy – in the form of a republic.

Through the nearly 800 years in which Portugal was a monarchy, the kings held various other titles and pretensions. Two kings of Portugal, Ferdinand I and Afonso V, also claimed the crown of Castile. This has led to a variety of royal houses coming to rule Portugal, though all having Portuguese royal lineage.

The current monarch is King Kaarle II. The monarchy of Finland has only been an independent sovereign monarchy once in its history. Finnish monarchs have always been part of greater monarchy based outside of Finland itself.

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