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Axis powers
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===Danube alliance, dispute over Austria=== [[File:Adolf Hitler cropped restored.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Adolf Hitler]], ''Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German People'', 1933–1945]] In 1933, [[Adolf Hitler]] and the Nazi Party [[Machtergreifung|came to power]] in Germany. Hitler had advocated an alliance between Germany and Italy since the 1920s.<ref>Christian Leitz. Nazi Foreign Policy, 1933–1941: The Road to Global War. p. 10.</ref> Shortly after being appointed [[Chancellor of Germany]], Hitler sent a personal message to Mussolini, declaring "admiration and homage" and declaring his anticipation of the prospects of German–Italian friendship and even alliance.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=75}} Hitler was aware that Italy held concerns over potential German land claims on South Tyrol, and assured Mussolini that Germany was not interested in South Tyrol. Hitler in ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' had declared that South Tyrol was a non-issue considering the advantages that would be gained from a German–Italian alliance. After Hitler's rise to power, the Four Power Directorate proposal by Italy had been looked at with interest by Britain, but Hitler was not committed to it, resulting in Mussolini urging Hitler to consider the diplomatic advantages Germany would gain by breaking out of isolation by entering the Directorate and avoiding an immediate armed conflict.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=81}} The Four Power Directorate proposal stipulated that Germany would no longer be required to have limited arms and would be granted the right to re-armament under foreign supervision in stages.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=82}} Hitler completely rejected the idea of controlled rearmament under foreign supervision.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=82}} Mussolini did not trust Hitler's intentions regarding [[Anschluss]] nor Hitler's promise of no territorial claims on South Tyrol.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=76}} Mussolini informed Hitler that he was satisfied with the presence of the anti-Marxist government of [[Engelbert Dollfuss]] in the [[First Austrian Republic]], and warned Hitler that he was adamantly opposed to Anschluss.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=76}} Hitler responded in contempt to Mussolini that he intended "to throw Dollfuss into the sea".{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=76}} With this disagreement over Austria, relations between Hitler and Mussolini steadily became more distant.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=76}} Hitler attempted to break the impasse with Italy over Austria by sending [[Hermann Göring]] to negotiate with Mussolini in 1933 to convince Mussolini to press Austria to appoint [[Austrian Nazism|Austrian Nazis]] to the government.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=78}} Göring claimed that Nazi domination of Austria was inevitable and that Italy should accept this, as well as repeating to Mussolini of Hitler's promise to "regard the question of the South Tyrol frontier as finally liquidated by the peace treaties".{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=78}} In response to Göring's visit with Mussolini, Dollfuss immediately went to Italy to counter any German diplomatic headway.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=78}} Dollfuss claimed that his government was actively challenging Marxists in Austria and claimed that once the Marxists were defeated in Austria, that support for Austria's Nazis would decline.{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=78}} In June 1934, Hitler and Mussolini met for the first time, in [[Venice]]. The meeting did not proceed amicably. Hitler demanded that Mussolini compromise on Austria by pressuring Dollfuss to appoint Austrian Nazis to his cabinet, to which Mussolini flatly refused the demand. In response, Hitler promised that he would accept Austria's independence for the time being, saying that due to the internal tensions in Germany (referring to sections of the Nazi [[Sturmabteilung]] that Hitler would soon kill in the [[Night of the Long Knives]]) that Germany could not afford to provoke Italy.{{sfn|Neville|2004|p=123}} [[Galeazzo Ciano]] told the press that the two leaders had made a "gentleman's agreement" to avoid interfering in Austria.<ref name="knickerbocker1941">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwGwpIBHhgcC&pg=PA7 | title=Is Tomorrow Hitler's? 200 Questions On the Battle of Mankind | publisher=Reynal & Hitchcock | author=Knickerbocker, H.R. | year=1941 | pages=7–8}}</ref> [[File:DollfussEnGinebra1933.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Engelbert Dollfuss]], Chancellor of Austria, 1932–1934]] Several weeks after the Venice meeting, on 25 July 1934, Austrian Nazis assassinated Dollfuss.{{sfn|Neville|2004|p=123}} Mussolini was outraged as he held Hitler directly responsible for the assassination that violated Hitler's promise made only weeks ago to respect Austrian independence.{{sfn|Neville|2004|pp=123–125}}{{r|knickerbocker1941}} Mussolini rapidly deployed several army divisions and air squadrons to the [[Brenner Pass]], and warned that a German move against Austria would result in war between Germany and Italy.<ref>Gordon Martel. ''Origins of Second World War Reconsidered: A. J. P. Taylor and Historians''. Digital Printing edition. Routledge, 2003. p. 179.</ref> Hitler responded by both denying Nazi responsibility for the assassination and issuing orders to dissolve all ties between the German Nazi Party and its Austrian branch, which Germany claimed was responsible for the political crisis.<ref>Gordon Martel. ''Austrian Foreign Policy in Historical Context''. New Brunswick, New Jersey, US: Transaction Publishers, 2006. p. 179.</ref> Italy effectively abandoned diplomatic relations with Germany while turning to France in order to challenge Germany's intransigence by signing a Franco–Italian accord to protect Austrian independence.{{sfn|Neville|2004|p=125}} French and Italian military staff discussed possible military cooperation involving a war with Germany should Hitler dare to attack Austria. Relations between Germany and Italy recovered due to Hitler's support of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, while other countries condemned the invasion and advocated sanctions against Italy.
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