Tripartite Pact

Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the pact in Berlin on September 27, 1940. It formalized the alliance later commonly called the Axis. [Yale Avalon Project](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/triparti.asp)

The three governments agreed to assist one another with political, economic, and military means if one was attacked by a power not already involved in the European war or the Chinese-Japanese conflict. That wording made the promise conditional rather than an automatic declaration of war against every enemy. [Yale Avalon Project](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/triparti.asp)

Japan recognized German and Italian leadership in establishing a new order in Europe. Germany and Italy recognized Japanese leadership in establishing a new order in Greater East Asia. [Yale Avalon Project](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/triparti.asp)

No. Article Five stated that the pact did not affect the political status between Germany, Italy, Japan, and Soviet Russia, while Article Six set a ten-year term for the agreement. [Yale Avalon Project](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/triparti.asp)