Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument27 September 1940

Tripartite Pact

27 September 1940

The 1940 treaty allying Japan, Germany, and Italy, an alliance Tojo supported as Army Minister before becoming Prime Minister.

Tojo advocated for this alliance as Army Minister before it bound Japan to Germany and Italy.

Ask Hideki Tojo about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
An open red leather-bound document folder displaying the Tripartite Pact of 1940. Handwritten signatures and red wax seals with red and white cords are on the left page, and printed Japanese text in vertical columns is on the right page.
Tripartite Pact, signed Berlin, 27 September 1940.

About this source

What it is

The Tripartite Pact, also called the Berlin Pact, was signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by representatives of Japan, Germany, and Italy, in the presence of Adolf Hitler. It was a defensive military alliance later joined by several other countries. The treaty recognized Japan's claimed leadership in 'Greater East Asia' and Germany and Italy's claimed leadership in Europe.

Why it matters

This treaty formally bound Japan to the Axis powers. Hideki Tojo, as Army Minister at the time, was among the Japanese leaders who advocated for this alliance, which later shaped Japan's wartime strategy and its path toward conflict with the United States and Britain. The pact reveals how the Axis powers tried to divide the world into separate spheres of control.

Look closer

  • What does Article 3 reveal about the purpose of this alliance?
  • Why might Japan, Germany, and Italy have defined separate 'spheres' for Europe and Asia instead of a single shared plan?
  • What does the treaty's language of 'new order' and 'mutual prosperity' hide about the realities of occupation?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hideki Tojo on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hideki Tojo sources

Meet the AI Hideki Tojo →
Speech

Primary source

Having Received the Imperial Rescript

Hideki Tojo · 8 December 1941

Document

Primary source

Imperial Edict Declaring War on the United States and the British Empire

8 December 1941

Black-and-white photo of the Tokyo war crimes tribunal courtroom. In the foreground, a man in a dark suit sits at a desk. Behind him, seated rows of uniformed officers and suited men occupy a raised gallery, with a row of spectators visible at the top.Photograph

Primary source

Tojo Takes the Stand

United States Department of Defense

Black and white photograph of a bald, bespectacled man with a mustache wearing a plain buttoned military-style jacket and a headset, standing in front of a wood-paneled wall. Behind him stands a uniformed officer in a peaked cap with a badge, looking off to the side.Photograph

Primary source

Tojo Sentenced to Death, Manila Trials Photograph

24 November 1948

Black and white portrait photograph of a man in a military-style cap with a visor and a high-collared uniform jacket, wearing round wire-rimmed glasses and a mustache. He is decorated with medal ribbons and several star-shaped medals on his chest.Photograph

Primary source

Portrait of Hideki Tojo

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hideki Tojo now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions