Anti-Comintern Pact - Revised Pact of 1941

Revised Pact of 1941

The Anti-Comintern Pact was revised in 1941, after Germany's assault on the Soviet Union that commenced with Operation Barbarossa and on November 25 its renewal for another five years was celebrated. This time the signatories were:

• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Denmark (occupied by Germany since April 1940)
• Finland (Co-belligerent against USSR from 25 June 1941)
• Germany
• Hungary
• Italy
• Japan
• Manchukuo
• Reorganized National Government of China (Japanese puppet state)
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Spain
• Turkey (see German–Turkish Non-Aggression Pact)

The government of occupied Denmark demanded four exemptions to make clear they took upon themselves no military or political obligations, that the only actions against communists would be police enforcements, that the actions would apply only to Denmark's own territory, and that Denmark remained a neutral country. The German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was furious and in a fit threatened the Danish Foreign Minister Erik Scavenius with arrest. In the end Ribbentrop settled down and the Danish addendum was accepted as a secret one with only a few minor changes. The secrecy was the German demand, to avoid diluting the propaganda effect; this apparent full participation damaged Denmark's reputation as a "neutral" country. Several Danish diplomats stationed in Allied countries decided to distance themselves from the government after the signing.