Editing Axis powers (section)

===Initial proposals of a German–Italian alliance===
Italy under ''[[Duce]]'' [[Benito Mussolini]] had pursued a strategic alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s.{{sfn|Knox|2000|p=124}} Prior to becoming head of government in Italy as leader of the [[Italian Fascism|Italian Fascist]] movement, Mussolini had advocated alliance with defeated Germany after the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)]] settled [[World War I]].{{sfn|Knox|2000|p=124}} He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France.{{sfn|Knox|2000|p=124}} In early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the ''[[Reichswehr]]'', which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the [[Treaty of Versailles]].{{sfn|Knox|2000|p=124}}

Since the 1920s Italy had identified the year 1935 as a crucial date for preparing for a war against France, as 1935 was the year when Germany's obligations under the Treaty of Versailles were scheduled to expire.{{sfn|Knox|2000|p=125}} Meetings took place in Berlin in 1924 between Italian General [[Luigi Capello]] and prominent figures in the German military, such as von Seeckt and [[Erich Ludendorff]], over military collaboration between Germany and Italy. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons and hoped that Italy could assist Germany.<ref>John Gooch. ''Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922–1940''. Cambridge University Press, 2007. p. 11.</ref>

However at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany: that Italy "must&nbsp;... tow them, not be towed by them".{{sfn|Knox|2000|p=124}} Italian foreign minister [[Dino Grandi]] in the early 1930s stressed the importance of "decisive weight", involving Italy's relations between France and Germany, in which he recognized that Italy was not yet a major power, but perceived that Italy did have strong enough influence to alter the political situation in Europe by placing the weight of its support onto one side or another, and sought to balance relations between the three.<ref name=":0">Gerhard Schreiber, Bern Stegemann, Detlef Vogel. ''Germany and the Second World War''. Oxford University Press, 1995. p. 113.</ref>{{sfn|Burgwyn|1997|p=68}}