Editing Brenner Pass (section)

=== Recent history ===
At the end of [[World War I]] in 1918, the control of the Brenner Pass became shared between Italy and Austria under the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)]]. The [[Treaty of London (1915)]] secretly awarded Italy the territories south of the Brenner Pass for supporting the Entente Powers. Welschtirol/Trentino, along with the southern part of the [[County of Tyrol]] (now [[South Tyrol]]), was transferred to Italy, and Italian troops occupied Tyrol and arrived at the Brenner Pass in 1919 to 20.

[[File:Carbone tedesco per il Brennero.jpg|thumb|German coal entering Italy through the Brenner Pass in the 1930s]]
During [[World War II]], [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]] met at the Brenner Pass to celebrate their [[Pact of Steel]] on 18 March 1940. Later, in 1943, following the [[Armistice of Cassibile|Italian armistice with the Allies]], the Brenner Pass [[Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills|was annexed]] by [[Nazi Germany]], shifting the border with the [[Italian Social Republic]], the Nazi puppet state headed by Mussolini, much further south. In 1945, the area was occupied by the [[United States Armed Forces|US Army]] and returned to Italy after the end of the war. The Brenner Pass was part of the [[Ratlines (World War II)|ratlines]] that were used by senior Nazis fleeing the allies after the German surrender in 1945.

Following World War II, the pass once again formed the border between Italy and the newly independent Republic of Austria, and maintained its importance as a key trade route. On 1 January 1995 the [[Schengen Agreement]] entered into force in Austria, a treaty Italy ratified on 26 October. As a consequence, border checks were abolished in the Brenner Pass for goods and people between the two countries. On 19 November 1995 the border barrier between Italy and Austria at Brenner was officially abolished, with a commemoration attended by Austrian Minister of the Interior Karl Schlögl, Italian Minister of the Interior [[Giorgio Napolitano]], and the governors of [[Innsbruck]] and [[Bolzano]].<ref>Michael Gehler, ''Der Brenner: Vom Ort negativer Erfahrung zum historischen Gedächtnisort oder zur Entstehung und Überwindung einer Grenze in der Mitte Europas (1918-1998)'', in Idem, Andreas Pudlat (a cura di), ''Grenzen in Europa'', Hildesheim-Zurigo-New York, 2009, pp. 145-182.</ref>

{{climate chart|Brenner Pass
|−7|0|37
|−6|1|31
|−4|4|47
|−1|7|69
|4|13|98
|6|16|138
|9|19|137
|9|19|124
|6|15|102
|2|10|81
|−3|3|67
|−6|0|47
|float=right
|clear=both
|source=[http://www.zamg.ac.at/fix/klima/oe71-00/klima2000/daten/klimadaten/tir/14801.htm ZAMG]
}}