While other countries were each reacting to the agreement between Germany and Italy, the atmosphere within Germany and Italy was peaceful.
After the agreement between Germany and Italy was signed, Hitler did not hurry back to Germany. Instead, accepting Mussolini's invitation, he held a high-level meeting between the two heads of state in Venice.
Strictly speaking, this should have been the second formal private meeting between the heads of Germany and Italy.
Even when the two countries had signed their agreement previously, it had merely been their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs who had appeared; neither head of state had personally attended.
The fact that Hitler had accepted the invitation to personally visit Italy had already proven that he had abandoned his former prejudices against Italy and Mussolini.
Yes, although Mussolini had been Hitler's senior in seizing power and establishing a dictatorship, Hitler had actually harbored considerable prejudice against Mussolini after their first meeting.
It all began when Hitler was first invited to visit Italy. At the start, he had been extremely eager to meet Mussolini.
In private conversations with his subordinates, Hitler had even called his meeting with Mussolini "the great meeting."
But when they actually met, Hitler was astonished by Mussolini's exaggerated spectacle. To display his grandeur, Mussolini had mobilized a large number of Honor Guard members and civilians to welcome Hitler.
One had to understand that the two men had met during the worst of the economic crisis. Not to mention Italy—even countries where the economic crisis was relatively less severe absolutely could not have gotten civilians to spontaneously gather and welcome a particular person.
Yet Mussolini had somehow managed it. Leaving aside how he had done so, during the days that followed, he maintained an extraordinarily grand spectacle and pageantry while meeting with Hitler, leaving even