The Pact of Steel , or formally the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy , was an agreement between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany signed on May 22 , 1939 , by the foreign ministers of each country and witnessed by Count Galeazzo Ciano for Italy and Joachim von Ribbentrop for Germany . The Pact of Steel , known formally as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy , was an agreement between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany signed on May 22 , 1939 , by the foreign ministers of each country and witnessed by Count Galeazzo Ciano for Italy and Joachim von Ribbentrop for Germany .