| Original caption: “Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germany.” Nazi German Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) and Italian Duce and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) in Hitler’s Mercedes 770 limousine, on the way to his private apartment in Munich. Hitler was told that France requested a cease fire on June 17, 1940. He was ecstatic. The next day Hitler arrived in Munich by train. He greeted Mussolini at 1458 Hours, and they drove to the Prinz-Carl-Palais. At 1600 Hours Hitler welcomed Mussolini to the Führerbau (“the Führer’s building”) at Arcisstrasse 12 in Maxvorstadt, Munich. Mussolini was accompanied by his Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano (March 18, 1903 – January 11, 1944) and intended to present his terms for an armistice to France. Ciano drafted Italy’s demands together with a few Foreign Ministry officials and high-ranking officers on the train, demands which Mussolini approved during a stop at the Brenner Pass. Among other things, the Italians requested the occupation of Tunisia as well as French naval bases in Algeria and Morocco, the transfer to Italy of ships and aircraft in the occupied areas and the “Neutralization of Beirut.” In a separate meeting that took place at the same time, Ciano tried to take Italy’s case 1 step further. He told his German counterpart, Nazi German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (April 30, 1893 – October 16, 1946) that Italy would demand Malta from Britain, the dismantling of British bases in the Mediterranean, and the replacement of Britain in its mutual treaty with Egypt as well as in the condominium over Sudan. However, Hitler curbed the Italians’ enthusiasm, arguing that overambitious requests at this stage were counterproductive and might result in the French Navy joining the British. Mussolini acquiesced and significantly reduced Italy’s terms. Ciano noted in his diary that “once again that unattainable dream of [Mussolini’s] life: glory on the field of battle is fading away.” The Franco-Italian armistice was signed on June 24. Ciano had asked a question about Italian gains in the Balkans. “You need to be moderate,” Hitler told the Italians; “you must not have eyes bigger than your stomach – let’s hope that you don’t want Croatia.” In fact, Mussolini’s eye had been on the region for some time. In his “New Order” in the Mediterranean, Croatia and Albania were to be Rome’s 2 outposts dominating the Balkans. The occupation of Albania in April 1939 had laid a foundation for the new construction, and Ante Pavelić’s (July 14, 1889 – December 28, 1959) Croatian Ustasa were intended to help complete it. At 2145 Hours, Hitler accompanied Mussolini from the Prinz-Carl-Palais to the Munich train station. They departed at 2200 Hours. France’s 3rd Republic had days to live. A matter of days later on June 21, 1940, the Führer would deliver the terms of surrender to the French. On Hitler’s instructions, the railway carriage in which the French had accepted the German surrender in 1918 was transported from its place in a Paris museum and, returned to the exact spot it had occupied 22 years earlier for that event in the Forest of Compiègne. The French were then forced to suffer a re-enactment of 1918; this time however, they were not the victors. In performing this action, Hitler believed he had reversed the humiliation inflicted on the German nation at the end of tWorld War I, the much hated Versailles Treaty was finally laid to rest. 3 days later, by order of the Führer the railway carriage was blown up. For an entire year, until Operation Barbarossa began on June 22, 1941, the United Kingdom stood alone against Nazi and Facsist tyranny. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0809.jpg |
| Image Size | 714.28 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2904 x 2167 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 18, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | Munich |
| State or Province | Bavaria |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-242-EB-7-38 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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