Meeting at Brenner Pass [Hitler & Mussolini, March 18, 1938]

Today in WW2 History ^ | March 18, 1938 | Contributor: C. Peter Chen

[SunkenCiv]

At 0930 hours on 18 Mar 1938, at the mountain village of Brennero in the Brenner Pass, Italian Alpine troops welcomed the arrival of Benito Mussolini and Galeazzo Ciano by train. As snow drifted down heavily, Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived, also by train. Ciano escorted Hitler and Ribbentrop toward Mussolini's train car over red carpet. The subsequent meeting lasted two hours and twelve minutes; after which, they each returned to their capitals. The two parties discussed potential plans for future joint-aggression, but to the public they offered terms to maintain peace in Europe.

[SunkenCiv]

Meeting at Brenner Pass -- Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass on the Italian-Austrian border; Mussolini agreed to enter a war on the side of Germany at an opportune moment.

[SunkenCiv]

...and a year later...

At the 18th Party Congress, Joseph Stalin declared that the western aggressor states of United Kingdom and France were pushing Germany toward Eastern Europe, thus provoking an eventual war between Germany and the Soviet Union, a venture that he did not wish to embark the Soviet Union upon.

[SunkenCiv]

nice source, doesn’t require javascript to work, either, which I like:

Today in WW2 History | World War II Database
http://ww2db.com/event/today/

[SunkenCiv]

Also on March 18, 1937:

• The Spanish Civil War | World War II Database

  Spanish Republic forces under Colonel Enrique Jurado Barrio launched a counter-attack against Italian troops near Guadalajara, Spain. Two divisions, assisted by Russian tanks and aircraft, fell on the leading Italian units. The ferocity of the counterattack surprised the Italians and their retreat rapidly became a rout. General José Moscardó Ituarte's Nationalist troops, previously advancing steadily, was forced to fall back as the Italians lost Brihuega. Although the Nationalist attack on Guadalajara had gained some ground when the battle finally ended, it had failed to achieve the decisive result which had been hoped for. Also on this date, the Italian Blackshirt Division 'Dio lo vuole' in Spain was disbanded; later in the year, the remaining two divisions of Blackshirts were also disbanded and reorganized into three Italian-Spanish brigades.

[SunkenCiv]

Also on March 18, 1937:

• Benito Mussolini | World War II Database

  Benito Mussolini staged an event for propaganda in which he received a ceremonial sword from Arab leaders from Italian Libya, symbolizing him as the protector of Arab peoples.

[SunkenCiv]

Same day of the year, much earlier year:

The US Navy’s first aircraft carrier, USS Langley (Langley-class), at anchor with 7 battleships in Culebra Harbor, Culebra, Puerto Rico, 18 Mar 1926.

http://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=23632
http://ww2db.com/images/ship_california14.jpg

[Blue Jays]

Interesting post about the WWII era, SunkenCiv.
Likely a pretty darn luxurious customized train car.
Would like to see that from a historical perspective.

[knarf]

https://youtu.be/wG36udnvz7c

[knarf]

https://youtu.be/f83nLds15f8

[SunkenCiv]

No, but a character did in a movie. Patton wanted the Soviet occupation of eastern Europe to end.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure. Sorry, I hadn’t realized that the second graphic wasn’t showing up.

[SunkenCiv]

btw, all this started because of my having watched this on Amazon Prime (this is a link to it on YouTube) last night:

Silent Wings: The American Glider Pilots of World War II

[FreedomPoster]

I had a great-uncle who went into Normandy in one of those things. Pack howitzer gun crew, was with the 101st. They weren’t paratroopers, so they didn’t get jump pay, but that was easily as dangerous as jumping. The Germans has tree trunks set in likely landing fields, besides all the AA guns. Plus if you crashed on landing, there was a 75mm howitzer and ammo rattling around.

[SunkenCiv]

There’s footage of those fields with German poles, wreckage of planes, and may God bless your great-uncle!