The Pact of Steel is a military alliance first established by Germany in 2027, initially being just a Franco–German alliance. Having undergone a nationalist revolution and becoming a monarchy in 2025–26, France allied with Germany and the two began increasing cooperation, signing a "Pact of Steel". In 2029 the pact was expanded to include Ukraine, which was also developing close ties to Germany. The Pact was largely an informal network between those three countries and did not play much of a role in international politics prior to the outbreak of World War III in 2031, at which point nine other countries joined the alliance.