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Willy Messerschmitt had founded his company Messerschmitt Flugzeugbau GmbH in March 1926, partly funded by the Bavarian government. Following economic problems, the latter asked him in September 1927 to integrate as main designer the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) of Augsburg, already existing. After many setbacks, this association finally achieved commercial success with the Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun, a light four-seater, hastily designed to take part in the 1934 International Touring Aircraft Challenge. This aircraft, far ahead of its time, allowed Messerschmitt to experiment with the solutions that were to make the success of his future fighter: the cantilever low-wing monoplane formula, the retractable landing gear, a light semi-monocoque construction in aluminum alloy articulated around a single wing spar and a strong firewall, as well as the high-lift devices, combining automatic slotted slats on the leading edge and flaps on the trailing edge, allowing take-off and landing despite a very high wing loading.

The hugely popular Bf 108 assured Messerschmitt of unconditional support from many Luftwaffe officers and pilots. However, he had also found himself a bitter enemy in the person of Erhard Milch, who had just taken over as head of the brand new Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM). This antagonism was the result of the death of Milch's personal friend, Hans Hackman, during the tests of the Messerschmitt M20, but also of the disastrous exploitation of the plane afterwards, within Deutsche Lufthansa, whose Milch was then director. This enmity probably explains why Bayerische Flugzeugwerke was not initially invited to respond to the Rüstungsflugzeug IV single-seat fighter program, launched by the Technisches Amt (the technical department) of the RLM in June 1934. Finally at the beginning of 1935, thanks to his popularity within the high authorities of the Luftwaffe, Messerschmitt was finally invited to present a prototype, although Milch assured that he would never be able to win the competition.