Axis and Allies
Leaders and Members
During World War II (1939–1945), there were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Bulgaria) versus Allies (US, Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia). The main Allied powers were the United States, China, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. The leaders of the Allies were Franklin Roosevelt (the United States), Winston Churchill (Great Britain), and Joseph Stalin (the Soviet Union). The main Axis powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Axis leaders were Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito Mussolini (Italy), and Emperor Hirohito (Japan).
Axis Powers Germany - As a result of the Treaty of Versailles and the economic disasters that followed, the German people became very resentful towards the victors of World War 1, namely France and Great Britain. All of Germany's leaders fought in World War 1 were eager for revenge. The German invasion of Western Poland on September 1, 1939, led to the start of WW2. Germany invaded nearly 12 countries and killed around 4.9 to 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. Italy - On November 1, 1936, Germany and Italy, announced a Rome-Berlin Axis one week after signing a treaty of friendship. Italy then failed to invade Egypt. When Germany fell, Italy was invaded by the Americans. Nearly four million Italians served in the Italian Army during the WW2 and nearly half a million Italians, including civilians, lost their lives between June 1940 and May 1945. Japan - In September 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes bombarded the US naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii, destroying 18 ships and killing almost 2,500 men. The United States declared war one day later. Over the next seven months, Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies, British Singapore, New Guinea, the Philippines and a number of other locations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. But after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the following August, Japan surrendered. Allied Powers United States - On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor. The following day, America and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and Japan's allies, Germany and Italy declared war on the US, bringing the US into World War II. About sixteen million Americans served in World War II from late 1941 to 1945. With the involvement of the United States and the Soviet Union in the war, it turned a successful German military campaign into a disaster for the German forces. In 1942 and 1943, the German forces lost many battles and the Japanese forces also started to lose ground. Soon the US took over Germany and bombed Japan. Britain - Great Britain declared war on Germany September 3, 1939. In the summer and fall of 1940, German and British air forces fought in the skies over the United Kingdom, locked in the largest bombing campaign. The Battle of Britain ended when Germany’s aerial warfare branch failed to gain air dominance over the Royal Air Force regardless of months of targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts and, ultimately, its civilian population. Britain’s victory saved the country from a ground invasion and possible occupation by German forces. Soviet Russia - On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union under the codename Operation "Barbarossa," which would be the largest German military operation of World War ll. Operation Barbarossa's failure led to Hitler's demands for further operations inside the Soviet Union, all of which eventually failed. By 1943, the Soviet war economy was fully operational and was able to simply outproduce Germany. The war ended with defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany in May 1945. China - When WW2 started, China was already engaged in war with Japan, as well as enduring a civil conflict between the Chinese Nationalist Party. However, China still managed to send troops to Britain's aid in Burma, in early 1942. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, China formally joined the Allies and declared war on Germany on December 9, 1941. China suffered a large death toll from the war, both civilian and military. The Chinese Nationalist army had 3.2 million casualties, and 17 million civilians died in the crossfire. |