Allies of World War II

grouping of the victorious countries of World War II From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Allies of World War II

The Allies, (formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942-1945) were a group of nations that fought against the Axis countries in World War II. They were successful in defeating the Axis nations. The war ended in 1945. The group of nations was later named the United Nations by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. The main great powers, sometimes called "The Big Three", were the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Sometimes China was added to the list, making a "Big Four".

Quick Facts Status, Historical era ...
Allies of World War II
同盟國/同盟国  (Chinese)
Alliés  (French)
Антигитлеровская коалиция  (Russian)
1939–1945
Anthem: United Nations on the March (unofficial)
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A 1943 poster showing the flags of many of the members of the Allies, including the "Big Three"
The Big Three:
Full list
StatusMilitary alliance
Historical eraWorld War II
• Franco-Polish alliance
February 1921
• Anglo-Polish alliance
August 1939
• Anglo-French War Council
September 1939 – June 1940
• First Inter-Allied Meeting
June 1941
• Anglo-Soviet alliance
July 1941
August 1941
• Declaration by United Nations
January 1942
• Anglo-Soviet Treaty
May 1942
November–December 1943
• Bretton Woods Conference
1–15 July 1944
4–11 February 1945
April–June 1945
July–August 1945
Succeeded by
United Nations
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1939-1941

Poland was invaded by Germany on 1 September 1939, so Britain and France declared war two days later.

Many more countries joined the alliance after Germany invaded them. France fell after a German invasion from May - June 1940 and a puppet state was put in place, so the British and the remaining forces of the exiled governments later invaded the Vichy french territories. These freed lands were called Free France

Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 and the Soviets allied with the British and the other allies.

The United States joined the war after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Declaration by the United Nations

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The alliance was formalised in the Declaration by United Nations signed on 1 January 1942. There were the 26 original signatories of the declaration; the Big Four were listed first:

Major Allied Powers

Other Allied Powers

Client and occupied states

British

Soviet sphere

Co-belligerent states

1942-1945

Advances in Eastern Europe and North Africa in late 1942 changed the course of the war and continued on other fronts until the war ended. (there were also slow advances in the pacific)

The allies invaded italy in 1943, after driving the axis out of Africa. And so Italy changed sides on 8 September 1943. and with German forces staying, a civil war began.

The Soviet Red Army continued advances against the axis, ending the siege of Leningrad, liberating Crimea, and invading Romania. On June 22 1944, operation Bargration was launched advancing to the Hungarian border and to Warsaw.

Meanwhile in Western Europe, D-Day was launched on June 6 1944 and the allies started advancing rapidly in august.

Romania changed sides in August after the Soviets were advancing. Bulgaria changed sides in September with the Soviets invading. Finland also changed sides in September.

The allies had advances in the Pacific. In the Solomon Islands, in Burma, and other Pacific islands.

On May 7 1945, Germany surrendered after 5 years and 8 months of fighting. In the Pacific, the allied liberated Burma and advanced in China, the Philippines, and Borneo. Atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and around the same time, the Soviets invaded Manchuria (a Japanese puppet state) and Japan surrendered on September 2 1945, ending World War II.

United Nations

Main article: United Nations

The United Nations was formed on 24 October 1945, with France, China, The United Kingdom, The United States, and The USSR as the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (which met for the first time on 17 January 1946).

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Members

These are the original 51 signatories (UNSC permanent members are asterisked):

Summary table

The Big Three

Allied combatants with governments-in-exile

Other Allied combatant states

Former Axis powers

Cold War

Main article: Cold War

Despite the successful creation of the United Nations, the alliance of the Soviet Union with the United States and with the United Kingdom ultimately broke down and evolved into the Cold War, which took place over the following half-century.

Timeline of allied nations entering the war

Main article: World War II by country

The following list denotes dates on which states declared war on the Axis powers, or on which an Axis power declared war on them. The Indian Empire had a status less independent than the Dominions.

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1939

1940

1941

Provisional governments or governments-in exile that declared war against the Axis in 1941

1942

1943

  •  Iraq (January 16 1943) - former axis power
  •  Bolivia (April 7 1943)
  •  Colombia (July 26 1943)
  •  Iran (September 9 1943)
  •  Italy (October 10 1943) - former axis power

1944

  •  Liberia (January 27 1944)
  •  Romania (August 25 1944) - former axis power
  •  Bulgaria (September 9 1944) - former axis power
  •  Hungary (December 30 1944) - former axis power

1945

  •  Ecuador (February 2 1945)
  •  Paraguay (February 7 1945)
  •  Peru (February 12 1945)
  •  Uruguay (February 15 1945)
  •  Venezuela (February 15 1945)
  •  Turkey (February 23 1945)
  •  Egypt (February 24 1945)
  •  Syria (February 26 1945)
  •  Lebanon (February 27 1945)
  •  Saudi Arabia (March 1 1945)
  •  Finland (March 3 1945) - former ally of Germany in the Continuation War. Finland retroactively declared war on Germany from 15 September 1944.
  •  Argentina (March 27 1945)
  •  Chile (April 11 1945)
  •  Mongolia (August 10 1945)

References

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