The Axis powers (German: Achsenmächte , Italian: Potenze dell'Asse , Japanese: 枢軸国 Suujikukoku ), also known as the Axis alliance , Axis nations , Axis countries , or just the Axis , comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Japan, and Italy—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers. At their zenith, the Axis powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, but World War II ended with their total defeat. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, and some nations entered and later left the Axis during the course of the war.
Origins
Main article: Tripartite PactThe term "axis" is believed to have been first coined by Hungary's fascist prime minister Gyula Gömbös who advocated an alliance of Germany, Hungary, and Italy and worked as an intermediary between Germany and Italy to lessen differences between the two countries to achieve such an alliance. Gömbös' sudden death in 1936 while negotiating with Germany in Munich and the arrival of a non-fascist successor to him ended Hungary's initial involvement in pursuing a trilateral axis, but the lessening of differences between Germany and Italy would lead to a bilateral axis being formed.
In November 1936, the term "axis" was first officially used by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini when he spoke of a Rome-Berlin axis arising out of the treaty of friendship signed between Italy and Germany on 25 October 1936, around which the other states of Europe (and of the world) would revolve. This treaty was forged when Italy, originally opposed to Nazi Germany, was faced with opposition to its war in Abyssinia from the League of Nations and received support from Germany. Later, in May 1939, this relationship transformed into an alliance, which Mussolini called the "Pact of Steel".
The "Axis powers" formally took the name after the Tripartite Pact was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan on September 27, 1940 in Berlin, Germany. The pact was subsequently joined by Hungary (November 20, 1940), Romania (November 23, 1940), Slovakia (November 24, 1940) and Bulgaria (March 1, 1941). The Italian name Roberto briefly acquired a new meaning from " Ro me- Ber lin- To kyo" between 1940 and 1945. Its most militarily powerful members were Germany and Japan. These two nations had also signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with each other as allies before the Tripartite Pact in 1936.
Participating nations
Belligerents
Germany
Main article: Nazi GermanyGermany was unofficially the leader of the Axis powers as it had the largest and most technologically-advanced armed forces of the Axis powers. Germany was ruled at this time by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party.
German citizens felt that their country had been humiliated as a result of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I in which Germany was forced to pay enormous reparations payments, and forfeit German-populated territories and its colonies. German nationalists blamed the country's defeat on pacifists, Communists, and Jews. The Germans had to pay large reparations which placed pressure on the German economy leading to hyperinflation during the early 1920s. In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr region as a result of late payments leading to greater feelings of discontent. Although Germany began to improve economically in the mid-1920s, the Great Depression created more economic hardship and a rise in political forces that advocated radical solutions to Germany's woes. The Nazis under Adolf Hitler followed and promoted the nationalist belief that Germany had been betrayed by Jews and Communists and promised to rebuild Germany as a major power and to create a Greater Germany which would include Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Sudetenland, and other German-populated territories in Europe. In addition to this, the Nazis aimed to occupy non-German territory of Poland, Baltic countries, and the Soviet Union to colonize with Germans as part of the Nazi policy of seeking Lebensraum ("living space") in eastern Europe.
Germany renounced the Versailles treaty in 1935 and began to rearm. The Rhineland was remilitarised. Germany later annexed Austria in 1938, the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and Memel from Lithuania in 1939. Germany then invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939, creating the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and Slovakia as a country.
On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which contained a secret protocol dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Germany's invasion of its part of Poland under the Pact eight days later led to the subsequent beginning of World War II. By 1941, Germany occupied most of Europe and its military forces were fighting the Soviet Union, nearly capturing its capital of Moscow. However, crushing defeats at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk devastated the German armed forces. This combined with Western Allied landings in France and Italy led to a three-front war which depleted Germany's armed forces resulting in Germany's defeat in 1945.
Japan
Main article: Empire of JapanJapan was the principal Axis power in Asia and the Pacific. The Empire of Japan, commonly referred to as Imperial Japan , was a constitutional monarchy ruled by Emperor Shōwa. The constitution prescribed that "The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution" (article 4) and that "The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and the Navy" (article 11). Under the imperial institution were a political cabinet and Imperial General Headquarters with two chiefs of staff.
At its height, Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere included Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, large parts of China, Malaysia, French Indochina, Dutch East Indies, The Philippines, Burma, some of India, and various other Pacific Islands - specifically in the central Pacific.
As a result of the internal discord and economic downturn of the 1920s, militaristic elements set Japan on a path of expansionism. Japan had plans to establish its hegemony in Asia and thus become self-sufficient, as the Japanese home islands lacked natural resources needed for growth, by acquiring areas with abundant natural resources. Japan's expansionist policies alienated it from other countries in the League of Nations and by the mid-1930s brought it closer to Germany and Italy which both had pursued similar expansionist policies which resulted in condemnation by a number of countries. Initial steps of Japan aligning itself militarily with Germany began with the Anti-Comintern Pact, in which the two countries agreed to ally with each other to challenge any attack by the Soviet Union.
Japan's first major belligerent action was against the Chinese in 1937. The subsequent Japanese invasion and occupation of parts of China resulted in numerous atrocities against civilians such as the Nanking massacre and the Three Alls Policy. The Japanese also fought skirmishes with Soviet-Mongolian forces in Manchukuo in 1938 & 1939. Japan sought to avoid potential war with the Soviet Union by signing a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union later in 1941.
With European colonial powers focused on the war in Europe, Japan sought to acquire their colonies. In 1940 Japan responded to the collapse of France to the Germans, by occupying French Indochina. The regime of Vichy France, a de-facto ally of Germany, accepted Japan's takeover of Indochina. Allied forces did not respond with war. However, with the continuing war in China, the United States instituted in 1941 an embargo against Japan cutting off the supply of scrap metal and oil needed for its industry, trade and war effort.
In order to isolate American forces in the Philippines and American naval power, the Imperial General Headquarters ordered the Imperial Japanese Navy to attack the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The Japanese forces also invaded Malaysia and Hong Kong. The Japanese initially were able to inflict a series of defeats against the Allies, however by 1943 American industrial strength was made apparent and the Japanese forces were pushed back towards the home islands. The Pacific War lasted until the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Soviets formally declared war in August, 1945 and engaged Japanese forces in Manchuria and northeast China.
Italy
Main articles: Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) and Italian Colonial Empire...
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