Wikipedia

Allies of World War II

grouping of the victorious countries of World War II
(Redirected from Western Allies)

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".

Allies of World War II
同盟國/同盟国  (Chinese)
Alliés  (French)
Антигитлеровская коалиция  (Russian)
1939–1945
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
February 1921
August 1939
September 1939 – June 1940
June 1941
July 1941
August 1941
January 1942
May 1942
November–December 1943
1–15 July 1944
4–11 February 1945
April–June 1945
July–August 1945
 Succeeded by
United Nations

1939-1941

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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 join 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

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Other Allied Powers

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Client and occupied states

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British

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Soviet sphere

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Co-belligerent states

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1942-1945

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Later 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)

Italy change sides on 8 September 1943 after arresting Mussolini.

Romania would change sided on 23 August 1944 after deposing Antonescu.

Bulgaria and Finland changed sides in September 1944 after making peace with the Soviets.

Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945 and Japan on 2 September 1945.

United Nations

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See the 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).

 

Members

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

Summary table

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The Big Three

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Allied combatants with governments-in-exile

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Other Allied combatant states

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Former Axis powers

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Cold War

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See the 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

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See the 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.

 

1939

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1940

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1941

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1942

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1943

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1944

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1945

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References

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  1. ↑ France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, two days after the German invasion of Poland. It was a member of the Allies until its defeat in the German invasion of France in June 1940. Unlike the other governments-in-exile in London, which were legitimate governments that had escaped their respective countries and continued the fight, France had surrendered to the Axis. The "Free French Forces" were a section of the French army which refused to recognize the armistice and continued to fight with the Allies. They worked towards France being seen and treated as a major allied power, as opposed to a defeated and then liberated nation. They struggled with legitimacy vis-a-vis the German client state "Vichy France", which was the internationally recognized government of France even among the Allies. A National Liberation Committee was formed by the Free French after the gradual liberation of Vichy colonial territory, which led to the full German occupation of Vichy France in 1942. This started a shift in Allied policy from trying to improve relations with the Vichy regime into full support to what was now the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
  2. ↑ The Polish Underground State was allied with United Kingdom and United States. It fought against Axis Powers (mostly Germany), Soviet Union and the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN). However the PKWN was allied with the Soviet Union and fought against Germany and the Polish Underground State.
  3. ↑ Edvard Beneš, president of the First Czechoslovak Republic, fled the country after the 1938 Munich Agreement saw the Sudetenland region annexed by Germany. In 1939 a German sponsored Slovak Republic seceded from the post-Munich Second Czechoslovak Republic, providing justification for the establishment of a German protectorate over the remaining Czech lands (the rump Carpathian Ruthenia region being annexed by Hungary). Following the outbreak of war later the same year, Beneš, in his exile, formed a Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee which after some months of negotiations regarding its legitimacy became regarded as the Czechoslovak government-in-exile by the Allies.
  4. ↑ The Ethiopian Empire was invaded by Italy on 3 October 1935. On 2 May 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie I fled into exile, just before the Italian occupation on 7 May. After the outbreak of World War II, the United Kingdom recognized Haile Selassie as the Emperor of Ethiopia in July 1940 and his Ethiopian exile government cooperated with the British during their invasion of Italian East Africa in 1941. Through the invasion Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia on 18 January, with the liberation of the country being completed by November the same year.
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