The Axis.
The Axis Powers is one of coalition of world nations in World War II. It consisted of Nazi Germany, the Japanese Empire, Italy, and other co-belligerents, each in their own self-interest. Nazi Germany wanting living space for it's people, which chillingly involved the deaths of the inhabitiants who previously lived in the newly conquered space. The Japanese Empire had similar interests: Japan's agriculture could not keep up with population growth, it needed to territory to expand it's agriculture. Italy wanted to form a new Roman Empire.
Creation[]
While the Axis Alliance was formed in the 1930s, the idea of a military and economic alliance between these countries begun years before. Duce Benito Mussolini sought an alliance with Germany after he felt injustice at the end of World War 1. Italy had fought with the allies and yet didn't get as rewarded as much as other countries like Romania (whose lands were augmented by roughly 40%). This could be due to the fact that Italy originally started on the German and Austrian side. Benito Mussolini's vision of Italy included greatness and power, and he sought various lands; and he saw the French Republic as his big obstacle. As Germany detested France for the severe sanctions it had put on Germany's back, Italy and Germany now had a common enemy. This would be the seed of the soon to be Axis alliance.
The Japanese-German-Italian alliance[]
Germano-Japanese alliance began in 1935, when Oshima Hiroshi (Japanese diplomat) visited Joanshim Von Ribbentrop in Berlin. In the same way that Italy and Germany had France as a common enemy, Germany and Japan both detested the Soviet Union, and thought that an alliance would be wise in order to rid the world of it. By 1939, Germany, Italy and Japan officially formed a triangle by connecting their Capitals with a line, which led to the "Axis Powers" being their name.
Axis[]
Big Three[]
- Nazi Germany
- Fascist Italy (until 1943)
- Italian Social Republic (Nazi Puppet, from 1943)
- Maurice
- Imperial Japan
(Cyan) Axis powers and their colonies.
Other Axis[]
- Kingdom of Hungary
- Kingdom of Romania (until 1944)
- Kingdom of Bulgaria (until 1944)
- Republic of Finland (until 1944)
- Slovak Republic (Nazi Puppet)
- Independent State of Croatia (Nazi Puppet)
- Kingdom of Thailand
Co-Belligerents[]
- Vichy France
- Kingdom of Iraq (Only in 1941)