The Allies
Allied NAtionsThe Allies united against the Axis powers, because (a) they wanted to stop the spread of totalitarianism (b) they were about to be invaded or were invaded or (c) both.
The "Big Three" and AffiliatedFrance and Great Britain were the first to oppose the Nazi invasion, declaring war on September 3rd, 1939. The “Big Three” Allied Nation were Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The United Kingdom had fought since the beginning of the war and was soon joined by the affiliated British Commonwealth (New Zealand, Austria, India, and Canada). The Soviet Union entered the war on June 22nd, 1941, after Germany turned on them and brought its puppet state of Mongolia. The Soviets had up to this point passively helped Hitler by invading targets it wished to acquire, including a foolish attack on Finland by a ill-led army. The United States and their associated state, the Philippines, entered the war on December 11th after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the 8th, but had assisted the war effort since March. The main leaders of the “Big Three” were British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin, and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, France, a big player in World War I and early the war, was occupied from 1940 to 1944 and unable to offer more than token resistance. In fact, Vichy France was created in 1940 to support the Nazi cause.
Other nationsOther Allied nations could be found all across the world. In Africa, there were South Africa and Ethiopia (attacked by fascist Italy in 1935). In Asia, China was attacked by Japan. In the Balkans, there were Greece and Yugoslavia. In the Americas, Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba supported the Allies in World War II. Back in Europe, there were Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Denmark as well as the Axis occupied Poland and Czechoslovakia.
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Declarations of War1939
September 3rd
Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand
September 6th
South Africa
September 10th
Canada
1940
April 8th
Norway
June 11th
Egypt
November 23rd
Belgium
1941
December 7th
Panama
December 8th
United States, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, China
December 16th
Czechoslovakian government-in-exile
1942
January 1st
Newly-formed United Nations
May 22nd
Mexico
August 22nd
Brazil
1943, 1944, 1945
Liberated and minor nations mostly joined the war at this point. Other nations switched sides or changed governments.
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