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Allies of World War II

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The group of countries known as the Allies of World War II came together as World War II unfolded and progressed.

"The Big 3": Josef Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meeting at Tehran in 1943.

Historical background

World War II is generally considered to have begun with the German invasion of Poland, on September 1, 1939 in Europe.

China

By 1939, Chinese forces had been fighting the Empire of Japan, over its ongoing annexation of Chinese territory, for many years.

During the 1920s, the Kuomintang government was supported by the Soviet Union, which sought to hinder Japanese attempts to invade and annex Siberia.

However, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek refused to ally with the Communist Party of China (CCP) to fight against the Japanese, and instead opted to fight both at once. This remained the case even after the Mukden Incident and the annexation of Manchuria by Japanese troops in 1931.

After 1933, because of Chiang's anti-communist policies, Nazi Germany provided the largest proportion of Chinese arms imports. German military advisors assisted the Kuomintang armies; Chinese officers (including Chiang's second son) were trained by and served with the German Wehrmacht.

Following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 7, 1937, Chinese forces engaged the Empire of Japan in full-scale hostilities (which continued until 1945). This conflict, prior to December 7, 1941, is usually regarded as being the Second Sino-Japanese War. KMT generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng (with the support of the Communist leader Zhou Enlai), kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek and forced him to join a united front with the Communists against the Japanese. Even though the ceasefire was in effect, the armies were never under a united command, and the KMT never fully cooperated with the Communist military forces.

Pre-war alliances in Europe

In 1938, Czechoslovakia had formal alliances with the Soviet Union (USSR) and France, but when Nazi Germany sought to annex Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, neither France nor the USSR was willing and/or able to offer military support. France and the United Kingdom instead approved the annexation, under the Treaty of Munich. Other areas of Czechoslovakia were subsequently annexed by Poland (in October 1938) and Hungary (in November 1938). The remaining territory was occupied by Nazi Germany in March 1939.

British prime minister Neville Chamberlain declared that if Hitler attacked Poland, which was considered to be at risk of an assault by the Third Reich, then Britain and France would give Poland "all support in their power". This promise was extended to Greece and Romania, after Italy's conquest of Albania on April 7, 1939. A formal military alliance was concluded between the UK, France and Poland on April 6, 1939.

Meanwhile, attempts by the Soviet Union to negotiate an alliance with France and Britain proved unsuccessful. Furthermore, in both mid-1938 and between May-August, 1939, the Soviets were involved in localised conflicts with Japan (see Battle of Lake Khasan and Battle of Halhin Gol). Wishing to avoid war with Germany, on August 23, 1939, the USSR signed the German-Soviet non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany.

Key alliances are formed

On September 1, the German invasion of Poland began World War II. Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand all declared war on Germany on September 3. South Africa and Canada followed within days. On September 17, the Soviets invaded Poland from the East. The following year, the USSR annexed the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) together with parts of Romania, and attacked Finland. The German-Soviet agreement was brought to an end by the German invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941.

The United States of America joined the Allies following the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. The Declaration by United Nations, on January 1, 1942, officially united 26 nations as Allies. (The Declaration also formed the basis for the United Nations.) The informal Big 3 alliance of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States emerged in the latter half of the war, and their decisions determined Allied strategy around the world.

Dates of joining the Allies

Formal alliances during the war

Original allies

These countries were allied to each other by a net of common defence pacts and military alliance pacts signed before the war. The Franco-British Alliance dated back to the Entente Cordiale of 1904 and the Triple Entente of 1907, active during the World War I. The Franco-Polish Alliance was signed in 1921 and then amended in 1927 and 1939. The original allies were the states that declared war on Nazi Germany in September of 1939, thus starting World War II.

The Commonwealth

In addition to Britain, several independent members of the Commonwealth of Nations, known as the Dominions, declared war on Germany separately, either on the same day, or soon afterwards. The exception was Éire, which was both a Dominion and a member of the Commonwealth at the time.

India and many other crown colonies were under direct rule by the United Kingdom, and were therefore considered to be at war from the same date as the UK.

Éire was sometimes referred to as "a neutral ally". While theoretically a neutral country, pro-Allied and anti-Axis sentiment in the population enabled the government to covertly favor the Allies in matters including supplies, shipping, and use of ports and airfields. However, a few elements of the IRA actively supported Germany due to hostility towards Britain. Public opinion favoured the Allies. It is estimated that 70,000 people from Éire served in various Allied armed forces, whereas almost none served with Axis forces.

The Oslo Group

The Oslo Group was an organisation of officially neutral countries. Four members later joined the Allies, as governments in exile: the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The Republic of Finland was invaded by the USSR on November 30 1939 . Later Finland and the Kingdom of Denmark officially joined the Axis Anti-Comintern Pact. The Kingdom of Sweden remained officially neutral. Iceland, over which Denmark had exercised some political control, was occupied by Britain in 1940, and was used to facilitate the movement of Lend Lease equipment. United States forces took over on 7 July 1941, and Iceland declared full independence in 1944.

Atlantic Charter

The Atlantic Conference: Resolution of September 24, 1941

The dates given below are for entry into the war.

The Polish government in exile after 1939 continued the Polish contribution to World War II on several fronts with hundreds of thousand of members in the Polish Army in France and UK, as well as the Home Army in occupied Poland. The Soviet Union however, did not recognize the government and in 1943 organized the Polish People's Army under Rokossovsky, around which eventually it constructed the post-war successor state.

British, Dutch and French colonies fought alongside their metropolitan countries, and many continued their contribution also when the mother countries were occupied.

Comintern

Declaration by United Nations

Declaration by United Nations, January 1, 1942
(26 signatories)

(Note: During 1942 the declaration was adhered to by Mexico, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and Ethiopia; in the first four months of 1943, it was adhered to by Iraq, Brazil, and Bolivia.

===Tripartite Treaty of Alliance === 29 January 1942

Pan American Union

(21 members)

(Final Act of the Second Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics at Habana, Cuba, July 30, 1940)

From July 1944, a Brazilian Expeditionary Force of 25,000 personnel joined the Allies in the Italian campaign. The other countries in this group contributed support units, small combat forces, or to lesser degrees.

See also

External links

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